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Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth
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22 comments:
I was wondering if he was the man directly beneath Fritz' ear.
Did Harry Mooney ever have a portrait photograph of himself?
I just thought he resembled the man on the elephant
Harry Mooney #1 photograph.
He seems like a mysterious person,disappears after 1918 season.
I think the elephant Pilate(spelt Pilot in the newspaper accounts almost killed him at Bridgeport
in November of 1918,
George"Deafy"Denman saved his life.
The other man leaning on the stick beneath Fritz's ear that is.
Anyone here who may be trying to figure out who it is whom we are discussing,check out the July postings of photographs
at this blog site.
In your all opinion ,does the individual
on the elephant of the photo
Barnum&Bailey 1917/Harry Mooney,
look like possibly it may be the same individual 17 years earlier?
Also I think Groucho Marx wore a hat like that in the movie
DUCK SOUP.
You might be right but I don't think so.
Is that Hebe(aka Babe)to the left of Fritz the elephant?
In the Book Ways of the Circus,George Conklin mentions that Babe and Columbia were
chained to either side of Fritz(at least in 1902 when he bolted in Tours France.
Sorry,I meant the elephant to the left of George Bates in the photograph.
BTW Im not sure if that Harry Mooney in the center of the photograph,but whoever it is, appears to have a air of authority when it comes to handling elephants,also noticed how well dressed and pressed his clothes are(compared to George M Bates rumbled looking threads).
That is "Babe" to the left of "Fritz" she remained with the Barnum Show thru 1911 but I don't know her final disposition.
I always wondered if it was the Ringling Babe who died at the National zoo
in the 1930's.
The newspaper accounts when she died, said that she was 99 years old and had,"trouped with Jumbo",
From the photo's Ive seen of her at the zoo,that has to be the most ancient looking elephant Ive think Ive seen.If Hebe was 23 when she gave birth to Columbia in 1880,that would have made her in her mid 70's during the early 1930's.Although of course perhaps her age was over estimated in 1880?
To me it looks like the same elephant,even in advanced age.
I am of the opinion that the "Babe" retired to the National Zoo in 1934 was one of the first two elephants owned by the Ringlings in 1888 "Fanny" and "Babylon" (Babe) purchased from the defunct Dan Castello Show. My good friend Richard Reynolds and I disagree over this but in any case she is definately not the 1880 Barnum elephant.
I read in Chang Reynolds
Bandwagon article from 1968 concerning the Ringling elephants,
that Hebe(aka Babe) was sent to a park in Rockford Illinois
in 1918 or 1919,when the two herds combined.
But why Rockford Illinois?
Whats there(or use to be there in 1918) and why no record as to whatever became of Babe,especially due to the fact that she was such a beloved and historical elephant.
A lot of people think,that all elephants look alike,but to my eyes the Babe that spent her final days at the National zoo,looks awfully like Hebe.
There is a very similar photograph to this one published in the
WHITE TOPS Jan-Feb 1967,page 13.
(its re-printed very small though)
George M. Bates photograph collection.
That one was is captioned as being from
Hamburg Germany,the one here is
written as being from Dresen Germany.
4-Paw BABE
1894-95 Adam Forepaugh Circus
1896-02 Forepaugh-Sells Circus
1903-18 Barnum & Bailey Circus
Sold to a Rockfore, Ill. Park
SELLS BABE
1879-82 Burr Robbins Circus
1883-84 Hilliard & Main Circus
1885-87 S.H. Barrett Shows
1888-95 Sells Bros. Circus
1896-07 Forepaugh & Sells Circus
1908-08 Gollmar Bros. Circus
1910-11 Forepaugh & Sells Circus
1912-15 Ringling Bros. Circus
(Died Christmas Day in Baraboo)
Is either one
Hebe?
According to Harry J. Mooney in a April 1911 newspaper article in the Washington Post.
Babe/Hebe, had a rather unusual
physical shape.
She didnt have a arched back/hump
like most Asian elephants,but it went down in a straight line from her shoulders to her hind quarters.
She was close to 60 years old then and weighed 4 tons.
BABE (Hebe)
Included in Stewart Craven's first 5-act.
1873- 78 Howes Great London Circus
1879- 80 Cooper & Bailey and Howes Gt. London Combined
(Gave birth to first elephant born in America 3/10/80)
1881-87 P.T. Barnum & Great London
1888-11 Barnum & Bailey Circus
(Died with Barnum Show circa 1912)
So no one knows for sure where and when exactly Hebe died?
In a word "no".
I was wondering what is known of the background career of the Ringling "Babe",who died at the National zoo in 1937 at a very old age.What info was the zoo given about her when she came there in 1934?
Wasnt there a elephant named,"Babylon",with the
Sells-Floto show back when
Fred Alispaw
was superintendent of elephants.
When Jumbo joined the
Barnum & London herd in Madison Square Garden in 1882,
Fritz was a clown elephant.
10 years later years however he matured to be the largest and heaviest elephant of the herd.
He was not allowed to do work such as push wagons on account of his long tusks.
K.C
Nov 2011 I live 8 miles from Rockford and will do the leg work and research on HeBe or Babe. Will try to find disposition and perhaps burial spot or at least the name of obscure park. Rockford has a ton of old money so quite possible she went to private play pen. Wish me luck! Mackey
PS Baraboo is 125 miles north so I suspect same elephant and careless reporting by ancient authors.
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