Friday, November 11, 2005

Jungleland #4


These are the Tom Packs Circus elephants originally trained by Mac MacDonald but presented here at Jungleland by Claude "Slivers" Madison and his wife Jo. They later were sold to Rudy Bros. Circus and finally to Circo Bells in Mexico where they were worked by Gene Garner.
Slivers was a very likeable guy, later when he worked "Bertha" at the Nuggett he would let me park and unload the elephants in their compound. Everyone there addressed him as "C.J.".

Posted by Buckles at 11/11/2005 07:35:00 AM

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now these two I know and worked some show together. She taught me the Hula. Very nice couple. Was his nick name Pinky?

11 November, 2005 10:48
Anonymous said...

This is what happens when I get excitited and get my people mixed up. How does one erase the comment when you know you have bobooed? Rex Williams had the Tom Packs elephants when I was in circus animal training school. My quest to find Gene Garner is getting closer.

11 November, 2005 10:53
Buckles said...

Pinky Madison was Slivers younger brother who also worked elephants.
His wife June is most surely the one that taught yoy the hula since she was Hawaiian.

11 November, 2005 10:53
Buckles said...

Something amiss here. Rex never worked the Tom Packs elephants. When and where was Animal Training School?

11 November, 2005 10:57
Buckles said...

Something amiss here. Rex never worked the Tom Packs elephants. When and where was Animal Training School?

11 November, 2005 10:59
Anonymous said...

That school thing was a joke as I d id not want to mention my teacher. It draws the a/r crowd. In 58 or 59 We played the Tom Pack dates and Rex had the elephants. I did not know him but you mentioned him in an earlier letter. I also did not know about different performers working other peoples elephants. Tom Packs had a place near here, Collinsville if I remember it was called a winter quarters. The Madison familys look very much alike. The June and Jo threw me. It does not take much to do that now adays

11 November, 2005 11:10
Buckles said...

You are right then, Rex was there but not with the Packs elephants. He had the Pete & Norma elephants on that show in the mid 1950's "Mary", "Maude", "Norma", "Bessie" and "Konti".
During the time frame you mentioned, he was on the show with the Howard Suesz elephants "Mary", "Sue" and "Ruth".

11 November, 2005 11:27
Anonymous said...

People often can't believe I didn't know Slivers and Jo Madison. They had come and gone before my time there. Arky was the only elephant boss in my era, and although others laid claim to the title after Arky passed, it was truly the faithful George Young who earned it. His was the most fastidiously immaculate elephant barn I've walked in. You could served Cookhouse off that floor.

12 November, 2005 13:35
Anonymous said...

the circus is one of the only places where the elephants meet face to face with humans

24 November, 2005 10:11
JENNIFER said...

No Pinky was Silver's brother

11 December, 2021 19:28

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