Friday, June 09, 2006

Mary Ruth and John Herriott 1964


These are the Circus World Museum elephants "Topsy", "Eva" and "Toby" owned by Wilbur Deppe.
In the Fall of 1969 Deppe sold the elephants, 12 pony liberty drill along with John and Mary Ruth to Irvin Feld who placed them all on the Red Unit, "Toby" remains there till this day.
I acquired ownership of "Eva" from the Ringling Show early in 1982 and immediately changed her name to "Peggy". She now resides at the absolute best of the Elephant Retirement Centers, the Riddle Sanctuary in Greenbriar, Ark.

Posted by Buckles at 6/09/2006 07:17:00 AM

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buckles, Do you have any grass left? Have you ever used the "HOG" Barbara got you last year? Are your grandsons old enough to earn summer wages cutting grass? Do boys still do this kind of work?

09 June, 2006 08:37
Buckles said...

I may have misled you, the thing we have is a DR Brush Mower. You attach one deck for the jungle out back and another for the lawn.
It has been so dry this year that almost everything around the house has died but not to worry, hurricane season is almost upon us.
We just had the generator serviced that used to be mounted in the frame of the elephant truck.
We place it just outside the back door so if the power goes out in a storm we will still be able to have the refrigerator, overhead fans and TV.

09 June, 2006 09:01
Anonymous said...

And we hope you'll run an extension cord to keep your computer running.

09 June, 2006 11:28
24-HOUR-MAN said...

Someone made a big deal over the fact that we will have fewer hurricaines this year. Seems to me it only takes one. There used to be a sign on a pole at US 41, & Gibsonton Drive, "This will be the water level in a Category 4 storm, 16 ft.".

09 June, 2006 17:19
Anonymous said...

Buckles...Picture of John and Mary Ruth bring back great memories. The two acts, elephants and liberty ponies, are in my mind two of the greates things John ever did. As I have been watching the Herriotts for more than 45 years, it is not a casual statement. All his/their work at CWM has been mostly under valued. It was a great time for them and also for CWM, which then under leadership of C.P Fox and with the aid of the Joseph Schlitz Circus Parade in Milwaukee, was really prospering. A great time of my life and theirs!..Paul Ingrassia

11 June, 2006 11:42
Ryan Easley said...

Buckles,
What became of Topsy?

12 December, 2012 13:56
Buckles said...

The winter of 1973-74 with the combination of the Red Show, Blue Show and Circus World herds we had 54 elephants squeezed into the Venice Quarters.
"Topsy" had developed a bum leg and in Feb. was shipped out to ABC Wildlife Park in Ocala.
Soon after Rex Williams and Ralph Shappacher brought in a young African that Gunther named "Pinky".

12 December, 2012 14:36

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