Thursday, August 17, 2006

Barnum & Bailey Program 1914 #3

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is Conklin in the picture? Was he still with the company at the time?
I remember from his writings that a giraffe died during the trip to Europe (some years before this pictures of course)the neck broken because the roll of the ship.
I remember sometimes myself in the late 80s, traveling Europe with the driver of the giraffe trailer, going very slowly and careful to every turn to avoid to break the neck...

Anonymous said...

Are these giraffe being corraled in a Cat Arena?

Buckles said...

Looks like the same kind of Cyclone Fence I have around my property.

Buckles said...

This does look like George Conklin but if it is, it would pre-date 1914, I don't have him with the show any later than 1907.

Anonymous said...

R. de Ritis: Could you please tell me which show you were on in the late 80's that carried the giraffe? Did it work in the show? Was it with Louie or Freddy Knie? Thanks

Anonymous said...

Was George Conklin any relation to Patty Conklin the well known Canadian carnival man?

Buckles said...

I don't think so.

Anonymous said...

Buckles what exactly is a cyclone fence?

Buckles said...

Maybe it's better known as chain-link fence.

Anonymous said...

TO ANONYMOUS: the giraffe I talk about, was with Darix Togni "Florilegio" circus. Was part of the beautiful display presented by Davio Togni, that included the famous trick of him riding on a rhino with a leopard around the ring without cage.
In the same act we had (in different moments) a hippo, three buffalos, a kangaroo jumping over camels, some llamas and zebras, dromedars, and something else I don't remember. We didn't had okapis. I think that at the time it was the most complete "exotic" display around.
The only other performing giraffes in Europe at the time was Fredy Knie, Medrano-Casartelli, Moira Orfei, Mary Chippefield, and Alberto Althoff. Louis never owned a giraffe. Today, almost any medium-sized Italian, French and German circus owns a giraffe.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous,

I believe that the giraffe on Circus Knie (Freddie Knie in Switzerland) is named Kimali. At one point Sacha Houcke was its presenter (and trainer?), and he used to ride it in the show (back in the mid 1990's). The giraffe wore a special custom-made leather harness with hand-holds so Sacha could hang on as the animal moved about. They also owned a rhino named Ceyla for a very long time, which I believe has since passed away. I have a video that features both of these animals being trained in the ring together--pretty neat!

Chris

Anonymous said...

I heard that Ceyla passed away last year.
Ceyla and kimali worked in the ring together with Fredy in 1976 or 1977. Fredy used to stand on the rhino and to ride the giraffe as Sacha did later.
Fredy's presentation was the first act to open the european way to the modern "exotic" act.
Speaking about rhinos, Sacha worked in 80s with one (Tsavro) with Barum-Siemoneit, when he had his magnificent group of 14 zebras.