Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Ursula Bottcher #1


From Eric Beheim:
"Attached are five photos of Ursula Bottcher's polar bears from the 1980 Blue Show.
I took most of these up in Anaheim when you could still bring a camera into the back yard and not get thrown out.
That year they kept the bears in large cages and would run them into smaller shifting cages to take them into the arena."

Posted by Buckles at 8/22/2006 06:19:00 AM

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Richard Reynolds says - -

Those two big cages in the backyard as shown in photo no.1 were the ones in which the bears arrived when they came from East Germany for the 1976-77 Blue Show. However, they were not used on the road those first two seasons. Instead, the bears were transported inside tunnel cars in larger versions of the individual shifting cages used at that time for the tigers and lions. Those cages are shown inside the arena in the 5th photo. For 1978-79 the polar bears were at Felds’ Circus World Theme park near Haines City, FL.

Then they were back on the Blue show for 1980-81. For those tours, Gen Mgr. Bob MacDougall told me he decided to use the two big cages to haul the bears, and they rode on the flat cars. (I have photographs of that taken in Atlanta in 1981, the last season for Ursula and her artic bears.) The smaller shifting-type cages were also carried in 1980-81 and used to haul the bears between the big cage wagons in the backyard and the performing arena as shown in these pictures.

We’ll never see anything like that again, unless it’s in Mexico or Asia. In fact polar bear exhibition in zoos is widely criticized these days because of alleged neurotic, stereotypical behavior patterns which the “antis” claim the bears develop in any captive environment.

22 August, 2006 14:06
Anonymous said...

What a wonderful act that was. To see Ursula walk 5 bears on their hind legs across the cage.

22 August, 2006 15:51
Anonymous said...

Richard Reynolds says more - -

Ursala worked 10 polar bears and it was indeed a spectacular act, particularly the blue lighting which bathed the mighty beasts in artic-like light as they went through their paces. When they rose up on their hind legs, they just towered over Ursala, giving some idea about the size of those, the mightest of all carnivores - -with due aplogies to the equally giantic Kodiak bears.

Though the 10 was impressive, it could hardly hold a candle to Willy Hagenbeck's act of 1904-09. No less than 70 polar bears presented at one time in one enclosure. The act was presetned in Germany and there are photos. Not only did he have 70 "ursus maritimus" but in addition four Himalayan black bears, Great Dane dogs and some ponies - all in a huge arena at once! Photos suggest it was half the size of a football field and included a pool into which polar bears slid, one behind the other, from a 14 m.-high sliding board.

When Berlin zoo director Prof. Dr. Ludwig Heck saw the presentation he was open mouthed in astonishment as Willy strode calmly among his polar bears like a shepherd with a flock of sheep. At a gala performance Heck bestowed the title "Polar Bear Shepherd" on Willy Hagenbeck. [See: Hans Jurgen and Rosemarie Tiede, 1998.]

22 August, 2006 17:38
Bob Cline said...

I learned of the tragic state of the Polar Bear in Captivity some years ago while visiting with Jeanette and Albert Rix at the Ohio State Fair. Albert had pleaded with the US Dept. of Interior to allow them access to some of the abandoned cubs in the wild from the slaughter of the adults. The Govt. wouldn't hear about it. As a direct result of a decision twenty years ago, I was recently told that all of the Rix Polar Bears are now gone also from old age.
Bob

22 August, 2006 18:02
Anonymous said...

From Eric:

Ursula's act also had some great music. Here's what we played when the Blue Show was in San Diego in 1976: "Regimental Youngsters March" (Fucik), "March of the Ill Assorted Guard," "Great Adventure" (the theme from an early 1960’s TV series), "Willkommen" (from the musical "Cabaret"), "Skaters’ Waltz," “Rolling Globes” (probably something brought with them from Europe), "Hofbrau Haus" (played when the bears all drank from bottles), "Wunderbar" (from the musical "Kiss Me Kate"), "Timothy" (an obscure Henry Mancini film theme), "Sleigh Ride" (Leroy Anderson), "March of the Clowns" (the theme music written by Richard Rodgers for the Jack Palance TV series "The Greatest Show on Earth"), a “comedy galop” by Shostakovich, and "The Gladiator’s Farewell March" (an old German march that was and is frequently performed by European mechanical fair organs.) Ursula took her bows to a special fanfare based on the first few bars of "The Gladiator’s Farewell."

22 August, 2006 19:12
Anonymous said...

To Dan H. There are a few bear acts left, Jimmy Hall's Kastle's Bears, Johnny Welde, and Derek Rosaire. Both Hall and Welde have show that appear at fairs and expositions. All three acts have appeared at the Evansville Shrine Circus at least sometime in the past few years.

All three acts work with brown bears.

22 August, 2006 20:22
Anonymous said...

To Dan H. - the Evansville Hadi Shrine Circus is produced by Paul Kaye. Apparently he has had the date for some time.

23 August, 2006 13:16
Anonymous said...

For Eric: I earnestly request your assistance here, if I may. Can you list the music for the acts of Mabel Stark on Al. G. Barnes, RBBB and Polack? Nothing in my research is giving me the slightest lead. Thank you.

23 August, 2006 17:49
Anonymous said...

For Roger S. (from Eric)

My files don't go back that far. However, I do have some audio of Mabel when she appeared on the Lux Radio Theater in 1936. When Buckles does another Mabel Stark photo spread, I'll forward it as an MP3 file so everyone can hear her match wits with Lionel Barrymore.

23 August, 2006 18:11

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