Friday, February 09, 2007

Terrell Jacobs "The Lion King" #1


Thses first two pictures taken at the Al G. Barnes Circus winter quarters in Baldwin Park, Calif. in the 1930's.
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have only seen one of the nine cat pictures shown here before. I'm a long way from home, and it's wonderful to be able to visit your blog and continue to learn about wild animal training history. Thanks for the great lion pictures, Buckles. Wish I could step back in time and meet Terrell Jacobs, Clyde Beatty, Mabel Stark and other great trainers of the past.

Anonymous said...

Hi Pat,
It is great troopers like you that make this blog what it is all about.
You care about the animals you worked with and I had the great pleasure to see at your hard work every day taking care of them here in Beaumont, Texas.
I am like you as i wish there was some way to go back and see these great animal trainers of the past work. I got to see Clyde Beatty a few times and got to visit with Red Hartman before he died. Red gave me 2 of Clyde Beatty's guns and the tears were running down my face after this.
Got to know Pat Anthony who let me up by his cage to shoot his complete act on film.
I saw Terrell Jacobs here in town
just before he died and his wire walking lion fell off the wire and died here in town.
That damn Peta I wish they were over in Iraq being the ones shot at.
Pat, you are really missed by us
fans that still love you for the fantatic acts you did. If D. R. Miller was here today he would so proud of you.
Harry Kingston
Beaumont, Texas

Anonymous said...

Pat--There is an excellent 2-part bio on Terrell Jacobs, by Fred D. Pfening, Jr., in BANDWAGON. If you don't have this, I'll be happy to copy it and send it to your mailing address. I'm at steelarena314@hotmail.com.

Anonymous said...

There is a very nice photo of Terrell, Bert Nelson and Mabel Stark together. I assumed Buckles had it and I believe it is part of the photos now being seen. Maybe Buckles can enlighten us. I have a copy of it in the deep dark bottom of a trunk that has not been opened since we moved.

Anonymous said...

I just sent Buckles an interesting photo of Mr. Jacobs that I would hope he would put on in the next few days. Its kind of like the old serials of yesteryear. Wait for the next installment. I am sure Sue Lenz has a few surprises up her sleeve as well and who knows what Jimmy Cole and our European contributors, plus others will come up with. Keep posted, I am sure Buckles will not dissapoint.

Anonymous said...

Thanks everybody, really. One of my most valued years on the road was 1980. I was on a small mud show in Canada. I spent the season with Gee Gee Engesser and Pat Anthony was on the show, his last year on the road. I picked the brains of these two classic trainers/performers relentlessly throughout the season.
I still treasure- and use- the nuggets of wisdom I was able to glean from them relating to showmanship, liberty acts, elephants and how to safely, effectively break up a cat fight, and secrets about how to train a safe successful routine, mixing cats, etc. Both were so generous with their stories. I hope somewhere along the way, they both knew their hours were not wasted on 'the kid with all the questions'. I absorbed everything, and as I mentioned, still use it today.
As you know, Harry, I still look back on those years with Carson and Barnes with such fondness. Takes a show like that to find out what a person's REALLY made of. I wouldn't trade those years for anything, and animal care is still paramount.