 My father labeled this 1915 Pit Show as a "Fairground Attraction". Holding what looks to be a monkey at right is owner and manager John Havirland. The nice pictorial in the center belies the assortment of bizarre attractions.  |
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
More Tableaux #5
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"Havirland's Stupendous Aggregation".
On the top right it reads "Elephant Pig" (whatever that is). And on the top left it says "Two Legged ....(pony???)"
Across the bottom "Jesse James Last Breath and other Curios and Monstrosities".
Written on the bottom of the photo is "2 ticket sellers" which must refer to the two fellows on the left.
I noticed the narrow wheels on this wagon,but not as narrow as the R.T. Richards wagons
j.goodall mentioned different number of spokes.
were there standards as far as number of spokes and width of rim or diameter of spindle.
Did shows standardize their fleets ?
Maybe an 'Elephant Pig" was a tapir?
Forty tears ago in the July-Aug 1967 Bandwagon, Fred Pfening, Jr, in response to a query by Harve Poe, dated this picture, or one almost exactly like it, as having been taken on Fred Buchanan's 1913 Yankee Robinson show, where it was apparently a pit show. There was also some discussion of a similarly-named and similarly-framed "Col F M Smith's Stupendous Aggregation," being a pair of wagon pit shows.
The following issue (Sept-Oct 1967) says that Paul Horsman had written in, enclosed a photo of two Smith wagons, and stated that he believed that one person operated both these Smith pit shows as "downtown wagons."
In March-April 1968 Gordon Potter offered his two cents worth, namely that Havirland (a one-time CHS member) had sent him copies of all these photos. Potter also goes into some discussion about the construction of the wagons and as if in response to Larry Allen Dean's later question, mentions that the Havirland wagon seems to have farm wagon wheels with large wooden hubs rather than smaller steel "Sarven" patent hubs as did most circus wagons and as used on the Smith wagons. Potter also adds that Havirland was later trainmaster with Gollmar Bros "out of Baraboo" (meaning the original Gollmar show) and could have had one of these wagons on the midway there, though Potter had labeled both pictures "uptown wagons" meaning doing business uptown and taking advantage of the crowds attracted by the parade.
Then after another year in the March-April 1969 issue, Art Doc Miller write in to say that he believed the Havirland photo was given him by Col Bill woodcock and that he (Miller) had given it to Art Gunther who probably gave it to Horsman. Doc may have had more first-hand info on this type operation than any of the earlier commentators and said that old time carnivals carried a lot of privately-owned wagons like these and that these walk-thrus worked both downtown during the day and on the lot at night. By way of verifying his statement about the many private wagons on early carnivals, he tells of the Maple Shade (NJ) Wagon Works which made almost exclusively private wagons, only once receiving an order from carnival owner.
Before leaving the matter of wagon wheels, there was a St Mary's Wheel Company that made many circus wagon wheels with steel tires or rims, wooden spokes and felloes and patented steel hubs. I believe these were the standard for the Indiana shows for a couple of decades.
It is not true all sixteen-spoke wheels come from circus wagons. Years ago I spotted a pair of what I thought were circus wagon wheels based on the belief and I pulled over to be told that these came off an old logging wagon. Makes sense when you consider the weight these wagons must have carried.
Buckles, I think you put the WB/RA caption on the wrong wagon. This is more like it.
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