St. Louis Zoo #1 (From Jim Alexander)

In 1942 two more elephants, Honey and Lady, were added to the show. That wasn't Vierheller's plan. He wanted to sell the three trained elephants and have Floyd continue to train new animals. Floyd prevailed and got to keep all five. Marian is listed as the "crooner" while Honey supplies the accompaniment. Floyd's routine had several "vaudeville" skits, baseball game, band, barbershop, and bowling among others. Floyd didn't have a circus background but he did some training for Clyde Bros. (Buckles fill in the blank) and trained an elephant for Arthur Godfrey. Honey couldn't perform in the 1953 show due to an arthritic foot and she died before the 1954 season. 1955 would be the last year for this group at the Zoo. A new group of eight babies was being assembled in California. The older elephants, along with a young exhibit elephant, Jill, were sold to Paul Kelly for $10,000. They left the Zoo on March 23, 1956 with Bert Pettus. Paul later told me they had TB and never left his barn.