Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Roland Tiebor


SAVE0605, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

From Jim Alexander:

Enjoyed the latest "Circus Album" with the Roland Tiebor photo. For me, the Detroit Shrine date in 1963 was a classic memory. Joe Frisco Sr. and I took a bus from Cincinnati to Detroit to see the Zoo and stop off at the Fairgrounds to see the show. At the circus I met you, your Dad, and Barbara -- also Red Hartman and some others with Beatty. It was the first time I ever saw Clyde Beatty. The connection with Detroit was that Roland Tiebor later told me that was the last circus he appeared in. Roland Jr. had acquired a group of young sea lions to take to Benson's Wild Animal Farm and he booked two stages of sea lions at Detroit, his Dad came up to work one.

I never met Mr. Tiebor in person. When I began the sea lion show he was going to come to St. Louis and help me get started. Unfortunately he fell and broke a hip and neither I, nor my animals, never got the benefit of his wisdom in person. He was kind enough to always take a phone call and give a beginning trainer some support and "wise counsel". I still have several letters from him and later his wife, Mary. He was a fine gentleman I wish I got to know better.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Woodcocks,
Jim

Posted by Buckles at 11/20/2007 10:07:00 AM

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

To Alexander;
What a delightful photo. This reminds me of the post about you wanting to see the bear guy in Evansville do the hand to hand bear trick even if being held by his wife,
I have to admit that is quit a trick with the seal. You sure looked different when you were young.

20 November, 2007 15:15
Anonymous said...

To Alexander;
P.S."Ditto"

20 November, 2007 15:18
Anonymous said...

I always wanted to do this trick in my act. It was really finished but I was waiting to add it when I got to Disneyland. Unfortunately
"Genevive" had contracted a feline strain of a Parvo type virus and we lost her. Wish I would have put it in the act just once..
Thanks Jim for the great shot of a great trainer. Mr. Lee

20 November, 2007 16:05
Anonymous said...

In Monterey we have a full time cop who does nothing but chase sea lions off the bike path, and out of the streets. Some years there are so many males hanging about in the spring they start to sink the boats moored in the harbor, or pile up like roaches on the docks. My wife looked over my shoulder just now and remarked, "Those were the days... When vermin earned their keep."

20 November, 2007 16:12
Anonymous said...

Tiebor's hand to flipper stand is a classic. (The ball balancing isn't a easy trick to train.)I have a Ringling poster from the late 40s featuring Roland Tiebor performing this trick. He also had a sea lion that would drap itself over a bar, hanging on with it's flippers (and a safety belt). The sea lion would swing it's tail back and forth and eventually flip around and around the bar. All these great behaviors presented by animals that travelled and performed in a variety of venues. Doing a daily show at a zoo, not having to worry about obtaining fish and all, was enough challenge for me.

Did see a tape of Steven's Sophisticated Sea Lions, a very nice act. To bad Lee and Judy had animal health problems but it's a difficulty with sea lions. Lots of tales of sea lion acts who lost their lead animals, often in a period of a few hours.

Mr. Hall was supportive of my early act. He saw me work my first year and reported that I had them doing several things; they ate smelt, they ate herring, they ate mackeral, and for a finish they ate squid. Unfortunately, he was fairly accurate -- I had a lot to learn. No doubt training stress, and aging, changed my hair color to silver -- no Lady Clairol used here.

As to Ben's comment on a cop keeping sea lions off the public paths. They can be dangerous, 500 pound males are basically bears with funny feet.

20 November, 2007 20:14
Anonymous said...

To Jim;
Helping the legendary Mr.Jimmy Reynolds a bit on some young land sharks he had just purchased,I sure was thinking they were a lot like a bear.
Seeing you the first time after you did that all time great kiss "O" death it left no doubt in my mind.

20 November, 2007 23:49
Anonymous said...

Yeah, the 500 pound males have all the charm of a bear with a surly attitude. Ten years ago when we moved to California I remember waking up the first morning in the house wondering why there were all these damned dogs barking a couple blocks away? Took me about ten minutes and a cup of java before I opened the door and realized it was the sea lions, and by the end of the day I'd come to terms with the fact that they never shut up. There are 300 young males here all the time 3000-5000 in the spring. I usually manage to miss the worst of the migration, but there are always tourists who learn the hard way about petting the wildlife. Trying to off load a fishing boat when the population swells is like working under siege. I'm told that years ago there was a family here in Monterey or Pacific Grove that trained and sold sea lion acts (in the 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's.) The Marine Mammal Act (which should certain exclude California populations in this day and age, but doesn't) shut that little enterprise down.

21 November, 2007 09:59
Pam Burghardt said...

Thanks for the nice story about mt great grandfather. I really apreciate it.

21 January, 2011 02:15

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