Saturday, March 01, 2008

The Heritage of the Greatest Show on Earth #4


Scan000010912, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Posted by Buckles at 3/01/2008 07:53:00 AM

7 comments:

Eric said...

I believe that Samuel Gumpertz is the man fourth from the left.

01 March, 2008 18:49
Eric said...

The gentlemen with Gumpertz are most likely his backers in Allied Owners and New York Investors, the syndicate formed to buy John Ringling's note from Prudential. Judging from the expressions on their faces, they are apparently discussing the terms the Ringling family would have to agree to in order to keep the show out of bankruptcy.

01 March, 2008 20:20
Buckles said...

This is a 1937 picture showing from left, the writer Courtney Riley Cooper, Roland Butler, Frank Braden, Gumpertz, Pat Valdo and the show's treasurer J.W. Robertson.
The sub title should have read, "Coop meets the Gump".

01 March, 2008 21:59
Anonymous said...

Courtney Ryley Cooper was quite an author, with several truly fine circus books to his credit, among many other books and articles. He won the O. Henry writing prize in 1930 for a circus elephant story. I believe that he was murdered, but don't recall that the case was ever solved.

05 March, 2008 09:46
Anonymous said...

I thought Cooper committed suicide?
Neil Cockerline

07 March, 2008 17:12
Anonymous said...

I just googled Cooper and he did commit suicide in September 1940. He hung himself, if you want the gory details.
Neil Cockerline

07 March, 2008 17:17
Buckles said...

My father was a great letter writer and through the courtesy of Rick Pfening and others, I have received over 2,000 copies of his letters.
Several times he was asked about Courtney Riley Cooper's writings on elephants and his answer was always the same, "The worst kind of trash!"
Of course he never knew Ralph Helfer.

07 March, 2008 17:53

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