Buckles Blog: Big Herds #3

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Scan000011084, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Benny White riding "Harold" leading the herd to the lot in Baltimore 5/22/56.

Anonymous said...: Note the cat pulling the lone giraffe wagon at the end. They only took one giraffe on the road in ’56.

The second giraffe wagon was loaded on the train to leave Sarasota qtrs. when its occupant, reticulated female Ingrid, went into labor. They unloaded the wagon and hustled it back to the giraffe barn where she gave birth.

The train went north without her. Believe this was the only time RBBB went with only one giraffe when they carried them in the menagerie.

The size of the elephant herd on the road in 1956 has been the subject of some debate. RBBB’s official records in the Parkinson library, Circus World Museum, accurately show the number on the road. A veterinarian’s certificate dated in Sarasota on March 28, 1956, covering the animals inspected for the trip New York, listed 46 elephants as going. A later 1956 manifest lists 45 elephants by name. No doubt the difference can be accounted for by the death of African Emily (Abele) while in New York. And, she is not named on the later list.

There are many of these veterinarian certificates among the RBBB documents at CWM. They date from 1949 through 1956. I can only assume that their purpose was to satisfy regulations governing the bringing of animals into the various states. There are vet certificates from Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

So the show faced animal red tape that far back.; 13 April, 2008 14:40

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