Thursday, February 05, 2009

George Arstingstall......Master elephant trainer.


Scan11281, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

1876-78 Howes Great London Shows
1879-80 Cooper & Bailey Circus
1881-85 Barnum & London Shows
(After the death of "Jumbo" for which Arstingstall may have been held responsible, I find no trace of him for the next six years)

1892 Adam Forepaugh Show (Menagerie Supt.)
1893 Adam Forepaugh Show (Elephant Supt.)
1894 Barnum & Bailey (Presented an elephant act)

Posted by Buckles at 2/05/2009 06:55:00 AM

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that Arstingstall may have been involved in the animal import trade in the interim, or in Europe, possibly doing training.

05 February, 2009 08:18
Anonymous said...

It was the Grand Trunk railroad that screwed up and caused the death of Jumbo, not any show attache. The roadbed along which the animals were taken to the cars was to be clear of all trains, but obviously someone messed up. The show sued the railroad over the loss.

05 February, 2009 09:06
Wade G. Burck said...

Anonymous,
Wow!!! That's really with it and for it. I can't imagine a show or an individual being responsible for anything but smiling faces on children around the world. It is tough to be a "soft target" for over a hundred years.
Wade Burck

05 February, 2009 10:23
Anonymous said...

"I think..may have been" but based on what evidence? Maybe he worked at an early zoo (several important elephant people made that transition). Frankly, it's not fair to speculate anonymously AND without citing any suggestive evidence. Your "thinking" then becomes the next person's fact and as a historian I spend too much time unraveling old speculation. Better to merely illustrate what some others did at the time, as with those that went to zoos such as Sol Stephen, and suggest other possibilities in that way.

By the way, the Howes name was no longer in the title for 1876-78 and it was just the Great London. Of course, it becomes Cooper & Bailey so in essence he did not change shows. He was a Bailey man pretty much all of his career.
Dick Flint
Baltimore

05 February, 2009 10:49
Wade G. Burck said...

Dick,
"Your "thinking" then becomes the next person's fact and as a historian I spend too much time unraveling old speculation". That's jackpots, an important and only validating facet of circus history. LOL
Wade Burck

05 February, 2009 14:11
Dick Flint said...

Per two references in the NY Clipper, George Arstingstall was in Germany training animals for Hagenbeck.
Dick Flint
Baltimore

13 August, 2016 00:22

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