Back in the early 1970s, Hamm’s Beer (“from the land of sky blue waters”) ran a big advertising campaign that featured a man and a bear tramping around together in the north woods. The bear was trained by Earl Hammond, a neighbor of ours here in Descanso. (Earl also trained the elk that appeared in Hartford Insurance Company commercials at about this same time.) |
Monday, February 23, 2009
Hamms Beer #1 (From Eric Beheim)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
29 comments:
The Hammond's used to have a place in Middlebury Center, PA near a friend of my parents Lee Hilts who had a horse operation, trained dogs, and fostered big cats for the Pittsburgh Zoo. Both of my brothers worked for Ms. Hilts summers at one time or another in the '70's and got to know the Hammonds and thought very highly of them.
In the 1920s and ‘30’s, Earl’s father toured across the United States lecturing about the Artic and demonstrating the use of the dog sled. He traveled with a menagerie of animals from the north including an assortment of bears, which Earl helped to take care of. While serving as a consultant to the MGM movie ESKIMO, Earl’s father met and became friends with Volney Phifer, who was one of the early animal trainers for motion pictures. Phifer later became Earl’s animal training mentor.
My dad was the ad executive at Dancer Fitzgerald for the Hamms account. I was actually at the filming of the commercial done in PA when I was a young boy. The animals were awesome at Earl's house. I loved the collie who also was trained to be an attack dog to protect all the animals at the homestead.
Hi,
If anybody knows how to contact Earl and/or Liz Hammond (I assume they are still alive), Please forward contact information or let them know Earl Metter is looking to reconnect with them. Email is dreckmaven@aol.com.
Thanks.
I worked for Lix and Earl in 1973, the summer I graduated from high school. I got to work with Earl and Sasha on one of the Hamms shoots. I used to feed Sasha and Donna and Mignon. Many great memories. I would also love to find out what ever happened to them.
steve @ runfeldt.com
I'd also like to get in touch with Earl if anyone has an address. My Uncle was the guy that came up with those Hamm's Beer commercials and I've just finished reading Earl's book about the experience. It was great to see photos of my Uncle and Earl with Sasha. My Uncle is now in his early 80's and still speaks fondly of the years they worked together. I'd love to put them back in touch. Thanks. Jane
Earl nd Liz passed. Earl passed about 6 years ago, and Liz passed in Nov. 08. thery were dear friends of mine.
I have not checked these Buckles pages on the Hammonds in quite a long time. I have recently reread Elephants in the living room, Bears in the canoe, once again. I restarted computer serches, again. This is what I have: Earl died in 2006, Pinedale, Az. I knew Liz had died, a year or two back I talked to the current owner of Mignon. They said Liz used to visit. Something happened not long after the book came out. I have talked to Elizabeth Levy, the co-author. She knows, but is reluctant to say. She was going to pass on my contact info to the kids, but I have not heard back. I know Donna Rae ended up in a hot lab for HIV & died not long ago. Donna Rae has become a hot topic for the "animal rights" crowd. I love that book. Several others have left an Email address. Looks like we need to get together. Here is mine jkwaku53@hotmail.com
Wow! I am the Hammond's daughter Jennifer and I am awed by the information in this blog. I have also learned a couple of things too. Yes, Mom and Dad have passed. Both of different forms of cancer. It has ben a tremendous loss for all of us.
Trumble: Our place was in Tioga, PA and Lee Hilts was a great friend of ours. Is she still around? She ended up with our beloved bobcat, Robert, when we left. I would just love to get in touch with her!
Eric: Grandpa Hammond was a very unique character! Funny I just found some Ice Follies paraphernalia in an antique store and was so tempted to buy it!
Anonymous: Was your dad Mr. Fitzgerald? I remember him so well. that dog was the love of my life. His name was Stormy and he was my constant companion. I felt so very safe with him.
Steve: so yes, Mignon is still alive and happily living in Connecticut with Bob Commerford's entourage. Sasha went to Las Vegas to breed and I have not ever heard word of his well being. Donna Rae was supposed to be in a breeding program at NYU. I recently went looking for her and contacted NIm Chimpsky site on FB. They lead me to the last home she had in Canada. She was rescued by the Fauna Foundation in Canada. A amazing place and organization if anyone is looking for a very worth while cause to donate. She died of Kidney failure at the young age of 30. She did find peace before her death. I have cried many tears over this information.
As for us girls, we are all well and scattered across the country raising, or having raised, our own little families. The loss of mom and dad has made our loves much less colorful. I miss them terribly...
Thank you for caring and asking and remembering!
This was so much fun to read,
Jennifer
Hi Everyone!!!! This is awesome....connecting and learning information regarding our lives and the lives we have touched and been touched by. This is Niki the eldest daughter of Earl & Liz. I can be contacted at dominique.reed1@yahoo.com. Would love to hear from you.
This is Karen. I lived at the farm in Gillette and worked the petting zoos in 1971 and 72.
My name is Becky (Strotman) Rathman I live in Aurora, Ne. Earl Hammond Sr. lived 1 mile south of our farm in Aurora. I remember walking to his farm and looking at his reindeer...he was Santa Claus. He is buried in the Aurora cemetery and in fact I just got back from a walk over there and looked at his and Inez's gravestone. He had several aninmals along with the reindeer. I have a picture of Earl Jr. and Sasha in the Hamms commerical..which says reach for a Hamms.....I remember watching the commercials and thinking he was originally from our little town of Aurora, NE. So sorry for your loss.
Gene Hammond here (Greensboro NC). No relative to Early Hammond family, but knew them well decades ago. My father, Bob Hammond, was in the sign business and for several years, we made an extended trip to Aurora while my father painted all the parade floats used in Christmas Parades, etc. Earl Hammond Sr. had a large white beard and as a kid, he always had to give us a 'whisker rub' as a greeting. I remember the Llamas (I learned they spit the hard way) and Eskimo Huskies. But the real ‘animal’ adventure was staying as a guest in their home. The living room was ‘carpeted’ with Buffalo Hides and was heated by a stand alone oil burner. The bedrooms upstairs were unheated, but getting there was an adventure as the stairway was covered with wild game trophies…Elk, Moose, Grizzly etc…cannot remember them all. I just remember it was kind of scary going up to bed. :-)
On one trip, I remember Early Jr. taking us in his Jeep to an Island on the Platte River where he went squirrel hunting that day…that too was an adventure as we almost got stuck in the just getting there. I think his Jeep was WWII surplus…painted white.
Years later after Earl Hammond Sr passed away, my mother, Dorothy Hammond, remained close friends with Inez and May Hammond who had moved to Lincoln and I think she had a flower shop in College View in Lincoln. i have lost track of her and don’t know if she is still out there or not.
It was not easy to track people back then but my mother showed me an article (think Lincoln Journal) about Earl Hammond Jr’s PETTING ZOO biz. I think I may have spoken to him by phone about that time.
Anyway, i have nothing but fun memories from the times with the Aurora Hammonds.
Best to all their decedents.
just picked up a signed Earl and Sasha Hamms Beer Picture at auction framed and hangin on the wall Sorry for your loss
I worked for Liz and Earl in the summer of 1971 at 16 on Coney Island and in Gillette, NJ. Nicki, I think you were six and Jennifer was three? By chance when I lived in San Diego, I came across the Hammonds in Descanso in 1993 when I was looking for an old pony for my 2nd daughter, then 2 yrs old. By then their daughter jointly who came after I left was just in college.
I remember in 1971 illiterate Floyd, the Great Horned owls that lived in the bedroom with us, the tortoises that knocked over the pink paint in the kids' room and the Dane and Greyhound that walked through it and then jumped on the bed to add pink flowered footprints to the sheets!
I always wondered about Donna Rae. On Coney Island someone passed a choke collar chain to her that she swirled around in the air. I couldn't get her to let go but Earl said, "Donna Rae! Gimme that chain." That was it; it was quickly passed through the bars and removed.
I remember when Earl pretended that the lost cat was eaten by the reticulated python that lived in the kitchen and suddenly had a large lump in it, but we found the cat behind the stove later that morning.
Always wondered where Mignon went and at what age and size. I was there when she arrived and lived in the house. They put up bars to keep her out of the kitchen because she rubbed against the refrigerator and the stuff on top would fall off. We potty trained her with a KFC bucket yelling, "Get the bucket, get the bucket." when we heard her start to go. Soon the yell became, "Get the mop." She did the same on Johnny Carson.
Later in 1993 Earl loved those Poms; best dogs he ever had he said. My name was Jennifer Neumann back then and I still give pony rides. Party Ponies Yuma in AZ and Adventure Pony Rides in Sandpoint, ID
jenn.harvey@live.com
I realize now that it was 1972.
Great reading all the memories of my folks and the adventures they included so many people in. I'm Vanessa, the youngest of Earl and Liz. I'm actually helping my 6 year old do his first report. He naturally chose Alaska and we're online looking up additional information on the film Eskimo and came across Buckles Blog. Eric Beheim is a dear family friend from our time living in San Diego county and quite the history buff. Thank you all for sharing. The lives they touched keeps me in awe and their legacy alive. My sister is correct about us kids living such uneventful lives compared to our parents. Keep the stories comin'! Thank you.
I stayed with Earl and Liz when I travelled from Africa to put on an exhibition at the New York Hilton in the mid 1970's. I have a photo of little Mignon peering over the bar in the kitchen doorway. The tree on Leo's grave was small then. I also went rat hunting under the animal cages with Earls rifle. How could anyone ever forget such special people.
John Nash
The Earl Metter?? This is Vanessa, Earl and Liz's youngest.
John Knoblauch again. Every few years I reread the comments here. Thanks to all the Hammond kids for sharing your stories. And to all of the individuals who knew them. I only know the book. I reread it every few years. It never grows old.
Some additional info. My YouTube channel Hamm's Bear live action has one more of the commercials now. One I have been looking for a long time. It's one of Sasha in the Canoe. I have found sic now. If you have others, I would love to see them.
jkwaku53@hotmail.com
Eric, please edit my misspelling of sic to six. Thanks, JK
I have the canoe he rode down the river in for the Hamm's commercial. It needs restoration, and I'm seeking someone who wants it. Please email if interested. I also have a 2nd nearly identical canoe that was the "back up". They've been hanging from rafters in my garage since the late 80's. freejojoey @ gmail .com
Hi everyone! Wow, this is interesting stuff. I'm Loren Berthelsen and I grew up in Aurora, NE and in the early 70s lived just down the road from Earl Sr's place - which by the way was a treasure trove of Alaskan and Arctic items which fascinated me to no end. I often helped Earl with chores around his place. I loved feeding all of the goats and the white fallow deer who starred in Earl's Christmas shows as the reindeer. Earl did have some real reindeer around the place as well although they weren't as photogenic as the fallow deer. I remember at one time he had a bear, a couple of wolves, I think even a wolverine or two, a herd of white tail deer, horses, miniature cows, the previously mentioned goats, and probably more critters that I've forgotten about. He and my dad made these neat fiberglass igloos with built-in slides for the penguins he used in his holiday shows.
What a grand fellow he was! He always treated me well and never minded my thousands of questions about his life and the stuff he had accumulated. I always felt privileged that he let me help out with the animals even if I did scare the heck out of him by letting the big buck fallow deer eat corn straight out of my bucket.
I posted earlier about travelling from Africa and staying with Liz and Earl in the mid 70’s. I was accompanied by my very fastidious OCD German business partner, who had a real thing about cleanliness – he even had his handkerchiefs and PJ’s ironed every day. He washed his hands often, concerned about germs!! So here we were, suddenly in a house full of animals. Liz had to shoo a couple of lion cubs off our beds, and they are very fragrant. My partner sat on his bed all night, muttering in German, shaking his head in disbelief at the horror he had landed in. I was in hysterics – it was so funny.
We were each offered a huge steak at breakfast (great!) and as Liz was frying it, little Mignon the elephant peed about five gallons on the floor but missed her bucket. Liz mopped it up, squeezed the mop out with her hands, then promptly turned the steaks over with her fingers. My German mate whispered “Oh, my God…I die, I die” and refused to eat the whole weekend. When he finally got to a supermarket a few days later, he ran down the aisle, grabbing candy bars and scoffing them because he was starving. It was truly a wonderful, funny experience and they were great hosts.
I grew up in Aurora, Ne. on a farm north of town. Am reminiscing (sp?). Came across a picture of my dad, Merle Read helping to load an animal into a trailer, not sure if it was a deer or goat. Earl St. and another gentleman are in the pic. I love horses and my first "real" horse was Dolly, whom dad got from Earl. I have pic of myself and her in pasture. Taken 1970, I was 10 years old. Still love horses!! Love Santa Claus. Great memories.
Why wasn't Earl's 3 kids from his first marriage mentioned? Vaughn,Craig. & glenda. I am an extended cousin (earl sr.& my grandpa,Howard)were brothers.I didn't know family #2 but have many memories of earl sr.&inez & kids earl jr.& may,also vaughn,craig,glenda & ex gayla.hrebecca891@gmail.com.
Do you need an urgent loan of any kind? Loans to liquidate debts or need to loan to improve your business have you been rejected by any other banks and financial institutions? Do you need a loan or a mortgage? This is the place to look, we are here to solve all your financial problems. We borrow money for the public. Need financial help with a bad credit in need of money. To pay for a commercial investment at a reasonable rate of 3%, let me use this method to inform you that we are providing reliable and helpful assistance and we will be ready to lend you. Contact us today by email: daveloganloanfirm@gmail.com Call/Text: +1(501)800-0690 And whatsapp: +1 (501) 214‑1395
NEED A LOAN?
Ask Me.
Vanessa I knew your mom and dad from working with the state parks there back in '92-93 I think I was around 19 years old.My buddy Ryan Sullivan AKA Slider also work for your dad he passed away back in 2018. I remember your mom feeding us from time to time and your dad showing us his saddle leather work techniques there were nice people.I also remember you blasting Ozzy Osbourne mother I'm coming home out of your house from time to time
Post a Comment