Buckles Blog: From Peter Rosa #11

Monday, December 21, 2009

Richard Reynolds said...: This photo looks toward the west (or toward downtown Sarasota and the Gulf). I believe this photo was taken in 1944.

To the right, next to the roadway, may be seen the remains of the camel-zebra barn (the big top is across the road). In its early years in Sarasota, the show carried large numbers of camels and zebras. For example, in 1932, there were 15 camels and 31 zebras more than enough to warrant a separate barn. This number was reduced as the decade wore on.

When the show came off the road in the fall of 1940, the camels numbered 13 and zebras 9. Since the work horses were gone, the remaining draft stock corral stood vacant (out of sight to the left of this photo). It was decided to move the remaining camels and zebras there, abandoning their old barn alongside the roadway

The 1942 Cleveland menagerie fire wiped out the camels and zebras and their numbers were never built up again. In 1944 there were just two zebras and five camels.

I say this is 1944 because, for that year, the sleepers were painted red which shows up dark in b&w photos like this one. Had the picture been taken before the show went on the road in 1940-41-42-43, the sleepers would have been silver and shown up as such in the picture.

Moreover we see the walls of the hippo grotto attached to the side of the big menagerie building, and the grotto was built while the show was on the road in 1941.; 21 December, 2009 16:22

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