Friday, December 24, 2010

1948 National Geographic (From Buckles)


Scan00000010081, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

I lifted these from the March 1948 issue but they were taken the
previous year.

Posted by Buckles at 12/24/2010 05:51:00 AM

2 comments:

Roger Smith said...

There are at least two classic shots we've all seen of Lou Jacobs with giraffes. I now recognize the same pen, co-star Edith, who seems to have eclipsed Boston, and I feel suspiciously familiar with that ladder.

25 December, 2010 02:03
Richard Reynolds said...

Yes, this is Edith. A Nubian giraffe, she was brought over from Khartoum, Sudan by Howard Y. Bary in 1936 and was originally called “Soudana” after the place of her birth.

Edith was part of the shipment that included the three so-called pygmy elephants from the Congo. Losses in transit were heavy. Edith was the only survivor of 4 giraffes and two of the original 5 elephants were lost.

Edith was broken to lead. Boston Zoo Director Dan Harkins recorded in his diary for May 4, 1937 that menagerie supt. Franz Woska had her walk around at the end of the spec in Boston Garden.

There are movies of her so doing so in 1938 and yours truly saw her in that role here in Atlanta on October 20, 1939. She also did a walk around in the 1948 spec, “ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” However, she did not do so at the matinee I saw here in Atlanta on November 15, 1948.

Edith was likely the most famous of all circus giraffes. After all, she made the April 8, 1946 cover of LIFE magazine. Ace photographer Joe Steinmetz likely took the photo in Sarasota as he did for most of the winter quarters spreads appearing around that time in LIFE.

Edith was a good breeder. She produced three viable calves - - - Henrietta in 1940 (Madison Square Garden), Boston in 1946 (Boston Garden), and Gloria in 1951 (Madison Square Garden).

Edith died in Sarasota in August 1955.

25 December, 2010 14:23

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)