Thursday, October 27, 2005

Circus World Museum 1985 #2


This event was held in front of the grandstand and we started by raising the center pole you see in the background. "Toto" would push this wagon into position and then with a collar chain, pull a stake from the ground that had been driven.
This little show didn't last but about ten minutes and of all the activities we did during the day I enjoyed this one the most and the elephant ride the least, pure drudgery.

Posted by Buckles at 10/27/2005 07:00:00 AM

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is Toto a male elephant?
The reason I ask is because of his tusks,I have seen female Asian elephants in zoo's with tusks that big(about a foot in length) at the most,but never robust.
How many(if any)adult male elephants are with the circusus these days?
I know King Tusk(aka Tommy)
died a few years ago down in Florida.

27 October, 2005 16:23
Anonymous said...

It must be very boring to walk in the same place for hours giving elephant rides. The paying public gets the biggest thrill from the rides. I must admit as a guest visiting Kelly Miller a few weeks ago I could not wait until I was on the back of the elephant. Cathy is still talking about it to anyone who listens. Wish I did not have to ride in the haudie. I enjoyed the camel also. Go figure.

27 October, 2005 16:37
Buckles said...

Yes Toto was a male and carried close to three feet of ivory.You can see how his face was faded out, people asked about it a lot. It was simply due to his particular pigmentation.
I am told that in India this brings good luck.
In retirement and involved with sharing my collection on this Blog Site I have lost touch with contemporaty circuses and off the top of my head only one male elepaht comes to mind, "Beau" owned by George Cardin.

27 October, 2005 17:25
Anonymous said...

What about"Colonel Joe"?
Is he with a circus here in the U.S.A?
Is that the same Colonel that was on the news when he escaped into the everglades back in the 1970's?

27 October, 2005 18:20
Anonymous said...

I read in a book about elephants that loss of pigmentation
on a elephants trunk is more common in Southern India and most common with elephants from Sri Lanka.
I believe it was refered to in the old days of the circus as a "leopard-spotted elephant"
reportly Black Diamond was one of those.
K.C

27 October, 2005 18:24
GaryHill said...

Buckles, do you know where that male named Sobic ended up? I took care of him at the Central Fla. Zoo after I left the Blue Show. He was tough, had all them snake guys beat up! You started him and he knew what to do, I just had to ask him correctly. He never made a bad move at me. I sure was lucky to have been around Hugo (Doc) George, Tarzan, I think Rex had him and named him Gardner? Then in Grand Praire that African male Abu. And Sobic. Best, Gary

27 October, 2005 23:26
Buckles said...

I had almost forgotten about "Sobic". I dont know what became of him, he was named after a sandwich who's Company bought him for the zoo.
I didn't realize you had been around so many males, must have been exciting
"Mac" chased Chico and me up a tree one time.

28 October, 2005 00:03
Anonymous said...

Colonel Joe, the massive male elephant that toured with Circus Vargas in the USA was sent to Europe where he was a sensation at the Monte Carlo Circus Festival. Joe originally appeared with Circus Merano in Scandinavia as a single act. He and his French trainer, James Puydebois, are now with Germany's largest circus, Circus Krone.

For pictures of Colonel Joe, go to the German circus website:
www.circusinfo.de/html/news.php?id=36

Don Covington

28 October, 2005 02:00
Anonymous said...

Just found a few more nice photos of Colonel Joe on the website of the Swedish talent agency Veress.

To view them, go to:

www.veress.se/coloneljoe.htm

Don Covington

28 October, 2005 02:12
Greg said...

Colonel Joe looks to be one huge elephant.

http://www.elephant.se/database2.php?name=Colonel%20Joe&species=EM&location=&elephant_id=101

http://www.circusinfo.de/html/news.php?id=36

the circusinfo has a interview with his trainer..

greg

28 October, 2005 08:37
Anonymous said...

Following up on Don Covington's comments, you can also see current pictures of Col. Joe by going to www.circus-krone.de. That's the official website of Germany's Circus Krone. When you get there, you have a choice of English or German text. Once you've made your language choice, you'll see a picture of all the artists in the ring...click on that picture and you get a breakdown of the acts --- including Col. Joe. Click on his picture and you get even more pictures. It's an interesting website...tells you all about the circus, including its "balance sheet." There's also a section on Krone's main elephant herd (4 Asian and 3 African "merry pachyderms" presented by Jana Mandana). There's a section on the care and feeding of the herd. If you click on the upper left icon on the main page, you get Circus Krone The Enterprise. From there, you can go to the show's history, including a photo gallery which shows about 19 elephants (years ago)taking part in a centered long mount (my term). Interestingly, Krone seems to have a solid history of women elephant trainers. The late show-owner Mrs. Frieda Sembach-Krone presented the Krone elephants for years (several pictures of her and the elephants in the historical gallery). Patricia Zerbini was in charge of the Krone elephants a few years ago. Now the elephants are trained/presented by Jana Mandana (also featured on the website). ToddP

28 October, 2005 09:52
Anonymous said...

Thank you, Don Covington, for this information on Colonel Joe. My friend Kim Baer worked with him on Vargas, and to this day, often wonders where he is, what became of him, and most of all, how he is. She'll be grateful for this website.

29 October, 2005 14:19
Anonymous said...

I dont know if the web site mentions this,but Colonel Joe was a young elephant originally named
"Dillinger" at the Los Angles zoo,
He was purchased for the Circus Vargas in California around 1971.
He is a huge elephant ,measuring around 125 inches high at the back bone(Although of course the tradional way of measuring a elephant is the same with horses,which is at the shoulder/withers,so his shoulder height would be just several inches shorter then 125 inches.
He would be about 41 years of age now.

29 October, 2005 16:10
Anonymous said...

When is the most recent time that"Colonel Joe" has toured
the U.S.A?
I always wanted to see him.
If they marketed him right to the right audience they could make buko milliions(better then that MTV cr*p for the young people to see)
Reminds me of the olde days,
when Van Amburgh toured the country-side with
HANNIBAL(who was so big and famous his name always printed in capital letters)or "Tippo-Sahib" back when he was with Adam Forepaugh.
Van Amburgh's Romeo was a big one too,not to mention"Columbus"of the Raymond &Waring show.
NOw those were big elephants!!!

sincerley
Methusala.

29 October, 2005 16:40
Anonymous said...

Was Colonel Joe really born at the Los Angles zoo in 1964?
Also was he"gelded"?
How rare is that?

29 October, 2005 17:45
Anonymous said...

my name is Patti(Kitty)McCormick. i used to work for Hoxie Tucker. I used to work with Bonnie, Jessie, and The late Betty. I miss them terribly and if u can get in contact with me about them. I wnt to see them. please please contact me. pumagirl815@yahoo.com..i worked with them when they were giving elephant rides at miami metrozoo and at southpoint park in miami

14 August, 2008 22:57

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