 The winter of 1924-25 a decision was made for the John Robinson and Hagenbeck-Wallace circuses to exchange elephant herds. Mr. Gardner and his herd came to Peru, likewise Bert Noyes and company went to West Baden. Don't see this trick any more, "Tessie" is skipping on her right front and back legs.  |
Monday, March 12, 2007
Cheerful Gardner #6
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11 comments:
Buckles, didn't Axel Gautie have an elephant that skipped and perhaps yourself?
I have a question for the wagon experts out there. The wagon behind Tessie has all four wheels the same size and under the wagon frame. Would this wagon have been used to carry an automobile?
Bob
Yes Axel did have Karen do a front skip,waltz,back leg skip down front track, but this is a three legged skip if I understand right and I've never seen this done.
Wagon has a very small back door,and has narrow wheels with a truss rod undercarriage to support this long wheelbase wagon. It couldn't carry very much weight with this type of small wheel set. With all the tab wagons that this show carried,you wouldn't think that it would be needed for trunks.I couldn't find it in any of my photos either. What makes it hard is that HW didn't place the numbers on the side of their wagons,only on the front and back. So even with a wagon loading order from these years,it doesn't do you alot of good. Great paint and lettering job and hasn't been on the road yet as you can see the winterquarter buildings in the background. Hopefully someone will have the answer.
regards,
P.J.Holmes
Buckles, By saying that ya don't see that trick "anymore" are you saying you are familiar with this trick ? and if so when and with whom did you see it last ? And did you see it on more than one elephant ?
In our family act back in the 50's my dad had trained a dance section.
It started out with "Anna May" doing the front leg skip, followed by Lydia with the back leg skip, then "Fanny"
would do the skip shown in the picure.
While this last bit was going on, I was placing a mantea on "Anna Mays" head and castanets on her ankles so the dance section closed with her tambourine dance.
The wagon was made by William Frech of Maple Shade, NJ. He was a builder of carnival wagons. The ACC received a number of them when they claimed the T. A. Wolfe Shows in the mid-1920s.
My father had a framed enlargement of this picture on the wall of our home in Hot Springs. He held it in high esteem.
Buckles, I was always honored that your folks liked me. Never more then reading the comments about them on the blog. Neither were huggie face or warm and fuzzie, but their kindness to me and Trinket has and never will be forgotten. Just wish I could get the taste of your mothers coffee out of my mouth.
Thanks for the information on this wagon.
regards,
P.J.Holmes
Richard Reynolds says - - -
I have known about this wagon since I first saw it in "Fun by the Ton" (p 46) in 1941. Back then wagon distinctions were lost on me. But the "Fun - -" pic is slightly different than this one. It shows the elephant making the same dance step with both right feet on the ground but its head is right under the "BE" in HagenBEck. Hence the elephant was dancing along the side of the wagon when a series of pics were taken. The "Fun - -" pic was taken first first and this one a few seconds later.
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