Friday, August 10, 2007

Barnum & Bailey 1910's


Scan10193, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Joe Secastin with "Pilate"

Letter from Bill Woodcock..........3/19/41.........To Col Sturtevant

"I know an old elephant man named Joe Secastin a contemporary of Conklin, Abby Bates, Bill Emery, Harry Mooney, old Jumbo Scotty and George Denman. He was with the Barnum Show from the time it returned from Europe until the Ringling-Barnum combine.
Several years ago I called to his attention one of your articles in which you mention the "Myraphone". He remembered this musical oddity just as you described it.
The last I heard of Joe, both he and Bill Emery were with three small elephants called Ward's Baby Elephants. I don't keep up with zoos very well but it seems I have heard that these three bulls are now in Breckenridge Park but maybe I am wrong.

Posted by Buckles at 8/10/2007 05:48:00 AM

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was "old Jumbo Scotty" the elephant men's nickname for Matthew Scott? Never saw it before.

10 August, 2007 06:56
Buckles said...

It surely must be.
Scott remained around the show for a long time. I noticed that he was later listed in a B&B Route Book as "Keeper for the Performing Dogs".
Legend has it that Barnum bequeathed a trunk in his attic to Scott who could only assume it was filled with precious jewels.
Upon Barnum's death Scott was heart broken to discover it only contained outdated versions of Barnum's biography "Struggles and Triumphs".

10 August, 2007 07:31
Anonymous said...

I believe the zoo in San Antonio is in Breckenridge Park.

10 August, 2007 09:31
Anonymous said...

"The Giant Myriophone" is illustrated and minimally described in B&B's 1903 route book. Richard Karsey and his wife did the honors in an old-time display of Vanna White-like skill. What does the correspondence describe it as being? The illustration suggests a series of 25 disks mounted on horizontal posts projecting from a backdrop. The multi-layered disks were turned by hand, each one perhaps tuned with a series of holes to create something of a siren-like sound. The Kerseys likely presented a novelty musical instrument on stage when they weren't on tour with B&B for the one season. They may ahve done a duet on sleigh bells.

10 August, 2007 13:46

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