Tuesday, September 11, 2007

John Robinson Circus #8


Scan000010129, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

My dad wrote on the back, "Larry Davis and Margaret 1929".
This is one of the very few pictures I have of Mr. Davis prior to his days as boss elephant man with RBBB 1936-38.
Fred Logan told me an interesting story about "Margaret". He said that in the Garden in 1948 Mr. Concello came to Hugo and told him to pick out a gentle old elephant to be shipped to a circus in Italy regarding a deal John North had made to get the bareback riding midget "Cucciola".

Posted by Buckles at 9/11/2007 06:00:00 AM

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And speaking of "Margaret," if you go to You Tube and type in (at SEARCH) the words John Ringling North, you find an interview with Alberto Zoppe. The footage is mainly the Zoppe act as it appeared in the film "The Greatest Show on Earth." The voice over is Alberto Zoppe. He tells how he came to peform in the States for Ringling Bros. And he confirms the story of John Ringling North sending an elephant to his family circus in Italy. And sure enough, there is a photograph of the ex-Ringling elephant safe and sound with the Zoppe family in Italy.
(Lots of great circus stuff on You Tube... And this one is one of the best.) --ToddP

11 September, 2007 12:12
Mike Naughton said...

Several members of the Zoppe family have worked for me over the past 12 years during our winter/spring tour. I see Alberto about 4 times a year when the family is passing through our part of the country (NY).
Recently I asked Alberto about Margaret and with all due respect he refered to her as "Mary". Alberto is 85 and his memory is sometimes very good and sometimes a little fuzzy. Perhaps they changed her name when she arrived in Italy and then again perhaps they didn't change her name.

11 September, 2007 21:04

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