Friday, September 21, 2007

To Joey Ratliff


Scan000010208, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

This is what the headpiece in picture #2 below should look like but either the feathers were obscured by the lighting or Trilby ate them.
Rather than a crown I always thought of this as a war bonnet.
That looks like the Mode-O-Day building in the background situated at Washington and Hill in Los Angeles, a lot we showed several times with the Cole Show.
At this date however, it is probably Al G. Barnes.

Posted by Buckles at 9/21/2007 11:29:00 AM

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buckles, thanks for the follow up. Wouldn't it be nice to see something like this today. You mention the Barnes show and I have been meaning to ask you about Earl Jackson (AKA "Bullhook"). I have seen his name in three different books (Elephant Tramp/Rogues, Speaking of Elephants, Master Showman), but I haven't been able to come across any real info on him. Thanks.

21 September, 2007 12:20
Dick Flint said...

How long does it take to deck out an elephant in trappings like these for spec (including packing and unpacking from a wardrobe box)? And how many men to help? Would that be one reason we don't see this as often today? What about whether some elephants accept the clothing quickly or resist?
Dick Flint
Baltimore

21 September, 2007 12:34
Buckles said...

When I spent the day with Smokey on RBBB in 1955, the Spec elephants were led from the menagerie and lined up by the Wardrobe Dept. These people had the blankets and other adornments already in place and all the bull men had to do was stretch each elephant out and wardrobe did the rest.
Didn't take long, since they did it seven days a week they had it down pat.
By the time I came along they had developed a system using "A-frames" made of two pieces of 4'x4' plywood. There were about 10 of these things with the blanket rolled up and resting on peak and the adornments (sequined angel fish) hanging from each side. They were always placed in the same sequence so when we stretched the herd out the proper blanket was immediately behind each elephant.
We put on and took off the blankets because by now the Wardrobe Dept. was only a hand full.
In fact when we first joined the show they tried to throw me a curve by explaining that the elephant men were required to fetch all that stuff from the wagon each morning and back each night, to which I politely declined.
You know, rolling up an elephant blanket is an art form. Once the angel fish were removed and the elephant stretched out, you toss the cloth headpiece back and then each side over each other until it is about two feet wide, then roll it up from back to front along it's spine. That way when you unroll it, you know it's pointed the right direction.
Gunther solved all that, as they exited the back curtain, they would undo the girt strap and two wardrobe guys would hold on to the back of the blanket which would fall to the floor as the elephant walked out from under it. They would then fold it up like a table cloth. Quite a bit quicker.

21 September, 2007 14:36
Anonymous said...

Great story again, Buckles. I think the closest we will ever come to this again, was the King Tusk Spec. Remember the leather & coco mat "blanket" Hawthorn used for the riding tiger and lion act? I can assure you, it hit the floor on numerous occasion's. Wade Burck

21 September, 2007 14:54

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