Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Ringling Red 1981 #11


Ringling81-22, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Posted by Buckles at 11/21/2007 04:55:00 AM

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey buckles,would this be dickie the giraffe.thanks Tim Commerford

21 November, 2007 16:40
Buckles said...

Indeed it is.

21 November, 2007 17:25
Anonymous said...

and Mark oliver Gebel riding in front.

21 November, 2007 19:08
Anonymous said...

Richard Reynolds says - -

I saw this show in Atlanta in 1982 and I believe giraffe Dickie was kept in his trailer in the backyard not far from the back door. I do not think they used this “giraffe carrier” to move him to the back door. He was the first giraffe to appear in an RBBB performance since 1948 when Edith did a walk around in the “Night Before Christmas” spec. She was kept in the menagerie between walk-arounds.

Edith also did walk spec walk-arounds in the late 1930s. I saw her do it here in 1939. But no giraffe, except Dickie, ever appeared in a RBBB ring as part the performance.

The pygmy hippo Betty Lou also walked around in that 1948 RBBB spec. For some reason when I saw the show in Atlanta, the hip did the walk-around but not the giraffe. That year the pygmy hip was kept in the backyard with other performing caged animals. That’s the only time I ever heard of a hippo being kept in the backyard instead of the menagerie. I should add - -when they carried a menagerie. There was no such in 1943 so Betty Lou was in the backyard then and of course the hip Zusha was kept in her trailer off-exhibit at the arenas on the 1997-98 Red Unit.

23 November, 2007 16:47
Anonymous said...

Hi.
The first giraffe that Gunther tried to possess was the six month old giraffe, from Circus World. When it arrived in Venice, I noticed it's eyes were glassy and it did not look healthy. I asked if it was okay and Gunther told me it was tired from the trip. Thirty minutes later, it was dead.
So guess who gets the responsibility of Dickie? Me.
He was a great giraffe. I literately lived with him.
We did transfer him, from his pen to the arena, in a trailer. At six months old, he was too tall for most of the arenas and was sold to a carnival.
Jeff Stang

15 June, 2008 19:53

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