| Mr. Schmitt joined the Ringling Show with his five German elephants 6/20/47 in Pittsburgh. This young African (Abilee) was delivered six days later in New Brunswick, NJ. to be added to his act. |
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Hugo Schmitt 1947 #1 (From Buckles)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Would it have been unusual for a trainer, Herr Schmitt, to own his own elephants at that time(1947)?
How long did Mr. Personality stay with the GSOE? I know it was well into the Irvin era, was it not?
Hugo retired in Oct. of 1973 and was replaced by your humble scribe.
The German elephants were not his, they were originally owned by the Hagenbeck Zoo and shipped to Sweden during WW2 for safe keeping and were promptly confiscated by the Swedish Government after the war.
Hugo raised so much Hell that both he and the elephants were sold to John Ringling North.
Ben Trumble,
Noodles not withstanding, you will note the flip side to courage. Hugo Schmitt protested himself right into fame and immortality. It's a risk, but what do you have to lose?
If you have a functioning winch and are near KM, you might be able to make a little "cherry pie". LOL
Wade Burck
Abele (later called Emily) was the last forest elephant brought to RBBB. She was obtained by Howard Bary in the Belgian Congo (no doubt at the elephant training station at Gangala na Bodio).
She arrived on the show separately from Schmitt and his animals, and it was earlier than Detroit. Bob Good took a photo of her coming out of the stock car at one of the eastern Pennsylvania stands. In this pic Schmitt shows off her very rounded ears so typical of forest elephants.
During the winter of 1946-47, Bary was sent to the Congo by RBBB to get a number of sensational attractions - -okapis, baby gorillas for Mr. and Mrs. Gargantua to adopt, and, from present-day Chad, the saucer lipped women of the Sara tribe (named Ubangis by Roland Butler when they were first with RBBB in 1930).
In Rwanda-Burundi Bary came across the Ankole cattle of the Tutsi tribe. They are a form of domesticated cattle with enormous spreading horns. There had never been any in USA previously. Bary wrote to RBBB all excited about them. He called them Inyambo, the native name. Of course he could never get permission from the US Dept of Agriculture to import them because of the ban on domesticated cloven hoofed animals from Africa (because of concern over rinderpest and hoof and mouth disease).
Bary suggested that a gift of some of them be made to the USA for Dr. Mann’s National zoo, hoping that his influence could get the job done. That did not work either.
In the end Bary got none of these things and came back only with little Abele. She was sent to Sarasota from the ’47 Chicago stand along with Sudan and the Schmitt elephants.
I should mention that there have been quite a few “Inyambo” in USA in more recent times (There are some nice ones now at the Disney Animal Park). But they were all bred and born in Europe, after having been brought there from Africa, or descended from such animals. USDA considers the fact of European birth as making them safe in terms of the dreaded cloven-hoofed animal diseases.
Wade, I do believe Hugo Schmitt is a great example of why PETA et al are so wrong. Schmitt took the Hagenbeck elephants to Sweden to keep them safe. Today's activists would probably conclude the best solution to euthanasia.
KM needs a winch do they? A bit of mud after yesterday's storms? Saw a golf course this morning totally flooded with only the flags in the cups waving above the water.
We were lucky, played a lot in Bonham, TX with a building where we could put the show indoors when it was clear we couldn't get the tent up and keep it up in a severe storm with a "less than skilled" tent crew. We had an alright day.
Ben,
If it is the tent that was used last year, why would you even bother putting it up if it was raining? What do you know about Yak hair? There's a clown on KM pretty hot, because be got caught in a downpour and his wig got damp.
Be safe,
Wade Burck
Capt, yesterday Carson and Barnes was set up in Athens,Tx. I was able to visit with Tim Frisco for about 15 minutes while we both got soaked to the bone! He actually had a raincoat on and rubber boots! I ran by long enough to say "HI" and went to the house! He had mentioned that KM did have a blow down in or near Dallas. We got over 6 inches of rain yesterday and last night!
Wade, since when has a tent been intended to stop the rain? I believe it's defined as a confined space within which one can vend inflatables . I'll ask the chinese acrobats for an opinion, I believe that yak hair tents may be the sign of sophistication within CFM (Circus Fans of Mongolia.).
Buckles,
When did Sudan die ? A 1992 Bandwagon states December 1947, but she is listed in the Billboard 1952 census.
Post a Comment