Oddities of the Jungle

Max Gruber big, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Veterans of the entertainment circuit, Max Gruber and Adele Bono married in 1896 in Norway, and together they traveled with a variety of carnivals and circuses in England. In the winter of 1901-02, Gruber served as Equestrian director for the Humphrey E. Brammall circus. In 1908, at the urging of a New York theatrical agent, the Grubers brought their act to America as performers in the Keith and Orpheum vaudeville circuits. In their first appearance in New York, they shared the bill with The Three Keatons. The Gruber's had learned of Actor's Colony from other vaudeville performers and the couple visited Muskegon for the first time as an act in the Herbert Kline carnival in 1911. The circus disbanded in Muskegon following their performances, and the Grubers had time to visit with friends from their days with Keith and Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Impressed with the area, and the collection of performers in the Actor's Colony, the couple chose to settle in Bluffton.