Harry Mooney has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I can find no record of him prior to his appearance with Barnum & Bailey in 1903 which leads me to believe he may have been hired during the European Tour.
From 1903 thru 1907 he is listed in the Route Books as Asst. Elephant Supt. and took charge of the herd when the Ringlings bought the show and remained at that position until George Denman took over the combined Ringling and Barnum herds in 1919.
His interview above sounds like something Courtney Riley Cooper would come up with.
The elephant he had the scuffle with would probably be "Pilate" who actually made it back to the Bridgeport quarters following the 1918 season and disposed of there. |
2 comments:
Mooney was one of the few elephant men to get billing on lithographs. It also looks like he developed, or provided a variety of skits or anthropomorphic acts, as opposed to the more typical military drills. Was that due to the influence of the style of elephant acts then being presented in vaudeville?
Who was "Amy Dupont," the lady featured on a B&B 1915 litho?
Post a Comment