John Daniel II #4

!cid_X_MA1_1240868458@aol, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. This open air menagerie photo, taken in San Antonio on October 24, 1924 by the late Tom Scaperlanda (1895-1971), is the only one I've ever seen showing at least a part of the layout for exhibiting J. D. II. As you see it is sort of like an aviary with a tarpaulin from a cage wagon around the top and another around the bottom. From this I cannot tell if the canvas extended like a roof over the entire enclosure. We can only assume that the gorilla used the aviary as a play pen of sorts. A word about Tom Scaperlanda. He and his brother Pasco were orphaned by the great Galveston hurricane of 1900 which killed upwards of 10,000 and was American's all-time worst natural disaster. They persevered, however, and in time would become two of our most noteworthy circus fans and historians. Settling in San Antonio they were very active in circus matters, noted for hosting train-side tamale and beer parties alongside the performers' sleepers the night the show was preparing to leave. Tom was a prominent San Antonio jeweler. The late Gordon Potter of St. Joseph, Michigan (a true gentleman on the old school), recorded more about the equipment and physical aspects of RBBB than anyone not connected with the show. His notes from the 1920s -1940s are invaluable. He saw the 1924 show and on July 5, 1965 wrote me about John Daniel 2nd as follows. "I recall seeing John Daniel II in the menagerie... They had an odd wagon for him. Believe it had an enclosed portion at the front where he traveled. Then the rear half was open (about like a jack wagon ) with corner posts. A trainer would have him out there and he had a swing that he sat in, I believe. [The setup] was near one of the end center poles in the menagerie top." Of course, we know he did not travel in this wagon - - the enclosed part was likely for props used to set up the display. I wish Tom Scaperlanda's photo (above) had shown the entire set up. Combing the picture with Potter's description means to me that the wagon sat next to the aviary (play pen) shown in the picture and out of sight to the right of this photo. The mesh sides of the aviary were probably loaded at night onto the flat part of the wagon for movement to the next stand.