According to Joe Bradbury, in 1941 the Circus received a female pigmy hippo as a gift from Harvey Firestone. (It had been captured on the Firestone rubber plantation in Liberia.) Arriving in New York on May 10th, it was delivered to the show in Baltimore by Frank Buck. Named Betty Lou, it was placed in Cage No. 78. Once again, Richard Reynolds should be able to confirm if the hippo shown here is Betty Lou. |
Thursday, May 20, 2010
1941 RBBB (Set 2) #6
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2 comments:
This is Lotus, a common or Nile hippo and grand dame of all circus hippos. The wagon is no. 88.
Lotus was RBBB’s common hippo after 1938 (when she matriculated to the big one from the Barnes show). She toured with RBBB in 1939 -1942. In 1943 there was no big hip on the circus - - - only the pygmy, Betty Lou.
Lotus went out again for the final time in 1944. After the Hartford fire she went back to Sarasota and was retired. Her young companion, Chester, took over for the post-fire stadium show.
Chester was a female who took that name because she was born in Chester, PA with Hagenbeck-Wallace in 1935.
Lotus died in Sarasota in or about August 1954, after 51 years with it and for it.
When I saw the show in Atlanta in 1941, Lotus was in exactly this same position eating her fare.
Pygmy hip Betty Lou was in the cage wagon next to Lotus and was sleeping on a bed of hay. She looked puny indeed next to Lotus. I saw a matinee. Pygmy hips are mostly nocturnal and matinee goers often saw her sound asleep. For the evening show she would be up and about.
Not a pygmy hippo a river hippo with deformed tusks (not that uncommon)
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