Buckles Blog: More RBBB 1941 Menagerie #2

Saturday, May 22, 2010

RB1941-2 - Copy, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Richard Reynolds said...: When I first saw this cage line up in the RBBB menagerie in November 941 in Atlanta I was stunned and so was my Dad. We thought we were looking a row of cages in a zoo. The shadow box effect was dramatic. Note that there is no evidence whatever that these were cage wagons.

The vertical panels connecting the wagons were a light yellow or cream as I remember. I think they were transported strapped to the sides of the wagons. The cage panels that folded up and down were dark blue.

We were so amazed that we went to the end of the line of cages and looked behind along the sidewall to see what was what. There we could see that they were indeed cage wagons.

The animals’ names in large white block letters reminded me of what I had seen on movie marquees.

Of course, this set of photos was taken in the basement of the Garden. There they used a wooden barrier to keep the public away from the wagons whereas in the tent, the usual rope was used.

The roof of the gnu cage is raised at an angle to give better illumination. Not all the cages could be so fixed.

Alas, the sign-maker could not spell BRINDLED gnu.

Regardless, this menagerie was vastly more elaborate and expensive than the jungle-themed one of 1949 et seq. when they used those ex-Army ordnance wagons.; 22 May, 2010 19:39

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