Wednesday, October 20, 2010

St. Louis Zoo #20


St. Louis Zoo-20, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

“Hot Dog Swing”

Posted by Buckles at 10/20/2010 06:08:00 AM

1 comments:

Jim A. said...

When I was about 7 or 8 years old (1948-49) my Dad took me to the small local library in hope of giving me a little culture. I don't know how it happened but he found an article in "Popular Mechanics" magazine about the unique props used in the STL Zoo's animal shows. I thought this place must be heaven on earth -- a zoo with circus acts. Among pages of photos I remember Jules sitting on a string of "hot dogs".

I didn't visit the STL Zoo until 1966 so I never saw Floyd Smith's original act or Jules' big cat act. I did begin to work at the Zoo in 1966 so I got to know Floyd, Mike, and Jules and heard their stories. I got my show in 1970 when the Zoo ended the cat show and added sea lions. Kyle Ulmer is the current sea lion trainer and doing a fine job. I take pride in being the last of the old-time STL Zoo trainers that maintiained their own little kingdoms and felt a strong kinship with our circus trainer friends.

20 October, 2010 09:08

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