Andy the giraffe man with Fritz- Glasier

Andy%20the%20giraffe%20man%20with%20Fritz%20-%20Glasier, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. This is Andrew Zingraben, known to everyone on the old Barnum show as “Andy the giraffe man.” He was a Hagenbeck employee who accompanied a delivery of giraffes to B&B during their European tour and then stayed with the show for decades. He was born in Hungary in 1861, joined Hagenbeck’s circus, and was later on various Hagenbeck expeditions in Africa. He stayed with the Barnum circus the rest of his life and in his later years tended the giraffe barn. One of his hobbies at winterquarters was raising geese. He died in 1931 and is buried in Bridgeport. The photo on this postcard is by Frederick Glasier and the original glass plate negative is now part of the thousand or so Glasier circus photos in the Ringling Museum collections. Years ago I went through all the Glasier photos with some old Barnum show people and I well remember one former Siegrist flying act veteran’s immediate identification of “Andy the giraffe man” and fond recognition of his personality and popularity on the show. Perhaps Richard Reynolds can tell us about Fritz and the giraffes acquired during the European tour. Dick Flint Baltimore