Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Hugo Schmitt #8

SAVE1060 by bucklesw1
SAVE1060, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Hugo Schmitt with Leonard Bros. (Hard Times Leonard) in 1956 seen with his son Roman and the elephant acquired from Catskill Game Farm.
He named her "Targa" which he later told me meant "Star" in India.
She had actually been imported by Louis Goebel in 1953 and was included with Besalou Elephants but MacDonald passed on her because she was very tiny and being hand fed.

Posted by Buckles at 6/05/2012 06:33:00 AM

7 comments:

Harry Kingston said...

Buckles,
After so many years with Ringling what caused Hugo to go with Leonard Bros???
If you got a good deal with the best why leave it.
I also thought he was on Mills Bros to.
Harry in Texas

05 June, 2012 07:29
Buckles said...

1955 was a tough season, 50 elephants and little experienced help.
Or maybe he knew something no one else did but in any event, when the show folded the next year he still had a job.

05 June, 2012 08:50
John Herriott said...

It seems he had some immagration problems and during those times with Ringling lots of people wanted their fingers in the pie. Namely Babtiste Schreiber and the American elephant handlers group of American that had preceded Hugo and didn't Cotton to him being there. He would win in the end and then it was GGW.johnny

05 June, 2012 09:17
John Herriott said...

Yes he was with Hard Times Leonards little tent show and with Mills Bros. where he would take their odd assortement of some six elephants and make it one of the top act in the country at that time. The routine would stay with RMills for the rest of the years of their existance presented by various people including K Y Seagraves and Lee Keener. Finally down to four elephants with the famous Burma and the "head carry". johnny

05 June, 2012 09:25
Harry Kingston said...

Thanks for the info and now it adds up.
Merle Evans must have seen the hand writing on the wall as after 1919 on he did not go out with Ringling in 1956.
Bubba Voss told me about some that went on the 1955 show.
I remember Dad taking me to the lot in Beaumont, Tx and all those elephnats lined up.
They played on a lot right next to the large Mobil oil refinery in town.
Neils Burkhart told me about when a sheriffs deputy came up to him after the 2pm show and seperating the blacks and the whites in 1955 in Texas.
Harry in Texas

05 June, 2012 10:50
Roger Smith said...

Hard Times Leonard was with us on the '64 Beatty-Cole show. Everyone told me he had a beautiful show in his time, with everything painted white. This sends me back into the old BANDWAGONS for the article on his Leonard Bros.

06 June, 2012 02:06
Roger Smith said...

We recall Lou Jacobs took a long hiatus from the Ringling show, as did Merle Evans, still booking every week they wanted to work. If we saw eventual returns, it was after a healthy spell of deep breaths and cleansing of the pipes. Hugo may well have gone with Hard Times, and Mills, as some people on the Ringling show did not and do not consider it the best place to be.

06 June, 2012 19:00

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)