From Bruce W. Neurohr #1

Your name was provided to me by Fred Dahlinger in Wisconsin. I look forward to visiting your blog to learn more about the history of the circus and elephants in particular. I am attaching a couple of photos of a tusk given to me 45-years ago by Ward Tracy DDS. Dr. Tracy received the tusk from his uncle, W. D. Tracy DDS whom I was told received the tusk as a gift from P. T. Barnum (presumably his patient) and represented as the tusk of Jumbo the first elephant of the circus. Fred has already dissuaded me from any belief that this is actually the tusk of the first Jumbo; however, apparently there were other “Jumbos” around the US that he may have been referring to…I simply don’t know. Is there any way you can identify what elephant this tusk is from? Fred thought the brass ball at the end and the martingale attachment might be a clue? The tusk in the picture is 25-inches long and the diameter of the tusk at the end is just under 3-inches. Thanks so much for any help you can give me. I have certainly learned a lot about Jumbo and the Barnum & Bailey Circus through this exploration.