I'm sending you this photo in hopes that you can help me identify this group of
men. Fellow Windjammer Wendy Schmehl from Penna. picked it up at this summer's
Worldwide Circus Summit in Springfield, Mass. She thinks it is a band photo,
but I disagree, but I cannot identify anyone in the photo. What kind of wagon
is that? Can you help identify what group of fellows this would be on the 1934
RBBB show? The uniforms seem to be a little more scruffy-looking than a Merle
Evans group of bandsmen.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
From April Zink
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7 comments:
Scruffy looking you say......
.....might be the Elephant Dept. the show carried 35 that season under the direction of Bill Emory.
This was one of two quarter pole wagons carried by the show during these years. This is #45 which was 32' long and carried the short red quarter poles (poles were 33' 6" long). The other quarter pole wagon was #44 and was 35' long and carried the 41' long blue quarter poles.
Looks like a hurry up shot with some of them not dressed and don't see a boss? Most of Kelty's group photos always has a department head standing with his crew. Most groups of ticket takers, ushers, etc are always neat as a pin. Hostlers, canvas crew, blacksmith department, train crew, etc just had their work clothes on.
Uniforms with the white center stripes in this photo look like animal men from the menagerie photos of the time. The military type uniforms look like elephant presenters, but I can't enlarge this photo to see any faces clearly.
thank you for sharing the photo.
p.j.
Thanks P J as looking real close you can see top the 4 and part of the 5 on the far right.
Those were the days as if you had enough warm bodies you could move a mountain and then some.
Harry in Texas
I think that is Bill Emory 5th from the right. I don't see Wm Blackburn in the photo.
p.j.
One of the pennants appears to say Aquarium. What's up with that?
The tent in the background is the menagerie ( if you enlarge the photo you can see the top of a cage wagon were the canvas is dropped down). Going back in time, an aquarium wasn't just for fish as we think of them today. The library of Congress has a 1898 Ringling Bros litho for their menagerie with both Aquarium and Aviary in the title. It was printed by Courier and I think you can still find it by going to the Library of Congress web site maybe. Back in 1898 the Aquarium would have had included seals, alligators, hippos, etc. At the time this photo was taken the show still had two wagons of seals, but they were kept in the backyard and not in the menagerie as they performed. So maybe the only animal would have been the hippo, as I don't think they had alligators at this time and any snakes would have been in the side show. The second flag in the photo has the word Aviary on it, and the show at this time would have had a cage of macaws and another with cranes and storks. p.j.
I said scruffier looking than a Merle Evans group. No intention to disparage the Elephant Dept. Thanks for the discussion
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