Friday, March 29, 2019

CARD #10


Posted by Chic Silber at 3/29/2019 12:16:00 AM

1 comments:

Roger Smith said...

I can't see a year for this ad, but as early as 1913, Barnes advertised Louis Roth's "Challenge Group of African lions, 24 in number...". In 1915 and '16, 24 was still the claim, as was the challenge. An April 9, 1916 newspaper ad for San Francisco, very similar to this one, also stated 24 lions. Soon after, Roth made it 25, then 28 lions, the biggest cage act of its kind at the time. The August 10, 1917 ad for the Baraboo stand is almost identical, by then heralding 30 lions, and may date the route card seen here. Circus hyperbole being what it is, if anyone could have shown 30 lions, it would have been well within Roth's ability. Roth had later been in Goebel's Thousand Oaks compound for 15 years, and my mentors at Jungleland who had known him told me of him in reverent tones. For those just tuning in, it was Roth who broke in Mabel Stark--a very long story for another time.

As for the rest of the claims listed here, I've studied the Barnes show for decades, and cannot verify that in a given season he carried 150 trainers.

29 March, 2019 22:24

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