Catskill Game Farm #7

Oldslides366, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

From Adam Hill

Hi One and all Well, my self and two other people went to Linda's house on Friday night to get as much as we could. One of the ladies that helped was Kay Rosaire's friend Ann and the other lady was Bobby who volunteers at the Big Cat Habitat. Bobby didn't even know Linda but she took time out of her day to help someone. She hopes that someone will help her whenever she needs it. We might have been able to get more of Linda's things if we would have had more help. Kay went the first time to help, because of her asthma she wasn't able help this time. Kay was the last one to visit with Linda. She said that Linda is doing very well. Unfortunately she hasn't had many visitors. Guys it is very important that her FRIENDS go see her for her short term memory to get better. Linda took time out of her day many, many times to help a lot of people when they needed it, I think we could return the favor. I want to thank the people that sent money to help. I will have that info the next time I post. Thanks again to Ann, Bobby, Kay and Nick. Adam Hill

From Jim Cole

1960, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. This photo was taken in Newport, RI in either 1959 or 1960. It was taken by then teenager Robert Maloney, who helped me to get started as a circus model builder. Jimmy Cole

Charles W. Cushman Photographs

Scan000011154, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

No. 95- RBBB in Chicago 1949

P04509, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Aug. 2, 1949 "Ringling Circus Acrobats"

No. 96- RBBB in Chicago 1949

P04504, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Aug. 2, 1949 "Emmett Kelly"

No. 97- RBBB in Chicago 1949

P04507, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Aug. 2, 1949 "Mrs. Harold Alzana"

No. 98- RBBB in Chicago 1949

P04510, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Aug. 2, 1949 "Alzanas of the high wire"

No. 99- RBBB in Chicago 1949

P04506, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Aug. 2, 1949 "An Alzana lady"

No. 100- RBBB in Chiago 1949

P04505, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Aug. 2, 1949 "Lou Jacobs and midget car"

Harriett Beatty #1 (From Joey Ratliff)

HBeatty2, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Hi Buckles, I'm in the spirit today so here are a couple of more "Beatty family" pictures. Is that your father working "Anna May" in this picture? Thanks. Joey "That's probably Eddie Allen. This act was thrown together almost overnight and I remember hearing that during the dress rehearsal at the Chicago Coliseum "Anna May" went right thru the arena and back to the picket line. For some time afterward she was accompanied by another elephant that stood outside the arena as a steadying influence." Buckles

Harriett Beatty #2

HBeatty1, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. "I was delighted to see these pictures on my return from the Club last night. While seated in the Art Concello booth and enjoying adult beverages, the Blog came up and how the subject of Mr. Beatty had taken a life of it's own. John said. "I wish we knew a little more about Harriett Beatty. We can assume she and her sister Jean were show girls with Hagenbeck-Wallace when she and Clyde met. At that time he would have been a tremendous circus star, no doubt dating girls from Hollywood to New York City and she with a previous marriage and a small child at home." On the way home I was thinking that a book from her viewpoint might have been more interesting than his. Imagine my surprise to find these pictures, particularly the one above showing a light side to her personality. Buckles

From Jack Ryan

gunther1971, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Buckles, Have greatly enjoyed the Clyde Beatty thread, here's another of the greats. This, I think, was 1971. All I can figure is that Gunther must have had an argument with Don Foote. Why ELSE would he be put in pink tights for the season? Only a few men I know could have gotten away with pink tights. Gunther was one of those who could. This was in St. Pete, where the annual Ringling network telecast was taped. (And, where we took most of the year's publicity photos because the lighting was brighter and greatly enhanced.) I had done the opening in Venice, flown back to NYC for further instructions, then just arrived back to the show in St. Pete and was greeting Gunther in the backyard. He looks almost as tired as I was! Best, Jack

More on Clyde Beatty #1 (From Joey Ratliff)

Beatty1, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Buckles, here are three more selections for what is becoming Clyde Beatty week. They speak for themselves. As I have stated here before, Mr. Beatty was gone before I was born so all I have are my collection of all the movies, radio show, photos, books, miscelaneous junk and the legends. I like to compare his legend to Elvis. Was Elevis the greatest singer/musician? No. Was he the King? Yes! Thanks. Joey

More on Clyde Beatty #2

beatty2, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

More on Clyde Beatty #3

beatty3, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

From Dave Price #1

CL56a, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Well, I don't want to be the only one left out of this first meeting with Beatty series. The 1943 Beatty-Wallace Bros show was the first circus I ever saw. For some reason I remember that Beatty used a chair that was stained like a piece of furniture rather than painted. I also remember that he wore khakis that day although I now realize he had primarily worn his trademark whites for years by then. He brought his railroad show to Nashville in 1953 and a friend of my dad's sent us reserve tickets to see the show (my dad had not seen him since Hagenbeck-Wallace played here in 1932). I remember that someone was taking movies through the bars of the arena; long afterward I read that some "Ring of Fear" shots were made while the show was in Tennessee. Not only did we see Beatty's terrific act but it was the first time I had ever seen the great Tommy Hanneford perform. Prior to the show Mr Beatty had walked right by me in the menagerie to show some visiting friend one of the young elephants- I imagine it must have been Pete, then called Pee Wee- and even though I was close enough to touch him, I simply didn't have the nerve to speak. After the show had left town I talked the owner of a feed store out of a poster showing Beatty in the arena. In late 1956 the reactivated Beatty rail show played through Tennessee and I spent a day on the lot. At some point Mr Beatty drove up in a red and white Ford station wagon. Junior took the car and parked it elsewhere while Mr Beatty walked into the big top to inspect the arena. When he came out I asked him to let me take a photo and here it is. Later during the show I got this other picture of him entering the safety cage. We see Junior again. I remember that the guy seated in front of me chewed me out for squeezing between his seat and the next to get the shot. By 1959 I was off with the circus myself and to my great surprise a package came one day that had been forwarded from home. In it were several autographed 8 by 10s sent me by Mr Beatty himself in response to a latter I had written him the previous winter. That fall I was on the Carson and Barnes advance in Louisiana and my boss Francis Kitzman took me to visit the Beatty-Cole show and introduced me to Mr Beatty, who said he wished Francis still had the advance over there. After that Mr Beatty was always very friendly whenever I saw him. I last talked to him on the lot in Waco in 1963. The day after Beatty passed from life's arena, Bob Good wrote me to say, "He was America's greatest contribution to circus achievement. There will never be another Clyde Beatty. God bless him and may he rest in peace."

From Dave Price #2

CL56b, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Clyde Beatty Radio Show (From Eric Beheim)

Clyde Beatty, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. The recently batch of Clyde Beatty photos served to rekindle a lot of happy memories from my childhood in the early 1950s, when my favorite radio program was The Clyde Beatty Show. In Cleveland, it came on every day at 5:00 in the afternoon and I never missed it. It was sponsored by Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, and even though I was only 5 when I first heard it, I can still remember the jingle used for the commercials: “Snap, Crackle and Pop. Rice Krispies are good for you. Fun to listen to. Fun to eat. Eat Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. We do!” (I don’t recall that they ever offered any Clyde Beatty radio premiums like a secret decoder ring or a souvenir photo. I’m sure if they had, I’d have pestered my folks to send it a box top and get one for me!) Looking back, I can see that my life-long interest in the circus and in Clyde Beatty is the result of having listened to this show. Clyde Beatty was my first hero! The opening announcement summed up the program’s basic premise: “ The world’s greatest wild animal trainer Clyde Beatty with an exciting adventure from his brilliant career. The circus means thrills, excitement, and snarling jungle beasts. The circus means fun for young folks and old. But under the Big Top you see only a part of the story. The real drama comes behind the scenes where 500 people live as one family; where Clyde Beatty constantly risks death in the most dangerous act on earth. This master of the big cats has journeyed to Africa and India, hunting down his beasts in their native jungle. All of this is part of the Clyde Beatty Show. The series was produced in Los Angeles using top West Coast talent. Radio actor Vic Perrin played the part of Clyde Beatty and Eve McVeagh was his wife Harriett. (The real Harriett Beatty passed right before the series went on the air. However, they kept her as a character and she figured prominently in most of the stories, which were usually identified as having taken place “a few years ago.”) A total of 52 half-hour episodes were produced. Targeted primarily at younger listeners, the plots ranged from fairly realistic to wildly imaginative. The best episodes were based on incidents taken from Beatty’s books. Brush with Death (my all-time favorite) is based on Beatty’s famous big cage encounter with the male lion Nero that almost cost him his leg. Beauty and the Beast (my second all-time favorite) is based on material from Beatty’s 1941 book Jungle Performers and relates how Harriett became a wild animal trainer. (For a dramatic finale, the scriptwriters used the time when Harriett filled in for Clyde at the Milwaukee Shrine Circus when he was too sick to perform.) Tiger Escape is based on the time when the tigress Gracie escaped from her cage and Beatty had to find and recapture her at night, inside the half completed Detroit Shrine Temple hotel. For most of the episodes, however, the script writers let their imaginations run wild, creating stories that I’m sure Beatty and his close friends must have found highly amusing: Clyde Beatty in an underwater battle with a octopus (Danger in the Deep); Clyde and Harriett captured by headhunters (Amazon Adventure); Clyde Beatty vs. a voodoo cult (Zombie); Clyde Beatty capturing gorillas in Africa (Jungle Joe); and Clyde Beatty investigating reports of a living unicorn (In Search of a Myth.) In at least two cases, scripts were based on incidents from the career of Frank Buck. Leopard on the Loose relates the shipboard escape and subsequent recapture of a leopard that Buck described in his 1930 book Bring ‘em Back Alive. Borneo Devil Beast is loosely based on the capture of a giant orangutan that was shown in Buck’s 1934 documentary film Wild Cargo. Episode # 45 Mystery Island seems to have been inspired by Beatty’s 1934 12-chapter movie serial The Lost Jungle: Clyde and Harriett find themselves on an uncharted island that contains wild animals from both Africa and India. (It is later revealed that these animals had escaped from a freighter that had gone aground on the island’s rocky shore.) Even though it was produced at a time when radio was rapidly losing ground to television, The Clyde Beatty Show had first-rate production values, with good acting, sound effects, and music. Clyde Beatty (Vic Perrin) often served as the narrator, setting the stage and then describing events in the story that would follow. Whenever the action took place during a circus performance, the music was taken from the 1941 Columbia album recorded by Merle Evans and the Ringling-Barnum band. The show’s theme music was done in the style of an old-time circus march. I’m told that it was often used as an overture on the shows that Beatty appeared with during the 1950’s. Of the 52 episodes that were produced, 46 still survive and can be purchased from several different dealers in old time radio shows such as Radio Memories and Jerry Haendiges Old Time Radio. (Check out their web sites.) For those of you old enough to remember old time radio drama, these shows will bring back a lot of happy memories. If you were born after the “golden age” of radio, there are no pictures to watch and you have to use your imagination. However, once you get caught up in a well-produced radio drama (theater of the mind) you’ll quickly find that it is far more satisfying than television (theater of the mindless!) Eric

Harriett and Clyde Beatty (From Buckles)

Scan000011173, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. I always thought that Mr. Beatty's greatest legacy was that for whatever the reason, he represented the American Circus to the public of his day and he handled that position with character and dignity. My father put it more simply by saying that he never had a better boss and he never missed a pay day.

Clyde Beatty Elephants 1954 #1

Scan000011175, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. The six big elephants are: "Sidney", "Anna May", "Babe", "Hattie", "Cora" and "Inez". Seen here with Colleen Alpaugh and Richard Shipley.

Clyde Beatty Elephants 1954 #2

Scan000011176, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. "Pee Wee" (Pete), "Suzy Q" (Sue) and "Dena"

To Joey Ratliff

Scan000011174, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. FRANK "CHEERFUL" GARDNER 1903 Ringling Bros. (menagerie hand) 1904 Hagenbeck Show- St. Louis World's Fair 1906 Carl Hagenbeck Circus 1909 Hagenbeck-Wallace (Asst. Supt. elephants) ......... Patterson Carnival .........J.E. Henry Circus 1911-13 Sun Bros. Circus 1915-17 Cole Bros. Circus (J. Augustus Jones) 1918 Walter L. Main (Andrew Downie) 1919-22 Al G. Barnes Circus 1923-24 John Robinson Circus (American Circus Corp.) 1925-38 Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus 1939-40 H-W elephants in California .............. 1943 Russell Bros. Circus 1944-45 Arthur Bros. Circus 1946-50 Polack Bros. Circus 1951 Howard Y. Bary Zoo Train (Died Mar. 17, 1952) My dad first went to work for Mr. Gardner in 1922 his last year with the Barnes Show but being young and elephant crazy would jump around to other shows yet his description of the Barnes Show in his letters is incredible. Also this was his first meeting with Highpockets (Gardner's Assistant). He was back with Gardner on the John Robinson Show when JR and H-W switched elephant herds the winter of 1924-25 and detailed the move from W. Baden to Peru. From here he handled "Black Diamond" with Atterbury Bros. and Monroe Bros. and a lot of time at Hall's place in his unending quest to own his own elephant. His last days around Cheerful would have been during his time with Sells-Floto (1930-32) when they both shared the Peru Quarters.

From Bob Cline

Joe, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. This letter from Bob shows that my info on the demise of "Joe" is off one year and indicates his picture was not from the same set as the other two. I should have known from the difference in Cheerful's clothes.

More on Obert Miller

Scan000011172, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. This is the Kelly-Miller menagerie in Perry, Iowa May 30, 1950. For some reason it was called the horse top and was included in the price of admission. By that I mean the public passed thru it on their way from the marquee to the big top. The caged animals were displayed in the side show. Us seat butchers put it up each morning, no big deal, it came off a canvas spool in one piece, nothing to lace up, the big top stake driver drove the stakes and Smokey or Logan would take it up with an elephant, hardest part was hanging the side wall and guying it out. As soon as the night performance started the big top crew would take it down. But like all 15 year olds, I voiced an opinion on most everything and one Sunday, Obert came into the tent just as we were finishing and I announced, "Mr. Miller, I don't see why we bother setting this thing up on Sunday since there's only one performance and in a few hours they will be taking it down already." He calmly replied, "Young man, I wish we had held this conversation earlier, it would have saved me a lot of money (he gave me the exact figure) all I can say is, if you don't want to put it up, I'll get someone who will!" End of conversation.

"Master of the Jungle Killers" #1 (From Richard Flint)

img003, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. I knew that—somewhere—I still had a tiny little photo of when a few of us knocked on the door of Beatty's Airstream trailer and asked for his autograph. Here it is along with the program he inscribed to me and one other photo of Beatty made that day, June 26, 1961, in Chicopee Falls, Mass. I got up early that morning and saw a big top go up for the first time in my life and I still have some posters for the date. I haven't missed the Beatty-Cole show (and it will always be that to me) since then and my 48th annual visit comes up in just another week. I was lucky, of course, to see Beatty perform a few more times. No question about it, he was a great showman as well as a gentleman who graciously responded to yet another young admirer that day. Beatty provided great memories that have given him immortality. Dick Flint Baltimore

"Master of the Jungle Killers" #2

img004, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

"Master of the Jungle Killers" #3

img005, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Hagenbeck-Wallace Elephants 1940 #1

Scan000011165, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. When Hagenbeck-Wallace folded in Riverside, Calif. in 1938 the show was moved into the vacated Barnes Quarters at Baldwin Park, Calif. Included were 23 Ringling owned elephants. The following year when the Ringling Show played Los Angles, the best 12 were added to the Ringling herd and 9 of the least desirable Ringling elephants were dropped off. So the elephants seen being exercised here were an assortment of rejects gradually being sold but now stabled at Goebel's Lion Farm at 1,000 Oaks, California 3/3/1940. At left is Cheerful Gardner and at right is his long time assistant Hurley Woodson. "D.R. once told me that when they heard that elephants were for sale, he and Obert took off for California in their biggest truck. When they arrived, D.R said he was terrified since they all looked so big and dangerous and Obert explained to Cheerful that they had a small family show in Oklahoma and had little experience with elephants. Cheerful walked them down the line and said, "Here is an old cow that won't give you a minutes trouble!" So for $600 on Jan.1, 1940 the Millers bought "Hattie", their first elephant. Ten years later when Cheerful delivered "April", "May" and "June" to Hugo from the Polack Show, Obert brought up the subject of their previous California dealings and thanked him for picking out "Hattie". Even tho she only made two seasons she was so well remembered that they changed "April's" name to "Hattie". HATTIE 1895-18 Ringling Bros. Circus.......1919-39 Ringling-Barnum Circus.......1939 Baldwin Park Qtrs........1940-41 Al G. Kelly & Miller Bros. Circus.......(Died Nov. 3, 1941 at Cranfield, Okla.)

Hagenbeck-Wallace Elephants 1940 #2

Scan000011167, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Hagenbeck-Wallace Elephants 1939

Scan000011166, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Cheerful Gardner and "Joe" at 1000 Oaks, Calif. 3/3/40. JOE Imported into Bridgeport Quarters in Nov. of 1922. 1923-33 Ringling-Barnum Circus 1934 Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus 1935-36 Barnes Quarters in Baldwin Park, Calif. 1937-38 Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus 1939-40 Surplus Ringling elephants at 1,000 Oaks, Calif. (Died during the summer of 1940)

Charles Kitto Pictures #1

Scan000011168, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Noted Circus Historian and photographer Charlie Kitto on the Ringling Show lot at Madison, Wisconsin 7/29/33.

Charles Kitto Pictures #2

Scan000011169, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Young man in shorts is future blogger Robert Kitto on the Cole Show lot in Janesville, Wisconsin 7/19/45.

Charles Kitto Pictures #3

Scan000011170, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Robert Kitto, Bill Woodcock, Tom Parkinson and unidentified lady on the Cole Show lot at Rockford, Illinois 7/12/47.

Charles Kitto Pictures #4

Scan000011171, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Robert Kitto and friend on the Cole Show lot at Rockford, Illinois 7/12/47.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #1 (From Jim Cole)

IMG_5890, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #2

IMG_5982, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #3

IMG_5978, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #4

IMG_5965, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #5

IMG_6055, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #6

IMG_6013, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #7

IMG_6043, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #8

IMG_6025, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes in Florida #9

IMG_6049, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Carson & Barnes 2008

IMG_5912, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. The hospitality extended by Barbara and Gary Byrd was outstanding. Jim and I were placed in box seats surrounded by such luminaries as Ron Morris, Donna McMahon, Roy Houston, Jim Cole, Dick Johnson and the ever dapper Ward Hall. This was the first time I had seen the show using this format and it was non-stop entertainment. Flying act, high wire, motorcycle on the incline and revolving wheel. I counted about eight 3-ring displays, one of which included ten web girls on the track. Performance was concluded by Billy Morris working the show's three elephants in excellent fast paced routine. I missed seeing an elephant act in each end ring and a long mount on the track but when Barbara told me that they had just paid $14,000 to fuel up the fleet that morning I can see where effeciency is the only way to survive. Elliott asked Mr. Byrd how much equipment they used and he said 24 semis and 30 vehicles of lesser size. The attendance at the matinee was near capacity and a full house was anticipated for the night show. Jimmy Cole sent the above picture but it was taken the previous day in Ocala. He was snapping away during yesterday's performance so we'll see what he comes up with.

Hubert Castle Circus #1 (From Toby Styles)

Pettus017, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Buckles: A few pictures of Bert Pettus with Hubert Castle Circus. They used to play the Stampede Coral every year, I was working elephants at the zoo and right after work I used to go over to the show. Spent many a wonderful hour backstage jackpotting with Bert and Red Hartmann and Roger Smith. Bert was a real great guy taught me how to braid a whip popper. I believe the elephants were Zeta, Peggy and Jan. Toby Styles

Hubert Castle #2

Pettus015, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Hubert Castle Circus #3

Pettus012, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Hubert Castle Circus #4

Vidbel001, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Hubert Castle Circus #5

Pettus018, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Side Note!

Scan000011164, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. These are two of the elephants seen in the series above when owned by Ed Wideman "Peggy" (named after Peggy MacDonald) and "Zetta" (named for Ed's wife Arzetta). Mac had previously trained the big Elephant for Ed in 1948 however "Peggy" was brought into Hugo completely green. This picture taken the winter of 1951-52 at Little Bob Stevens quarters. In the afternoon after things had been wrapped up with KM my dad and Logan would go over to work on this little elephant for Ed, a retired Post Man, who didn't have a clue but as my dad would say, "No need for her to grow up in ignorance!" I might add that there was no fee charged, other than a steak dinner.