Another added attraction!

Scan11278, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Victoria Davenport

Scan11277, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Barnum & Bailey 1913 lay-out

Scan11280, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. I have glanced at this picture many times but due to it's bad condition I never bothered to notice the scope of this show. Taken in Decatur, Alabama Oct. 31, 1913, it appears that the menagerie and side show in the background are about a half mile away.

ASPCA et al. v. Feld Entertainment, Inc.

To all, Here we go! Once again, the lawsuit filed by animal special interest groups on the treatment of circus elephants is UP! It has been put off 8 years while the extremists capitalize on the publicity value of their meritless allegations. Soon the jig will be up! The trial is to begin Wednesday! You can stay up to date with the facts by going to the CFA website www.circusfans.org. Under the CFA logo on the left, look for "search site" - key in the word "trial" and click on "go". It will bring up the links to the latest information from Feld Entertainment. This is the same site to which they will be directing reporters. The people at Feld have been kind enough to include we CIRCUS FANS in their daily updates. You will be privy to the same information as the press. Use it often. We are ready to support Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey, The Greatest Show On Earth. We have several other affirmative grass roots campaigns about to kick off in the USA! Be alert. Be ready. Be with it and for it! This is OUR day in court at last! Regards, Gary C. Payne CFA Nat'l Animal Welfare Chairman

From Brian Liddicoat

Joe and Brian, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Buckles. I believe you may know, or know of, Joe Hedrick. He furnishes the camels, donkeys and sheep we use on the Christmas spectaculars. Here are a couple shots of us together, just as he was loading the animals for the trek back to Kansas from Nashville at the close of the show on December 28th. Joe is quite a character and a good animal man. Saw the pic of Eric Jaeger recently. Been ten years now since we were building Kaleidoscape. Time flies.

Joe and Brian with camels

Joe and Brian with camels, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

The last of the Wayne Jackson pictures.

sit up, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Location: OK, US Date taken: April 1947 "This has to be Kelly-Miller in quarters in Hugo, Oklahoma. The show carried six elephants in 1947 "Tena", "Margaret", "Elsie", "Daisy", "Dixie" and "Myrtle". I remember them all well from the early 1950's," Buckles

Barnes

Barnes, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Three boys walking near an elephant from the Barnes Circus which is walking down the middle of Atlantic St. near Nevins. Location: Brooklyn, NY, US Date taken: June 1891 "The date and location looks about right but no idea who Barnes would be. Much too early for "Al G." Buckles

RBBB Lex Barker

Lex Barker, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Lex Barker at a charity show put on by Hollywood stars with Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus to benefit St. John's Hospital in Hollywood. Location: Los Angeles, CA, US Date taken: July 1948

RBBB Hugo Schmitt

HSchmitt, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. "Hugo Schmitt in either 1948 or '49 in Madison Sq. Garden holding the elephants for the "leaps". This was a "generally useful" number done by the acrobats. When I saw the show in '48 the band played "The Storming of El Caney". Doesn't get any better than that." Buckles

RBBB Spec Blanket

SpecBlanket, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

From Buckles

Scan11275, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. This is a better shot of blanket.

From Richard Reynolds #1

!cid_X_MA1_1233688879@aol, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. There has been controversy about the age of Lin Wang when he died on February 25, 2003 in the Taipei zoo in Taiwan (John Goodall has acknowledged that his 2009 death date is wrong). The zoo claimed that Lin Wang was 86 at the time of his death. This is a photo of Lin Wang with Chinese Commander-in-Chief Sun Li-jen and US Senator Warren Knowland (California). This was after Word War II. I estimate it was taken around 1947. As you see, the elephant is a young tusker. I am certainly no elephant age expert. I’ve just seen a lot of them, and in my opinion the elephant with Senator Knowland is not more than about 15 years old. He looks to be about the same age as the Indian circus tusker Tommy (later the celebrated King Tusk), when I photographed him in 1958. We know Tommy was born around 1944 or 1945, and therefore he was about 13 or 14 in 1958. He was working in harness, pulling up the tent etc. Based on the circa 1947 photo I would put Lin Wang’s birth in about 1932. That would have made him around 10 when the Japanese took him in 1942, perhaps too young to be doing heavy logging work. Maybe Lin Wang was tagging along with other work elephants, doing light pack work and learning the trade as it were, when he fell into enemy hands. Whatever, I would put him at or just over 70 when he died. In my opinion that is a more acceptable Asian elephant longevity than the 86 assigned by the Taipei zoo.

From Richard Reynoilds #2

!cid_X_MA1_1233689394@aol, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. This photo was taken of Lin Wang at the Tai Pei zoo (Taiwan) on October 18, 2002. He certainly does not look anything like an 86-year old. Here is some interesting background on Lin Wang, a lot of it from Jane Wang in “The Taciturn Pachyderm - -Linwang the Elephant Veteran” (translated by Brent Heinrich). Lin Wang was with a group of logging elephants in the forests of Northern Burma when World War II came to that land. The Imperial Japanese Army commandeered him (and other elephants) during their April 1942 offensive, which led to their capturing Lashio and the severing of the Burma Road. [It linked Lahsio with Kunming (Yunnan Province) China.] With the entire Chinese coast under Japanese control, the Burma Road was the only route by which those at War with Japan could supply China with critical food supplies and war materials. The Soviet Union was not then at war with Japan, so its eastern Chinese border areas provided no access into China.. With the Burma Road under Japanese control, America then turned to air, flying the Himalayan hump. That was hazardous at best and not all that effective. Lin Wang went to work as a pack animal for the Japanese. According to author Wang, it was in 1943 when the Chinese India Corps got hold of him. They had been training in India with the objective of retaking Burma. (Given what I know about operations and engagements in that theater of the war, it must have been very late in 1943 or more likely well into 1944). The “capture “of Lin Wang happened near Namhkam Burma, north of Lashio. The Chinese sent out a scouting party to find some work elephants. Disguised as Burmese, they came upon Lin Wang and 12 other pack elephants in a thick bamboo grove. Burmese elephant drivers working for the Japanese were tending them - -no doubt under pain of death. One of the Chinese, an intelligence officer who could speak Burmese, pretended to be acting on orders for the Japanese. He directed the mahouts to march the elephants, but in a direction toward the Chinese lines. The mahouts figured out what was happening and fled. The Chinese then took the elephants and put them to work hauling ammunition and other supplies. On 7 March 1945 the Chinese Army retook Lashio. The next month, with the Burma Road once more in Allied hands, the Chinese India Corps used it to march Lin Wang and his pachyderm mates from Lashio into China. In 1947 Lin Wang was taken to Formosa (Taiwan). In 1954 he took up residence in the Taipei zoo.

Oldest Asian elephant dies at age 86 at zoo ?

ELEPHANT, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. FROM JOHN GOODALL: The China Post staff Feb 27, 2009 Grandpa Lin Wang, the world’s oldest Asian elephant in captivity died in Taipei yesterday. He was 86. The old pachyderm was found dead in his pen pond at the Taipei City Zoo at Mucha at 200 a.m. “He died in dignity from extreme weakness due to old age,” a zoo spokesman said. Lin Hua-ching said the grand old elephant, brought here by former Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army Sun Li-jen in 1947, showed signs of frailty after the Chinese New Year holiday early this month. Lin Wang (Forest Prosperity) started moving slowly and eating less, Lin said. The octogenarian had been lying in his pond — affectionately called the White House by zoo staff — since last Friday. The elephant keeper said that everybody in the zoo knew the grand old daddy was dying, but was saddened by his surprise surmise. “But,” Lin said, “we found a bit of solace from Lin Wang’s dignified way of passing.” The city zoo pitched a tent near the pond to perform an autopsy on Lin Wang to find the cause of death. A postmortem report showed he died from heart-lung failures. Lin said the zoo plans to send Lin Wang’s body to a taxidermist. The skeleton will go on display after it is reconstructed. The whole undertaking requires around NT$5 million. “We hope local businesses will contribute to the project,” Lin said. Lin Wang’s extraordinary story began in 1943 when General Sun, while a division commander fighting in Burma during the Second World War, obtained him from Japanese prisoners of war his troops had taken. The elephant 26 years old then. He was brought to Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan in 1947 and given to the Taipei City Zoo seven years later. FROM RICHARD REYNOLDS: John - - - There's something seriously wrong with this story. It is attributed to the China Post for February 27, 2009 - - three weeks from now. Moreover, it cannot be new news because Lin Wang died on 25 or 26 February 2003, six years ago. I am looking at my vertical file on him and there are several Taiwanese and other news stories about his death in 2003. What in the world gives with this? Maybe the mainland Chinese are only now finding out about his demise. Attached is my detailed memo to the late Clin Keeling which makes a strong case (I think) for debunking that 86-year old claim. He was no doubt an old male elephant but not that old. Richard FROM KEN KAWATA: Momentarily I thought I was having a nightmare or something, glad it was an error. Yes, Richard Reynolds, Mark Rosenthal, the late Marvin Jones and I went over this pretty thoroughly when the initial news of his death arrived and I kept a file on him. All the best, Ken Kawata

Carts & Carriages #1

Scan11273, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Barnum & Bailey

Carts & Carriages #2

Scan11270, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Ringling Bros. Circus

Carts & Carriages #3

Scan11266, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Great Floto Shows

Carts & Carriages #4

Scan11271, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Great Floto Shows

Carts & Carriages #5

Scan11268, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Al G. Barnes Circus "Barney" and "Vance".

Carts & Carriages #6

Scan11272, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Al G. Barnes Circus

Carts & Carriages #7

Scan10264, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Sells-Floto Circus

Carts & Carriages #8

Scan11267, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Sells-Floto Circus This unique arching shaft from the carriage fit into a socket whereby the elephant could waltz during her single number in the performance.

Carts & Carriages #9

Scan11269, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Sells-Floto Circus

Carts & Carriages #10

Scan11264, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Sells-Floto Circxus

Carts & Carriages #11

MAIL0086, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Sells-Floto Circus

Carts & Carriages #12

Scan11274, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Sells-Floto Circus Lucia Zora with "Kas" and "Mo".

Question Re Circus Barum!

Scan11265, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. From anonymous: Any American circus ever use a bull tub for unloading from railroad cars? Or, was this a retired tub, kept with the car for the purpose? "The Dailey Show used ramps for the ring stock, baggage stock , lead stock and baby elephants but used a bull tub for the big elephant car. I asked both Smokey and Rex and neither seemed to know why, they did as they were told." Buckles

Tampa's Next Big Event!

MAIL0429, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Feld Entertainment's MONSTER JAM is heading to Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. This will be an all-day family event enabling the kiddies, for a modest fee, to actually ride in one of the huge trucks. Additional concessions will also be made available. Currently there are several dozen cars involved in the production but like elephants, that number might be reduced to a more practical number. In the forseeable future, a conservation site for old retired monster trucks is in the planning stages. GENTLEMEN!..........START YOUR ENGINES! Gentleman, start your engines.

Circus Barum #1 (From Henry Schrorer)

Cropped 0001, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Some pictures of my act with the Barum Elephants 1979/80. Before I arrived on the show the Elephants where hobbled between their legs because the liked to take off on the walk to and from the train. I called it the chain gang and got rid of it right from the beginning. Henry Schroer

Circus Barum #2

004, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Circus Barum #3

003, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Circus Barum #4

Cropped 0002, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Circus Barum #5

10 in the ring, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Circus Barum #6

009, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Circus Barum #7

002, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Circus Barum #8

014, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Circus Barum #9

006, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Circus Busch #1 (From Wayne Jackson)

EGermany, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Busch's People's Circus stopping before Soviet Officers sitting in a box. Location: Bad Schandau, Germany Date taken: April 1954

Circus Busch #2

c, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

This Morning's Tampa Tribune!

Scan11264, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. After the usual Buccaneer melt down, I had hoped that we might get something more interesting for tonight's Super Bowl, like a match up between the Manning brothers but alas it was not to be. I will watch none the less but as always, will turn off the sound during the desecration of the National Anthem as well as the half-time show where the likelyhood of a groin strain is more apt than during the game. And if that old drama queen Brent Musberger is involved in any way, I will enjoy a totally silent evening.

TIGER! TIGER!

Scan11262, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. My dad wrote on the back of this picture: Terrell Jacobs' "Big Duke"

On the subject of tigers! (From Eric Beheim)

TIGER-1, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Frank Buck’s final recorded performance was TIGER, an album of children’s records adapted from two stories in Buck’s first book BRING ‘EM BACK ALIVE: “Man Eater,” (describing the capture of a man eating tiger) and “Loose on Board,” (telling about the recapture of an escaped leopard onboard a ship at sea.) To simplify things a bit, the tiger takes the role of both cats. He is also “downgraded” from a man-eater into a cow killer. (According to Peter Muldavin, the author of THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO VINTAGE CHILDREN’S RECORDS, the album’s producer’s 8-year old daughter attended the recording session and later had bad dreams and sleepless nights after hearing a story about a tiger killing and eating a man. It was then decided that a cow killing tiger would be less upsetting to young, impressionable children, and the story line was changed accordingly.) TIGER was produced like an old time show, with sound effects, a full cast of actors, and an animal imitator who growls like a tiger. Radio actor Merrill E. Joels serves as the narrator Captain Harry Curtis, and Frank Buck plays himself.

TIGER #2

TIGER-2, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. The plot follows the book fairly closely. After the tiger attack is reported to Buck, he has a pit dug along the trail that the tiger will most likely use when he returns for second helpings. After a few days, the tiger does return and falls into the pit. Using lassos, Buck and his native helpers are eventually able to restrain him enough so that he can be safely put into a cage.

TIGER #3

TIGER-3, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Later, on board ship, the tiger escapes and makes his way into the ship’s dining room. Crawling through a dumb waiter, Buck enters the dining room and lassos the tiger, which is then pulled back into its cage. The story ends with the tiger safely installed in a zoo. Although Buck was seriously ill when he recorded his lines, his voice comes across as that of a man who is more than capable of facing an enraged tiger and getting the better of him. Unfortunately, by the time the album was released on April 17, 1950, Buck was already dead from lung cancer.

TIGER #4

TIGER-4, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. TIGER came out right when the record industry was undergoing a “battle of the speeds” with 45-rpm and 33 1/3-rpm records both vying to become the successor to 78-rpm records. As was the standard industry practice back then, TIGER was released in all three speeds. (The LP version had a Gene Autry adventure on the flip side.) These records were played on the children’s radio shows that I listened to starting when I was 4 years old. As a result, Frank “Bring ‘em Back Alive” Buck became one of my first heroes.

TIGER #5

TIGER-5, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. A few years later, I checked out a copy of Buck’s book ON JUNGLE TRAILS from the “bookmobile,” a sort of miniature library on wheels that would stop off at my elementary school from time to time. Not long afterwards, Buck’s old documentary films began to appear on TV, and I never missed one when it came on. All of this resulted in an interest in Frank Buck that continues to this day. The TIGER record album sometimes turns up on eBay. It can also be custom-ordered on a CD from Peter Muldavin at kiddie78s@aol.com. If you’re a Frank Buck fan, or if you missed TIGER when it first came out, it is well worth having and listening to.

On the subject of Frank Buck (From Wayne Jackson)

Busch1, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Beer Baron August A. Busch Jr. Pres. of Anheuser-Busch brewery with pet elephant from his private menagerie. Location: US Date taken: October 1959

August Busch Jr. Family #2

ABucsh2, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

August Busch Jr. Family #3

ABusch3, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

This brings to the subject of "Peggy" and "Tessie"

Scan11263, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Pictured above is "Tess" a grand old elephant with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus that was sold to August Busch Sr. following the 1922 season as a Christmas gift for his children. In 1927 he purchased a second elephant from H-W, this time a punk named "Peggy". Thirty five years later when I used to visit Benny White and Carly Peterson at Busch Gardens I was surprised to learn that those two names were still in use. As far as I know, they might still have a "Tessie" and a "Peggy" in the herd. TESS 1897 Carl Hagenbeck Animal Exhibit (Chicago Fair) 1898-06 Great Wallace Show 1907-22 Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus (Sold to August Busch Sr. Animal Farm) (Later went to the Broadmore Zoo near Colorado Springs)