Frank Buck & Friend

| May 1, 2012

Frank Buck an entrepreneur extraordinaire. He was an importer and exporter of wild animals,  a movie maker,  and dabbled in the circus . Some one created this nickname for him,”Bring em Back Alive.” Not bad for a small town fellow from Gainesville, Texas. Photo taken in 1937. Pete Kolozsy has made a very interesting comment.

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Frank Buck

| May 1, 2012

It really is a shame that they didn’t have TV back in those days. In this picture, Frank Buck and one of his animal handlers are doing a radio show to a live audience but those at home had to listen and use the theater of the mind. From the collection of Jerry Osborne. Thank […]

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Mel Koontz

| May 1, 2012

Mel was the head trainer at Jungleland and World Jungle Compound for several years. I don’t  want to confuse you but both names are the same place. Different partnerships in the business made for different names,  but in the end it still belonged to Louis Goebel. Now back to Mel, he was constantly training young […]

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Mabel & Mel

| May 1, 2012

Jungleland compound late 1950’s. Mabel Stark and Mel Koontz.

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Mel Koontz

| May 1, 2012

This photo of Mel and his panther was taken during a training session in a back area of Jungleland, World Jungle Compound mid 1950’s.  Photo given to me by my friend Jerry Osborne who is the nephew of Billy Richards who owned the compound with Trader Horne for a short time.

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The Great Wallace Circus

| May 1, 2012

On the envelope that the negative of this photo came in, was written Great Wallace Circus calliope. It indeed is a wonderful photo, I only wish there was a date on it…….OK circus fans, come through for me. Give me a date.

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World Jungle Compound

| May 1, 2012

On the left is Trader Horn. The person on the right was a trainer at the compound but I can not remember name….Sorry.  This photo along with others were given to the nephew of Billy Richards, Jerry Osborne, and now Jerry shares them with me. Thanks. Roger Smith named the person next to Trader Horne. […]

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Mel Koontz

| May 1, 2012

Mel was always working with his cats. His type of training was geared toward the motion picture business and he surely did a lot of it. Just about every movie made with a lion, leopard or tiger was with Mel and his cats. The circus wagon in this photo was one of many that Louie […]

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Mabel Stark

| May 1, 2012

Photo taken atthe  Jungleland compound, Thousand Oaks, Calif. early 1960’s.

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Dick McGraw’s Promo #1

| May 1, 2012

This is the actual release for the photo of Dick and the tiger.

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