Cheerful Gardner
Posted By thecircusblog on January 31, 2010
Jack Badal sent me this photo of Cheerful. The photo was taken in the back yard of the Hagenbeck & Wallace Circus in 1931. I took the photo into Office Depot to have it reduced smaller so I could scan it better for the circus blog. I handed it to a young lady and explained what I needed her to do. She then looked at the picture and said “Oh My God”, and I suddenly knew what she thought! I settled her down and said this is a trick, it’s done in the circus, the elephant is not eating the man. The trick is called a head carry and the trainer here in this photo knows what he is doing and so does the elephant……..I saw this trick done once before in person by the late Wally Ross, a well known bull man. In the movie “Elephant Walk”, Wally and the elephant Babe are seen doing this trick to make it look like the animal is killing one of the actors. The movie was shot in the 1950’s if you want to rent it.
Great comment please read.
About the author
thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
4 Responses to “Cheerful Gardner”
Leave a Reply
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up. Patience is a virtue; there is no need to re-submit your comment.
Could you please tell me when Wally passed away. I traveled with Circus Vargus as a summer intern from Moorpark College, It was the summer 0f 75 .. as i remember. I went with another girl from the program. We arrived and no one talked to us for about a month.. eventually we found out Wally had threatened the whole animal department…. saying ,that if anyone laid a hand on us.. he would come after them with his bull hook! He took good care of us:-) We learned a lot about elephants… and life! What an amazing man he was! Thanks, Ginger Franz
Thankѕ to my father whߋ stated to mе oon the topic of this blog, this webpaɡe
is ցenuinely amazing.
Feel free to visit my blog – mobile commerce
I was told that my great grandmas sister was married to cheerful Gardner and that she performed with him also. I grew up in Peru Indiana which is where they wintered the circus animals. I have heard many stories about the circus people, not all good either, lol. I am wanting any info or pics pertaining to them. I am willing to pay. I want to hand down to my kids and so on. I live about 30 miles from Peru now and I think I am the only relative still close to that area…. Thanks.
I remember Wally Ross well. He lived next door to me in Thousand Oaks, Ca. on Erbes Rd. He and his wife Betty were great neighbors. Betty trained circus dogs and had quite a few I remember. We lived there from 1959 and were there for quite a few years. I remember when Wally worked at POP (Pacific Ocean Park) Wally took my dad & I where the public wasn’t able to go, and I remember seeing his chimp there. I remember when he was doing work out at Pt. Magu with dolphins I believe. I never knew what I was going to see when I woke up in the morning & looked out my window. One time I saw a pink elephant. Lol! Wally trained elephants too at Jungleland in T.O. I remember how I was told that he got hurt badly by an elepant as well. His wife Betty would play her organ that she had, and I loved to hear play. Dad and Betty traded organs I remember because what we had suited her best for what she needed. I also remember Mable Stark, the famous lion trainer from Jungleland. Mable used to get her hair done in the beauty shop where I worked. I remember one time when I had to set her hair for her because the lady who usually did it was late. I remember when Mable didn’t show up for her appt. there too. She had comitted suicide beause they couldn’t insure her at Jungleland anymore. Very sad. I remember the Big John Strong Circus too, I used to do John Strong’s wifes hair. I forget her first name, but I do remember her being a very nice lady. Hubert Wells and Roland Raffler lived in Carlisle Canyon in the T.O. area I remember this because I also lived a couple of houses away from there as well, after I was married. Hubert owned Animal Actors Of Hollywood at that time.