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The Circus Blog by Ivan M. Henry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.thecircusblog.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.thecircusblog.com.
Bobby Berosini
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2009
Bobby Berosini had one of the best great ape acts in existence. and so did PaPa Berosini. There was one man prior to the Berosini’s that set the example of training the great apes….. he was Reuben Castang. My father told me one day…”if you want to be a chimp man, there’s the example” and he pointed to Reuben Castang. Read comment below.
Sinatra and Bobby
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2009
What is that saying? ” A picture is like a thousand words”. In Vegas even a Rang is popular. Looks like they had the same Barber.
Circus Program
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2009
Notice the price of this program ……no doubt it became an autograph book.
The Big Snake
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2009
When I found this photo I remembered that Clyde Beatty did almost anything to create excitement. He was a one man show and his audience ate it up. That is what it’s all about.
The Head Carry
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2009
Here is a perfect photo of the “head carry” performed by Cheerful Gardener in the backyard of the Hagenbeck and Wallace Circus in the early 1930’s. There was the leg carry as well but it was preformed mostly by the women of the circus. In the 1950’s a motion picture called “Elephant Walk.” It was about a plantation owner in India. He moved into a rich land area to plant commercial crops, there by taking it away from the elephants. The story leads to an elephant uprising to take back their land by stampeding and tearing though the plantation and the home of the owner. In one of the scenes, it shows a man being carried by his head…of course to add terror and excitement. The man was Wally Ross and the elephant was Babe. At the present time in the countrysides farming is taking over land in many area’s of India. The same thing is happening to the farms and plantations and they are shooting the elephants to stop their normal grazing migration, which farmers call a rampage. Elephants have to eat and they will do what they have to do to survive. Maybe there are to many of them perhaps the US should lift the embargo on the Asian elephant.
World Jungle Compound Contract
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2009
At the top of this contract are the names of Trader Horne and Billy Richards, they were the knew owners. This contact was an rental agreement for the use of animals or the compound itself. Many studios used the compound for their location shooting for a jungle type environment. No matter how many times Mr. Goebel would sell the Jungle Compound it would inevitably come back to him. The different owners did not understand how to make it work. Mr. Goebel sold the Jungleland compound several times to corporations, private investors just about anyone that had the money. Louie Goebel was not a foul as these want to be’s found out. There was only one man that understood the workings of importing and exporting animals. He also understood what would bring the common public and the movie producers to his Jungleland. Louie never called it a zoo, It was a Jungleland adventure. THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., April 24— Louis Goebel, the animal trainer whose Jungleland lion compound here was a popular attraction from 1925 to 1969, died Monday at his home. He was 84 years old.
Among the animals at Jungleland were Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s mascot, Leo the Lion. Mr. Goebel was the son of a New York butcher. He worked at Universal Studios in the early 1920’s, cleaning up after animal stars. When Universal disbanded its studio zoo, he bought a parcel of land and five of Universal’s lions to start Goebel’s Lion Farm. Jungle pictures were popular at the time, and the Lion Farm soon included all kinds of exotic beasts, prompting the name change to Jungleland.
Mr. Goebel is survived by his wife, Kathleen; a son, Eugene; a daughter, Alma Giles, and six grandchildren.
Shelby Jackson
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2009
I want to thank Bill Strong for sending me this picture. This man is someone that every young man should know. Back in the late 1950’s, Shelby and Babe, his wife were on Siebrand Bros Circus with us. He and Babe did a horizontal bar act. Shelby did “fly overs” like you have never seen….as a matter of fact everything he did on the bars was great. One day I said in front of him ” I wish I could do that” and that’s all it took…… there was no turning back. We practised every day except matinees and tear down. After a few months and a hundred peel offs, I knew five or six tricks. The next thing he wanted me to learn was how to play the trumpet. He loved to play those dirty Dixie Jazz Blues. He used to say in the winter, if things get rough, you can get a job in a club to help pay your bills. I said, have you?……….he answered NO. He laughed and pretended to powder his lips with a rosin bag and started to play. He was full of jokes and fun. He was my friend.
There is a must read comment on Shelby.
Dorothy Herbert & Black Beauty
Posted By thecircusblog on March 31, 2009
Dorothy Herbert was one of the most flamboyant performers I have ever known. In her later years she lived at Jungleland. She loved teaching the show kids horsemanship, riding and different tricks. In the 1930’s Dorothy was a featured act on the Clyde Beatty Circus. This photo was given to Ray Chandler by her and Rays daughter gave it to me. Thanks Janice
Mack McDermott’s K9’s
Posted By admin on March 31, 2009
Mack presented a fine dog act, one that accurately showed the talent of the German Shepard, as well as the old time military circus attitude. Mack separated himself from the rest 0f dog acts because of his superior training ability. Often trainers exploit their animals to present themselves. Mack never did that, the animal was alway’s the star of the act.
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