St. Louis Zoo - Eleanor

The story starts in 1955, with eight elephants imported by Louis Goebel and purchased by Anheuser Busch for the St. Louis Zoo. The new animals were to be trained by Floyd Smith and presented to the public in daily shows, a testament to the Polack act trained by Mac MacDonald. Within five years, three of the group were sold. The first, Eleanor, was sold to the Weed Park Zoo in Muscatine, Iowa, in September 1959.

OpLink - History review (original record card / ks)
0/8 purchased from Louis Goebel Wild Animal Farm ($3,500 ea. price plus insurance, $28,000 total) with funds donated by Anheuser-Busch Charitable Trust. 0/4 arrived at Goebel in May 1954 and another 0/4 in October 1954, where they remained for training by Zoo elephant trainer, Floyd Smith, until being trucked to the Zoo by Anheuser-Busch.

Postcard 4, St Louis Zoo
Postcard Courtesy of S Hoss

Bill Prickett Collection - Allan C. Hill's Great American Circus

"Irene" and Mike Rice, Pekin, IL, 4-24-94"
Courtesy of B Prickett

Jim Stockley Collection - Chipperfields 1956

"Clonmel railway station, Co.Tipperary 1956 -
The 12 Chipperfield elephants leave the station with Doreen Duggan leading Mary elephant. John L Chipperfield is mid-way down the line and Dick Chipperfield bringing up the rear. The show went to Ireland with 15 elephants and sold Jimmy, Blackie and Monica (two males and a female) to Fossett's Circus. Later, eight of these twelve would go with Hugo Schmidt to Ringlings in America." //Jim Stockley

Chipperfield elephants, 1956
Courtesy of J Stockley

Hoxie Brothers Circus - Bonnie and Jessie

From Wade Burck's "Circus No-Spin Zone:"

Thursday, May 17, 2012
Unknown elephant 1952
54th Annual National Convention of Zeta Beta Tau, Jewish college fraternity Chicago which had a menagerie set up for guest's to enjoy. Could this elephant have been from the Hawthorn Mellody Zoo? Their elephant at the time was named Jessie.
Posted by Wade G. Burck

America's Elephants by Bob Cline

From The Circus World LLC:

The new book by Bob Cline is a complete and factual understanding of these magnificent animals that lumber across this great land of ours. The Circus has been blessed to have the mighty titans aboard as they promoted and performed to the delight of throngs of people every day.

The book covers all aspects of the elephants in America from the first arrivals over two hundred years ago, to what kind of elephant is it, what do they eat, Zoos, retirement, Breeding of an endangered species, the sacred White Elephants, the amazing people who have cared for them, some of the most famous elephants, Jumbo, and the tragedies that have befell them.

The book contains 133 pages and utilizes over 50,000 words. The book also provides many Black and White Photos, Color Photos, Newspaper ads and full color posters.

The book will be offered right here for your historical and entertainment delight as an online e-Book only. Available for immediate download.

$1.00 of each purchase is donated to the OABA Animal Fund!( At the completion of your payment, you will see a return to the Circus World LLC bar. This takes you to the book.)

You may click the link at the top of the page or the picture below to order Mr. Cline's book 'America's Elephants.'

Hoxie Brothers Circus - Sue

From the Records of Bob Cline:

SUZIE Q, Female Asian
1947 - King Bros. Circus
1949 to 1950 - Rogers Bros. Circus
1952 - Hills Bros. Greater Shows
1954 to 1957 - Ring Bros. Circus
1958 - Trapeze Bros. Circus
1959 to 1960 - Ring Bros. Circus
1961 - Bailey Bros. Circus
1962 - Fargo Bros. Circus
1963 to 1965 - Hoxie Bros. Circus
1966 - Beers-Barnes Circus
1967 to 1977 - Hoxie Bros. Circus
(No further Records)

Hoxie Bros. Circus 1975; The Herriott Family.
Elephants are "Hazel", "Sue" and "Bonnie"
Courtesy of bucklesw.blogspot.com

Final story
A small piece of information found in a 1978 Edition of the publication Circus Report brings to light the final story for Sue.

Circus Report, 7th year No 18 Page 5, 04/31/1978
Courtesy of CircusHistory.org

"Irene would have been the replacement. While the article is in 1978, the occurrences happened in 1977 apparently late in the year." //Bob Cline

This elephant is not listed in the North American Regional Studbook for the Asian Elephant.


Update 04/28/2012:
More information regarding the death of Sue is found in a November 1977 issue of Circus Report.

Circus Report, 6th year No 47 Page 18, 11/21/1977
Courtesy of CircusHistory.org

Directory of American Circuses

Good Morning guys,

One of the really huge parts of all this elephant record keeping is the circus titles and owners. many of these shows had the same owners but changed the titles. Floyd King had many a title out from year to year. Dan asked about Zellmer bros. then Schell bros. Same owners! This was George Engesser who was the father of GeeGee Engessor who was married to Bucky Steele for a while.

Columbian Park Zoo

"We were founded in 1908, we're the second oldest Zoo in the entire state of Indiana. We've housed all sorts of animals here at Columbian Park Zoo. We had an elephant at one point, we had large primates, we've had bears, we've had mountain lions, we've had all sorts of different animals," said Zookeeper Noah Shields.

>> "Little zoo offers big experiences," WLFI.com, 04/24/2011

"In 1928, the main Animal House was constructed, which is still standing today! One of the first inhabitants of the Animal House was "Linco" the elephant, who was purchased from the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus in Peru, Indiana. Nearly 10,000 school students in Lafayette and West Lafayette raised more than $2,000 toward the purchase of the elephant, then named "Ruth." Lincoln School students exceeded their school's fund raising quota and earned the honor of renaming the elephant to Linco."

>> "Columbian Park Zoo" at Lafayette.in.gov

Photo Courtesy of FriendsofColumbianParkZoo.org

From the records of Bob Cline:
Ruth, Female Asian
1914 to 1915 - Howe's Great London circus
1916 to 1924 - John Robinson Circus
1925 to 1927 - Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus
1928 to 1943 - Lafayette, IND. Zoo
1944 - Bailey Bros. Circus
Died winter of 1944

Contradictory Records
The North American Regional Studbook for the Asian Elephant upgraded this animal in the 2010 Edition with an official studbook number 732. She was previously listed with Temporary Studbook Number T2265. Some information differs from the records of Bob Cline, listing Ruth arriving at John Robinson in 1923 and the omission of Howe's Great London Circus.

Photo Courtesy of FriendsofColumbianParkZoo.org

Tom Packs Elephants

The Tom Packs Elephants were considered the best trained elephant act of its time. Trained by elephant master Mac MacDonald, they represented the epitome of class and skill throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. Originally trained as a group of five elephants for the Tom Packs Circus, four of the animals represent part of a larger group imported together in 1948. Another was added during the training period; several years later an elephant was replaced for medical reasons. The focus here is on the Tom Packs group, but will address in some detail their original shipmates as well.

Toledo Zoo Elephant Facilities

The Toledo Zoo debuted the first phase of their new elephant exhibit in May 2010. Phase Two is projected to open in 2012, giving the zoo's two adult female African elephants and adolescent male more than an acre of space. The construction and expansion was made possible by a Capital Levy voted on by residents of Lucas County.

Conceptual rendering of Phase II Exhibit, Toledo Zoo
Photo Courtesy of ToledoZoo.org

Ringling Brothers - Charlie

Courtesy of "May All Your Days Be Circus Days" on Facebook:

Thursday, September 1, 2011
May All Your Days Be Circus Days
"The late Irvin Feld (1918-1984)was a conflicted and difficult man. I was there and worked for him. I know. But, he loved Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey with every fiber of his being. We lost him much too soon." //Jack Ryan

Ringling Bros. Blue Unit 1972

Veterinarian John Cunningham of Olney, Maryland, worked on the ringstock crew of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1972 prior to attending veterinary school. During his annual visit to the Kelly Miller Circus, he shared his collection of photographs taken during his employment with the show.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Blue Unit 1972
Courtesy of Dr. J. Cunningham

FOR SALE - The Johnsons

An add featuring two elephants for sale was featured in a 1975 Circus Report Edition from the Johnson family.

Circus Report, 4th year No 4 Page 2, 01/27/1975
Courtesy of CircusHistory.org

Lakeside Park Zoo - Judy

A record compilation from the late Murray Hill's Animal Education, Protection & Information Foundation shares names of many elephants not found elsewhere. One such animal is Judy.

The records compilation date in April 1964 the young bull, about three years old, at Lake Side Park Zoo in Jefferson, Ohio. Jefferson, a small village with a current population of about 3,000, is located in the uppermost northeast corner of Ohio. No further information can be found regarding a zoo facility in this location.

Rudy Bros. Circus 1973

The following photos, taken by James Cole, were taken on Rudy Bros. Circus in 1973 in Boston, Massachusetts. Pictured are Eloise Berchtold in Ring 3, Morgan Berry in Center Ring and ( believed to be ) Judy Jacobs in Ring 1.

Morgan Berry's infamous all-male elephant act at this time consisted of Teak, Thai, Tunga, Buddah and Ranchipur. He owned another male Asian Sahib who, per the North American Regional Studbook for the Asian Elephant, was on loan to Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon, for a ride contract. His female Asian Abbey / Me Thai was leased to Hartzell Bros. Circus per the recent research of Bob Cline.

The African elephanrs worked by Eloise, also owned by Berry, consisted of two females and a male - Owala, Shambi and Durga.

The presumed Jacobs elephants would be Dolly and Dumbo. Tina died the previous year in Canada. Peggy was purchased the following month from DR Miller's Carson & Barnes Circus.

Carson & Barnes Circus - Connie and Nellie

This news article dated April 3, 1980, documents the injuries sustained by female Asian elephants Connie and Nellie in a hay fire caused by a welding accident.