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

Postcard Press - St. Louis Zoo

The following postcards were sold in pamphlet form by the St. Louis Zoo. They are provided courtesy of Susan Hoss of the Brookfield Zoo. The date of origin is unknown but the elephant trainer is identified as Floyd Smith. Perhaps Jim Alexander can provide more information regarding the elephants pictured and the time frame in which these were taken.

Postcard 1, St Louis Zoo
Postcard Courtesy of S Hoss

Circo Hermanos Atayde

Originally posted 05/26/2011
Reposted 06/06/2012
Mr. Herriott, can you tell us who the elephants were you worked in the picture below? Were they of American origin?

The following photographs were taken in a two year time span. The first group features a three act, while the last picture includes a five act presented by Ramon Esqueda.

Circo Atayde Hnos. 1980 #3
"Safari" (from Bertram Mills), "Rosie" and "Clara" trained by Jimmy Reynolds
Courtesy of Buckles Blog