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

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

Romeo and Juliette

From Chris Berry:

"This poster from the Ringling-Barnum "Romeo & Juliette" tour seems appropriate today. This one-sheet was used for performances at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum during the spring of 1995."

Romeo and Juliette
Photo Courtesy of Chris Berry

The Births
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus celebrated the birth of two Asian elephants within less than a two week period in the winter of 1992-1993. Juliette, named after Ringling owner Kenneth Feld's daughter, was born at Ringling's elephant breeding compound in Williston, Florida, on December 30, 1992. Eleven days later, Romeo was born, a namesake of the Shakespearean couple.

Both Romeo and Juliette were sired by Gary Jacobson's bull Petely. The half-siblings were the only offspring of the 26 year old bull before his death in June 1992. Juliette was born to first time mother, 14 year old Icky II. Icky II has since given birth to three more female calves. Romeo was born to first time mother, 17 year old Alana. Alana has since given birth to four more calves, all still living and the most recent born in April 2010.

The Tour
The 1994-1995 seasons of the Ringling Blue Unit featured the one year old calves, originally presented by Ted Svertesky and Patricia Zerbini. In early January, however, the Ringling Brothers Circus suffered their most serious train accident in over 100 years after a derailment in Lakeland, Florida. Both Ted and a clown with the show were killed. Patty would present the calves and their mothers for the remainder of the year, but would not return for the following season.

"There were 23 elephants, the most ever carried while indoors but it was a clumsy arrangement. Jimmy Silverlake was in charge of "King Tusk", Graham Chipperfield was there with his three elephants, Patty Zerbini had her elephant "Luke" as well as presenting the two mother cows and their calves "Romeo" and "Juliet" that she and Ted had brought on the show. I handled the remaining fourteen. A large stock pen was erected in the elephant tent so the punks could roam and nurse at their leisure and all four were transported back and forth from the train in a large wagon." //Buckles Woodcock

"During the 8 day lay-off in Orlando, I had the two mother cows "Alana" and "Icky" sent home to Williston along with their stock pen which I replaced with a wooden deck for the punks to stand on. I had just enough time to get them laid down and sat up before we went out on the '95 tour. Most importantly though, we no longer needed the transport wagon since "Romeo" and "Juliet" would now march to the train with their adopted mothers "Siam" and "Calcutta" and see what the world contained beside themselves." //Buckles Woodcock

"They're very, very cute," he said. "Romeo is a very mischievous elephant. He's like a little boy should be. Juliette -- she's a little more timid, a little bit shy."
"They're very, very cute animals. Miniature elephants -- little tiny trunks, tiny tails. . . . They don't have to do anything. All they have to do is just walk around," he said." //Graham Thomas Chipperfield

Current Location
18 year old Romeo now resides at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's Center for Elephant Conservation, the largest elephant breeding facility in North America. He sired his first calf at age nine in 2003 and his second in April 2006. Ricardo and Mable, both born to mother Shirley, were full F2 generation, implying both their parents were born in captivity. 18 year old Juliette is currently touring as one of the nine elephants with Ringling's Blue Unit.

For Additional Information
>> "2 Performers Die as Ringling Circus Train Derails," NYTimes.com, 01/14/1994

>> "He's the leader of the pachyderms," BaltimoreSun.com, 03/22/1995

>> "RBBB Blue Unit 1994 #1," Buckles Web Log, 07/08/2006

>> "Epilogue/ RBBB Blue Show 1995," Buckles Web Log, 07/08/2006

>> "Petely (Pete)" at Elephant.se

>> "Icky II" at Elephant.se

>> "Alana" at Elephant.se

>> "Juliet (Juliette)" at Elephant.se

>> "Romeo" at Elephant.se

Moolah Shrine Circus 1990?

An assortment of photos of circuses performing in St. Louis have been found in my father's collection. Unfortunately, most are unlabeled and they all are mixed up. An effort is underway to sort the photographs and identify the herds and handlers. St. Louis, Missouri, is the hometown of ShowMe Elephants. It has been fun identifying these sets.

Moolah Shrine Circus, St. Louis
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

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

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

LE Barnes Circus

Buckles Woodcock has recently posted several series of photographs of the short-lived LE Barnes Circus, owned and operated by wild animal trainer Dave Hoover for a single season in 2001. There was discussion regarding which elephants were featured in the animal-filled show, presented by Louie DelMoral. Casey Cainan shares the three bulls, Minnie, Bunny and Whimpy, were leased from Carson and Barnes Circus based in Hugo, Oklahoma.

LE Barnes Circus, 2001
Courtesy of David Powell

Vincent Manero Collection - Cirque Medrano

Hey Ryan,

I don't know much about the Chipperfield's Elephants history. The only ones I know are Kamala, Lechmee and Meena that are actually on the road with the French Cirque Medrano. These three went to the States to join RBBB with Graham Thomas Chipperfield. They did a teeterboard act.

See you somewhere down the road!
Vince

Cirque Medrano, 2008
Courtesy of V Manero

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