Studbook Mysteries - Seabury

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

Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Vintage Brookfield Zoo Elephants
The photo above is from 1953, elephant unknown, at the Brookfield Childrens Zoo. It is incredible today to think that they used to keep and raise the young elephants in the Children's Zoo. Does anyone know if they actually kept the elephants at the Childrens Zoo, or did the bring them back and forth from the elephant house each morning and night. The sand/dirt walkway around the pen was most likely a path as the animals probably paced along the fence and it prevented the grass from tearing up, and becoming unsightly.
Posted by Wade G. Burck

Susan said...
Based on records I'm guessing this is Melinda, wild born in 1951 and came to Brookfield from Seabury in 1952. She died in October of '53.
Apparently from spring till fall we would keep young elephants at the Children's Zoo - they would return to the Pachyderm House during the winter months. Over the years we had several calves at the Children's Zoo - Winkie, Mame, Babe/Baby Brookfield, Cora/Noel (who lives at the CEC)... There are probably others but record keeping was practically nonexistent back then.
If you look on eBay there are usually postcards of elephants at the Children's Zoo. To the best of my knowledge we did this up until the '70s.

Showmen's Rest - Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus

An imported entry from Circus Diaries regarding an event during the 2010 Kelly Miller Circus season.


A few weeks ago when we first entered the Chicago area, I visited the Showmen's Rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park. Susan from the Brookfield Zoo informed me of the place and took me out there to see a bit of circus history.

Showmen's Rest is run by the Showmen's League of America and was created in 1916. It is surrounded by five elephants with their trunks lowered in mourning and is most recognized as the final resting place of the crash victims in the Hagenbeck-Wallace train tragedy of 1918.


The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus was, at its peak, the second largest circus in America following only Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey. In June 1918 before dawn, the train was traveling through Illinois to Wisconsin when it was struck by an empty Pullman train. As a result of the crash and the fire ignited, eighty six circus hands, roustabouts and performers were killed; many more personnel suffered injuries, though no animals were lost.


The Showmen's League donated a portion of their newly formed resting place to the circus to bury those lost in the tragedy. Most of the stones are simply inscribed 'Unknown Male' (or Female) along with the fateful date, June 22,1918. There are a few with more proper names, such as 'Baldy,' '4 Horse Driver,' and 'Smiley.'


You can learn more about the story, Showmen's Rest, and the Showmen's League of America at their website.

From Chris Berry - Circus Posters
"This early -- and very rare -- Hagenbeck Wallace litho is a part of the Tibbals collection at the Ringling Museum of the Circus in Sarasota. Dated between about 1905 and the early 1920s it is one of very few surviving lithos printed for Hagenbeck Wallace by the Donaldson Litho Company. In addition to printing theatrical and circus posters, William Donaldson was the founder of Billboard magazine - originally targeted to billposters, but now focusing on the music industry."

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

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