Dieter Wichert Collection - Gunther Gebel-Williams

Courtesy of Dieter Wichert:

Thursday, December 30, 2010
Old Ringling Pictures
"Piccolo watching 'The Boss' giving Toby a manicure while smoking a Marlboro,
circa 1970-71." //Dieter Wichert

Mystery Photograph

From Buckles Woodcock's "Buckles Blog:"

Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Unidentified
No idea where I got this. The trucks look more interesting than the elephants. I'm guessing that this is either the Circus Festival at the Sarasota Fairgrounds or the marshaling area for the Milwaukee Parade. Note the calliope in the background.
Posted by Buckles

Anonymous said...
This is a tough one--the nicely painted truck reminds me of Toby Tyler, but the three babies remind me of Great American (Lisa, Heather, and Donna) from 86 or 87. Great American was the host circus at the Milwaukee Parade in 87.
Maria Vonderheid

J Goodall said...
The photo was not taken in Milwaukee. Never have seen the calliope in the background.

Paul Ingrassia said...
Most certainly not Milwaukee. the two years Alan was with us I recall a little too well so that not it either...

Anonymous said...
Appears to be Sarasota Festival and either Toby Tyler Africans Or Allen Hills. I would lean toward Toby Tyler because of the adjoining trailer.

Anonymous said...
Appears to be the "Two Jesters" in the background.

johnny said...
Either of the acts of Africabs at that time were quite impressive and the three that Joe Frisco Jr. trained for Great American from scratch were very nice and certainly gave Joe his credentials as an Elephant Trainer and one of the few select African elephant trainers. The Toby Tyler three remain somewhat controversial on just who did what, but when I saw Paul Duke work them with an unidentified young lady assisting him, they were quite impressive as well.

Richard said...
The wagon is the Harp & Jesters from the Ringling Museum.
Dick Flint

Without a date or location, it is more difficult to identify these elephants. The elephant truck is not the one featured on Allen C. Hill's Great American Circus in 1994, pictured recently in photographs contributed from the collection of Bill Prickett. Help is sought to identify the elephants, their owner and the vehicles pictured to the right. Can it be confirmed this is the Great American herd with Lisa, Donna and Heather?

Moolah Shrine Circus 1988

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. I look forward to beginning these sets.

Moolah Shrine Circus, St. Louis, 1988
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

Artie

The following photo was taken by Wayne Jackson in Florida in 1990. The animal pictured is an African male owned by Gary Jacobson.

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

Eddie Drake - Toka

Originally posted 04/13/2012
Updated 05/29/2012 with news article and image

An interesting ad in a 1977 issue of The Circus Report announces an act and elephant rides available for rent.

Circus Report, 6th year No 17, Page 8, 04/25/1977
Courtesy of CircusHistory.org