Would this be the 'one and only' Pat Anthony on the front cover?
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Polack Bros. 1967
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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A Blog designed for discussion of topics related to, but not limited to, Circus, Zoos, Animal Training, and Animal Welfare/Husbandry. Sometimes opening up the dialog is the best starting point of all. And if for nothing else when people who agree and don't agree, get together and start discussing it, it will open up a lot of peoples minds. Debate and discussion even amongst themselves opens a window where there wasn't one before.
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4 comments:
Yes, Pat and his Jungle Monarchs were on the Polack show in 1967. Eloise Berchtold had been on the show the year before with her mixed cage act including the aoudad (behind the "gardol shield"). You must have a photo somewhere of the aoudad at the top of the pyramid. The Smaha family were also on the show. Pat got injured on a date before the big Chicago Medinah date and couldn't work. The show missed him big time and that may have been one of the reasons Polack lost their prestige date.
Kenya was a great African. Murray Hill didn't keep her when he took over. I think she stayed with Mac MacDonald and was donated to the Louisville Zoo.
Jim,
Thank you. The Aoudad was hard to get a picture of because as I understand he was rather "inconsistent" in his appearances. When ever I have heard "Kenya" in reference to the Louisville Zoo I always assumed it was Pete Lovas's Kenya. If Kenya was a bit of a flake, we have to wonder who initially trained her?
Wade
How many African elephants are named Kenya? A lot. Easier to say than Tanganyika. Buckles did the original work. This Kenya was quite steady. Mac might have done some work with her before they donated her to the Louisville Zoo. I've heard she had a good reputation there. Don't know the exact year (1980 ?) but she died at the Zoo at an early age. I think Murray didn't use her because she didn't fit into his design for the act. He had his three and Stella and Louie fit in. Had to bring Opal in for the one-foot finale.
Eloise' aoudad was interesting and not the most reliable part of the act. I heard Louie Stern wanted her to get rid of it, probably after it stalled walking into the cage many times. For those who miss it, it would jump on pedestals to its seat near the top. It would then be enclosed with some plastic panels - a space-age verison of the panels seen in Alfred Court mixed acts. In the 60s Colgate toothpaste had an ingredent to prevent cavities called "gardol". Bobby Moore, of dog act fame, refered to the panels has the gardol shield. You have to have an AARP card to get the joke.
Jim,
Great stuff, thank you. Many things John Cuneo "innovated" were "one of a kind" or as he was fond of saying, "I am the only one who did that, or had that in an act." There was a reason for that and it didn't have much to do with training difficulty, but a lot to do with "accessories" needed for completion. :)
I can't believe Kenya was "all that" or their would have been a place found for her. Do you know how many "surplus" animals have been offered because "I have too many, or there isn't room for them in the act?" As a rule you can never have too many good ones and you can find room for an exceptional one.
Wade
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