Vintage Zoological Engravings--Unknown

Harper's Bazaar  1872

Comparing this illustration to other old illustrations and pictures I have, this is possibly the old London Zoo Lion House.

Vintage Zoological Engravings--Central Park Zoo

Harper's Weekly  1886

As it is known that Ringling Bros. "wintered" there animals at Central Park, any guess's at who the male is with the ball's on his tusk's?  Possibly Fritz?

 

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper 1868

1888 Harper's Weekly

What incredible, wonderful pieces of history these old illustrations/engravings are. 

What a Hateful, Prejudiced World It Used To Be. I Can't Imagine Anything Sadder, Or More Wrong, In Human History

Does anyone have any idea what animals William Sam Hart Stewart trained?

Negro Calls For His White Bride .Park Avenue Woman Is Back ...

Negro Asks Return Of His White Wife .

 

Vintage Animal Transportation 1946

Does anyone from across the wet bit know anything about this show in 1946?  Was it an Italian circus?   Thank God for regulations!!!!!  "Cost of" is an important consideration for any business, but real wrong when it is the only, most important consideration in the animal business.

GGW

1979  If there was ever a more beautiful "leading lady" then Sigrid Gebel, I sure don't know who it was.   Boss often said his proudest moment was the day he became an American citizen.

GGW

 1973

GGW

If I had a dime for every time I have heard, in the last 35 years, some putz say "if I had everything provide to me that Ringling gave to Gunther, I could have done the same thing that he did" I could have retired long, long ago.   There are still people today, 12 years after his death, living in their own Private Idaho, who think they are at least as good as he was, if not better.  Such is the thing known as "fantasy."  As is often stated about Clyde Beatty, "you had to have witnessed him live, in person, to even begin to appreciate his presence."  That is a fact, and folks will just have to imagine, because I have no words to describe what it was for me to arrive in Venice and spend a winter with GGW at rehearsals before heading out on the 1984 tour.

GGW

1982  with Richard Thomas  Look's like Boss got himself a bit of a perm.....

1985 with Ben Vereen and Lancelot

1989 with Michelle Lee

GGW

1970

1982

Gunther was inducted into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame in 1995.   Although some may disagree, in my eyes no other individual has had the impact on his profession and industry then did Gunther Gebel Williams have on animal training and the circus.  None.

Gunther Gebel-Williams, Circus Animal Trainer, Dies at 66 - New ...


 Conclusions Drawn
Thursday, July 21, 2011

Gunther Gebel-Williams died ten years ago now, on July 19, 2001. I had forgotten about him, to be honest, until I took my young daughter to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus last week. It was much smaller than the version I remember seeing as a kid in the late 1970s in Washington, D.C. Back then, animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams was the star attraction.

His brief obituary in the New York Times HERE began as follows, "Gunther Gebel-Williams, who taught lions to ride on the backs of skittish horses, leopards to jump through flaming hoops held by the gleaming teeth of tigers, and elephants to take calm, leisurely walks through roaring traffic in the nation's busiest cities, died yesterday at his home in Venice, Fla. He was 66... Mr. Gebel-Williams, who for many years was the unrivaled star of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, had surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumor in July 2000."

As a child in the 1970s, Gunther Gebel-Williams seemed almost like a super-hero, perhaps partly because he was so heavily promoted on television commercials when the circus came to town.  As I was watching the circus last week, I was struck by the total absence of any star power. In contrast, Gunther Gebel-Williams once featured in an American Express commercial that you can watch HERE.  Even better (but longer) is THIS 6 minute clip from his appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman.  It really gives you a feel for how the German-born performer was part Arnold Schwarzenegger and part Evel Knievel.