Monday, November 19, 2007

Carson & Barnes 1972


Scan000010486, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

To conclude the story, I mentioned to Dorey that John Cuneo had flown me up Southwick's place outside Boston to check out an elephant he was interested in buying. He aksed if they had any more and I mentioned there was a small male available.
Before long both elephants arrived at my place and I startred work on them right away. I named the female "Billie" and the male "Teddy".
I was told they would send a truck down from Hugo to pick up the MGM bulls and I wouldn't be involved but to my surprise, one stormy, windy, rainy night there's a knock on my door and there sits the candy striped truck and John Carroll with the news that they had picked up another little male for me to train on the way down and he was on the fifth wheel behind "Happy", "Sally" and "Queen". Thus began one of the more memorable nights of my life.
First I put a collar chain on "Anna May" so she could drag this new punk to the barn if need be but to my utter astonishment he was fine but the big elephants were terrified of him and would not let him pass by. Every time we tried they would drive him back up into the front of the truck.
I had no choice but to unload three strange elephants in a driving rain and to make matters worse Fanning used too much chain and once outside the two with 15 feet of slack immediately proceeded to get tangled up, while the third was completely free.
After unloading the punk we got him collared to "Anna May" and Barbara headed off toward the barn with them. Suddenly a thunderbolt struck nearby and the loose elephant was off to the races. Away we went, John and I hanging on to each side being drug in the general direction of downtown Tampa.
We finally got her turned and after a trek thru the palmettos, tho bumped and bruised, we managed to get her back to the truck and loaded. Then began the struggle of getting the other two untangled. Finally got them all aboard just as it was beginning to clear up and as they drove away I said, "Farewell and may God go with you on your perilous trip."
I named this little male "Kelly" and a short time later Dorey calls saying he has decided on a three-act and yet another punk will be arriving shortly. This last elephant, from Chase down in Miami, turned out to be very small, still on a bottle.
So in summation, "Billie" and "Teddy" were trained to do quite a bit of stuff, "Kelly" just the basics due to time restraints and the last one (I think they finally named her "Tina") did little if anything. In fact I think she was eventually sold to John Cuneo who had MacDonald train her.
In the picture above we see me with "Teddy", "Kelly" and "Tina" being dropped off on the Caraon & Barnes lot on our way to California.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember you telling this story at breakfast in the big apple cookhouse years ago, wes

Buckles said...

Hi Wes- Good to know that my monologues didn't fall totally on deaf ears around that show.

Anonymous said...

Buckles...Loved the story as did your friend Wes. I never forget any of your "monologues" and do on occassion repeat them with, depending on the audience, a deletion or two.

My all time Buckles favorite which you told me in a restaurant on Baltimore's harbor started..."the most frightening night of my life was in Baraboo when..."

I never go past that figuring that its too good for me to screw up.

Paul

Buckles said...

In Baraboo, between the shows and the elephant rides I was usually dead tired at night and slept like a log consequently I don't recall many frightening nights.
On the other hand every night was frightening for Bobby Gibbs since he was afraid of the dark.
Unless you might be referring to the incident involving the ghost of the young lady that committed suicide by hanging in the ring barn many years ago.

Anonymous said...

Buckles:
This photo of you and the 3 punks speaks VOLUMES, regarding your LOVE and RESPECT for these wonderful animals.
:-)
Cindy Potter

Buckles said...

Barbara had a frightening night tho. She and Ada Smeja sat on the park bench by our trailer and got stone cold drunk on vodka. I could hear them talking thru each other telling completely different stories.
Later that night when I was in bed I heard the door slam and I looked up to see my wife peeking out the window. Now somewhat sober she said that she and Ada had decided the logical thing to do was to ride the merry go round. Up the hill they staggered but they were unaware that when the switch was turned on the lights and band organ would automatically go into action. They must have set some kind of speed record on their return trip.
The next morning when I was cleaning out the picket line, Marv Gauger approached saying that vandals had been in the park overnight and may have damaged the merry go round.
I suggested that the authorities be notified.

Anonymous said...

I worked this Tina in a three act broke by Mac when with Cuneo. This was the first three act I worked. Is this the same Billie that went to Cuneo as well? What became of Teddy?

Buckles said...

Yes "Billie" belonged to Cuneo.
"Teddy" remained with C&B for a few years then Adios Amigo!

Ryan Easley said...

Buckles,
Thank you for the very interesting story. Today I heard a story regarding a Tina that Carson and Barnes sold to Samuel Olivares in Mexico in the sixties. His show was named Circo Orren at one point and Circo National at another. This elephant was transported in a flatbed trailer where her head would sometimes hang out the side. Sometime in the seventies she was killed in an auto accident. Do you have any more accurate information about this animal or provide more fact to this second-hand tale?