~ST. LOUIS ZOO CHIMPANZEE SHOW #1: ROLLING GLOBE!
posted by 24-HOUR-MAN | 5:55 PM
YESTERDAY'S TOWNS
HOWDY, MY NAME IS BILL STRONG, I'LL BE YOUR "24 HOUR MAN", ROUTING YOU INTO THE PAST TO SEE WHAT THE CIRCUS WAS IN DAYS GONE BY. IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, AND MISS WHAT IT USED TO BE, THEN COME ON ALONG AS WE GO DOWN THE ROAD FOLLOWING THE ARROWS BACKWARDS, TO "YESTERDAY'S TOWNS"! IF YOU HAVE CIRCUS RELATED PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE POSTED, SEND THEM TO,,,,yesterday1@verizon.net,,,,AND WE WILL TRY TO FIT THEM IN. "24 HOUR MAN" WILL HAVE THE FINAL DECISION ON POSTING.
About Me
- Name: 24-HOUR-MAN
- Location: GIBSONTON, FLORIDA, United States
Three years at CWM made me a real traditionalist, and I keep remembering Bob Parkinson saying, "I want the people to see what the circus used to be, not what it is today. That's what this site is about!
- ~ST. LOUIS ZOO #2: BICYCLES
- ~ST. LOUIS ZOO #3: MATH CLASS?
- ~ST. LOUIS ZOO #4: TEETERBORD
- ~ST. LOUIS ZOO #5: THE BAND
- ~ST. LOUIS ZOO #6: RIDING A MOTOR SCOOTER!
- ~ST. LOUIS ZOO #7: PERFORMING PONY~
- ~HAMID-MORTON PROP CREW AT THE HARRISBURG SHRINE C...
- ~THE HERRMAN'S ROYAL LIPPIZAN STALLIONS~ GREAT ADV...
- HERRMANN #2: SPECIALTY MANUVERS
- ~HERRMANN #3: HARRY HERRMANN AT THE CIRCUS HALL OF...
4 Comments:
My guess is this is the 1965 St. Louis Zoo Chimpanzee Show. The trainer was Mike Kostial. Mike was not only an excellent trainer and presenter but created and executed the backgrounds for all the zoo shows. His father, Mike Sr., was the Zoo's first cat trainer but didn't want Mike to go into the same field. Mike went to school for commercial art but never worked in the field. Mike trained the chimp show from the late 1940's until his death in August, 1976.
The little chimp on the globe is Little Pierre who was the "star"for several years. On Marlin Perkins' "Wild Kingdom" TV show Pierre appeared as W.K. until he grew up and "tore-up his contract" as Jules Jacot used to say. In the teeter board photo there's stock guy in khakis, Henry "Hank" Ternes. Hank was a key member of the team with Mike. He had been with the show before Mike as an assistant to Leon Smith. A good animal man, Hank kept an eye on the other 10 to 14 chimps while Mike worked with Pierre or the other features.
Camel John and others on the Ringling Show would have a short two block walk to Forest Park and the Zoo from the Arena. It was always fun to visit when the show came to town, usually in September.
~THANK YOU Jim A.~
Another tid-bit: Mike and Buddy Watkins were very good friends. They would share ideas for tricks and props. For example, the bicycle made from a bed frame was in both acts -- I don't know who had it first.
Buddy was a great guy, he was a very good friend of Trudy's family, after Dime passed away & Connie was here alone, he came to check on her every single day, and took her where ever she needed to go.
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