Circus Girl

April 21, 1923: the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus took part in a parade for the Free Milk Fund for Babies, which provided free milk to the city’s poor. There were 15 elephants in all, plus many other circus attractions. All spectators were asked to bring a quarter to buy a quart of milk for a baby. Speeches were given outside City Hall. On Wall Street, tiny monkeys, dancing in and out of the crowds, collected money in their little cups.

Cosmic Wood   -     Isabella Werkhoven, 2006.

Dutch,b.1969-

From Chatterbox, 1900.

If you’ll pardon the pun, I have a trunk of vintage elephant imagery.

William Bankier, the Scottish Strongman was  born on December 10, 1870 in Banff,  the eldest of four sons of William Bankier , a hand loom weaver, and his wife Mary Ann.  

As a child William became fascinated by the idea of being a circus performer, by the age of 15, he had twice run away from home, eventually joining a road show and finding a friend and mentor of sorts in its star attraction, a strongman with a drinking problem. As that performer’s absences piled up, Bankier saw an opportunity to showcase his own strength. Other circus jobs soon awaited, among them “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West Show in Wyoming.

 As part of his act, Bankier would harness-lift an elephant. He could also jump over the back of a chair, frontward or backward, while holding a 56-pound weight in each hand. Another celebrated routine, the “Tomb of Hercules,” saw the strongman support a piano with a six-person orchestra and a dancer. Bankier would always end the performance by offering cash to the audience member who could carry a sack weighing 475 pounds off the stage. Inevitably, the strongman kept his money. He could also hold a man aloft with one hand, while juggling plates with the other” 

After retiring, “Apollo” as he became known, became a wrestling promoter, teaming up with fellow bodybuilder Monte Saldo to form an academy for wrestlers, boxers and jiu-jitsu competitors. His famous book on muscle-building, Ideal Physical Culture: And the Truth About the Strong Man, was published in 1900. In it, Bankier challenged German rival Eugen Sandow to a series of competitions in wrestling, running, jumping and weightlifting. Sandow.