Ivor Rosaire: Hero of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce"

The 24th December 2007 marks the second anniversary of the death of Ivor Rosaire, a legendary figure in the circus world and a key character in my book “The Legend of Salt and Sauce”.

In 2002 I finally made the decision to meet Ivor Rosaire. Ivor was the last living person to have been involved in the presenting and training of Salt and Sauce the elephants, the focus of my book “The Legend of Salt and Sauce”. By all accounts he was an extraordinary individual, even by the standards of his profession and the circus family he was born in to. According to the author, Rupert Croft-Cooke, who spent a great deal of time on the Rosaire’s Circus and wrote three books on the family; Ivor was “the best showman of Rosaire’s Circus. Confident, with a little amiable vanity, as though he is aware that women in the audience consider him a handsome fellow, he yet succeeds in getting everyone’s attention for Salt and Saucy, who move with trundling certainty through their series of tricks. They stand on two legs, squat on their vast haunches, and one of them, to the delight and alarm of the audience, carries Ida round the ring in her mouth. Ivor, in breeches and a sun-helmet, directs them coolly and takes his applause as his two lumbering charges leave the ring”.

My father and I went to visit Ivor when he was still living at Billericay at the Rosaire’s old circus winter quarters, now the permanent home of his niece Joan, a hugely respected horse trainer in her own right. Joan set the meeting up for Dad and me. Dad knew “uncle” Ivor, as did most circus people of his generation. Ivor had always been seen as dynamic figure in the circus world. He was known to be very amiable and with a good sense of humour, but also a straight talker and a tremendous fighter. He and his brothers had boxed in the circus ring since the age of eight, often having to fight each other when no other youngsters came forward for a bout – this would have been in the very early 1920s.

After settling down to tea with Joan, a loud and expressive voice heralded the arrival of Uncle Ivor. My first impression of him was of a man who had lived life to full and, now in his nineties, had no intention of letting anything get in his way. He had recently broken his hip, but this did little to worry him. His walk was confident, even if slippers adorned his feet. He was smartly turned out. “Do you like my shirt?” he asked not long after we exchanged greetings. It was in the cowboy style, a fashion very common with circus artistes throughout the Salt and Sauce era. His long grey hair was pulled back into a ponytail: “I am an old age pensioner”, he proclaimed in defiance, “and they wanted to charge me £9”. After a few jokes and the obligatory teasing that goes on amongst any close-knit culture, we got onto the business of the interview, the full results of which you can read in “The Legend of Salt and Sauce”.

Here is a short excerpt:

“Ivor Rosaire was born on 8th July 1911 in Pontefract, where Rosaire’s Circus was showing. Ivor grew up into a proud, powerfully built, chestnut haired man who seemed as much at home walking into an acrobatic act, stripped to the waist, as he did when immaculately attired in safari style breeches, long boots, shirt and pith helmet. e was never photographed in the circus ring nor on stage without a confident showman’s smile stretched across his face. It was such charisma that made him shine out even among his colourful signally impressive brothers and sisters.

He claimed he was never taught anything in his life. The only person he ever credited for influencing him in any way was Jimmy Fossett, who was the son of the original ‘Sir’ Robert Fossett, the founder of Sir Robert Fossett’s Circus. Ivor claimed Fossett had helped get him over his hesitation in throwing a back somersault off a table”.

Ivor was already an accomplished artiste by the time John “Broncho Bill” Swallow joined Rosaire’s circus as a business partner in 1933. Swallow brought along his two elephants as a major incentive to help the small family circus grow, one of the very few things left over from the weekend he auctioned off his circus in 1930. Before Swallow joined Rosaire’s Circus they had been an almost completely family-run enterprise with members of the family working in nearly every single act. This was the way Rosaire’s circus had formed. The “Count” and his “Countess” had grown their circus from a small sideshow act, appearing in music halls and on fairs into a full family affair, bringing all their children up in their enterprise. They had suffered incredible hardships, losing plenty through the First World War, but had persevered and attracted the attention of two very notable authors, Ruth Manning-Sanders and Rupert Croft-Cooke, both who spent a considerable amount of time living on their show.

Ivor took over the handling of Salt and Sauce when one of John Swallow’s grooms left his employ to start a family – in fact, according to Uncle Ivor, the family had already started ahead of time and the groom had to rush back home and do the decent thing! It wasn’t long before Ivor was presenting the act, as Swallow’s health deteriorated and he lost his main presenter the South African sharpshooter, Charles Van Niekirk. Presenting and eventually training elephants would become Ivor’s niche. He always remembered Salt and Sauce as his favourite elephants, even after the day Salt killed one of her grooms in 1937. Ivor also influenced John Swallow to adopt a new routine for Salt and Sauce to perform: the tableau act. This classy performance involving dancing girls (Ivor’s sisters and later Clara Paulo) had been inspired by an act given by Charles Schmidt at the Agricultural Hall Islington.

Not long after Swallow left Rosaire’s Circus, Ivor joined him on Paulo’s Circus in 1939 and continued presenting the elephants before his papers came in and he was sent to fight in the Second World War. Ivor was made a sergeant and a PT instructor. However, he was to see Salt and Sauce again. After being discharged he worked in a barrel act (an acrobatic number) on his parents’ show before being employed by “Long” Tom Fossett to bring his old friends out of retirement. John Swallow had died in 1945 and his elephants had passed to his son who donated them to Dudley Zoo. For a year they had stayed at the zoo, where no-one had been able to handle them and legends amount their infamy had spread. Then Tom Fossett had decided to bring them back out on the road again. He bought them from Dudley Zoo and Ivor Rosaire was brought in take them back through their old routines. It was a successful move and Ivor presented them on Fossett’s Ringland’s Circus before Tom Fossett’s son, Dennis took over.

From the postscript of “The Legend of Salt and Sauce”:

“[Ivor] went back to work with his sister Zena again in 1948 as a barrel jumper in the act “Jumping Ross and Partner”. He also became a part of the aerial act, “The Flying Desmonds” that same year. His skills as an elephant trainer were required again when Chipperfield’s Circus booked him that Christmas at Bingley Hall in Birmingham. He took the group on the continent for the next three years and worked with Chipperfields in England until 1954. During his time there he worked an act of sixteen elephants and also, at one time, a group of five bull elephants. In 1957 he was back working for another branch of the Fossett family presenting five elephants. Their show was known as ‘Sir Robert Fossett’s Circus’. He worked there until 1965.

This act became one of Britain’s most famous elephant acts and Ivor one of Europe’s most celebrated elephant presenters. Knowsley Safari Park called upon his skills and knowledge in elephant care some years later. He eventually retired to Billericay, Essex when his wife, Lucy, became ill. He celebrated his ninetieth birthday in 2001. He won the Circus Friends Association Lifetime Achievement Award that very same year. In 2003 he was interviewed at the Circus Friends Association’s annual general meeting, where he gave a talk in front of a packed house on his experiences with elephants.

He later broke his hip and moved to live in a nursing home close to his daughter, Juliet, in South Harrow. Despite suffering a few health problems, Ivor continued to be a stubbornly independent and a hugely respected man in the circus industry. He eventually died on Christmas Eve 2005”.

I feel very privileged to have met Ivor Rosaire. He was the only person I have seen who corrected my father – “shoulders back!” was his remark to Dad just before we went to leave Billericay. Dad laughed and agreed he needed to work on his posture. A year later I would feel like a bodyguard to “Uncle” Ivor at the Circus Friends Association AGM. We had our only photograph taken together, where I too sported a ponytail – it was purely a coincidence (the hairstyle was a leftover from when I presented my Gothic martial arts act), but it felt like a type of tribute to this heroic figure in the circus world. Looking at the lawn outside the venue where the photograph was taken, on a sunny day, Ivor remarked “a few years ago and I’d have thrown a roundoff/flipflap/back somersault over there”. It was a sweet reminiscence, but I never felt that Ivor neglected the present. At the time of the interview Ivor had already been training his granddaughter tumbling and a year previously he had visited his brother Derrick in America. Ivor Rosaire was an example to us all, a man who exemplified Timothy Leary’s “correspondence theory”: he lived for the present, eyes towards the future, but with a firm grasp on his past.

Interview with Heather Vallance, author of "An Unconventional Soldier"

The following is an interview I conducted with Heather Vallance, an exemplorary historian and co-founder of the Pen and Spindle historical blog http://penandspindle.blogspot.com/ This blog is an excellent source for specialist historical information and research, promoting lesser known aspects of history and obscure yet significant characters of the past. My interview focused on her new e-book, "An Unconvential Solidier", which appears to be the embodiment of the Pen and Spindle's mission.




Jamie Clubb: Where did you first hear about John Young Filmore Blake?



Heather Vallance: I first came across John Blake around 1997 or 1998. I was helping Cathy Barrett with some research on Texas Jack, the Wild West Show proprietor who gave Will Rogers his entertainment break in South Africa in 1902. As you know, Cathy has spent the last 12 or so years trying to piece together the real Texas Jack because he left us with no memory of himself. Every once in a while she calls on me for research back up. This was one of those occasions. I was scanning material from the early 20th century and I happened on John Blake's book, *A West Pointer With The Boers*. I remembered the stories that had been handed down to me about the Boer War, and the Irish and Americans who fought for the Boers. I was intrigued, but at first I accepted what everyone else said, that John Blake was a bit of a loser and a mercenary.





Jamie Clubb: Outside (and inside) America, the South and the Confederates are often presented as the suppressors. In many ways "An Unconventional Solider" turns this on its head, both in the way that Blake's Confederate family are persecuted and in the way that Blake fought for the suppressed. Please could you elaborate on this?



Heather Vallance: The Civil War symbolizes two clear-cut viewpoints. For those who still embrace the Confederate flag, it represents a very deep cut. For the remainder of Americans, the Civil War and the period prior to it represent the struggle to return dignity to an enslaved people. But, wars are complex and messy things, and at the time they happen the reasons for fighting are very personal and often unrelated to the causes we later associate with them. For a body of Southerners the Civil War was not about the right to own slaves, it was about the right to own the land that they, their fathers and grandfathers had been awarded in government treaties when Indian ancestral lands became fair game for settlers and prospectors. This has been forgotten. General Stand Watie led his volunteer Native Americans into battle during the Civil War because he believed that the Union government was once again going to strip Indian land from the Five Civilized Nations.



Even those Native Americans who fought for the Union were fighting for the same reason. The Indian factor in the Civil War was about protecting what little they had left of their share of America. Stand Watie was Cherokee and most of his men were Cherokee, the rest came from other Indian Territory nations. The letters from well-placed Arkansas men pleading with Watie to lead the Cherokee into battle were not about slavery. These letters were about the preservation of Indian Territory lands. What the Native Americans perceived in the run-up to the war was yet another betrayal, another whole scale land theft in motion. Some may have conjoined racial prejudice to their land struggle, but in the story I am telling, this was not the case.



Jamie Clubb: The Clan-na-Gael was a Masonic/terrorist organization that is virtually unheard of today, but at the time they were clearly a feared and influential group, comparable to the "Scowerers" in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1914 Sherlock Holmes novel "The Valley of Fear". Could you provide a little background on them and the role they played in the South African gold mine situation in the late 1800s?



Heather Vallance: The Clan-na-Gael, like all Irish rebel organizations, was created as a response to the British imperial confiscation of Ireland. Members saw themselves as exiles whose only way to get at their enemy was to take the other side, no matter what that 'other side' was. The Irish rebellion motto was *England's disadvantage is Ireland's advantage*. Of course, this is the idealism that drives rebel membership. Beneath the membership lies the politics. The Clan-na-Gael was an incredibly powerful political organization, as you say. It was powerful because its executive was made up of Irish Americans with formidable networks and often high profile positions in government and in the military and it was tied, in many ways, to the early rise of America as an imperial power. For a period of thirty years, from the 1870s through to the turn of the 20th century, the Clan-na-Gael dictated policy internationally.



The intriguing thing is that British Intelligence only recognized the threat the organization posed in the 1880s. Before that, the Clan-na-Gael seems to have been lumped into the same pot as the 'Fenians' who were perceived as a bunch of loose but controllable Irish canons. I am not even sure if the financial and advisory contribution made by the Clan-na-Gael to the first Anglo-Boer War registered as a warning signal. It seems that those in the British government responsible for security issues were somehow blinded by confidence in their own ability to read the Irish. That, of course, was a huge mistake. They weren't technically dealing with the Irish. They were dealing with Americans some of whom were first generation Irish. Southern Africa was mineral rich and all organizations whether they are government or rebel organizations need money to stay afloat. Gold had been discovered in the 1850s on Boer lands known as the Transvaal Republic. The Boer executive did everything short of murdering those who mentioned 'gold' to keep the discovery under wraps.



The British annexed the Transvaal Republic at the end of the 1870s but their surveyors could find no trace of gold. So, try to imagine a chess board with randomly animated pieces and a gaggle of players with hands raised in anticipation, waiting from any sign of movement on the board. That is what conditions were like before the official discovery of gold in the 1880s in the Transvaal Republic. The Clan-na-Gael was one of the players at the table.



Jamie Clubb: You say the material was "hard-to-access". Do you feel that it was suppressed in some way or is this so much "conspiracy theory" for the "buffs"?



Heather Vallance: *Suppressed* is a loaded word. Information about this period in history was written by those who took control of African gold under the banner of an Anglo-American alliance. By the very laws that govern the nature of information, sources that do not support the dominant written history of an epoch carry little or no value. Information that carries little or no value, in turn, is 'weeded' – a perfectly legitimate archival process of keeping for posterity documents that are important and perceived as beneficial to our knowledge of the past. Of course, perspectives change, histories are re-evaluated and re-written, and the flaws in the methods of knowledge preservation are again highlighted. The act of *suppressing* information, if you will, is more often than not unintentional, almost knee-jerk, and dictated by the worldview of epochs, cultures, rulers, ideologies, and even the supposedly neutral archivists who are custodians of the past. Should they all be lined up and shot before dawn? Not if you are of the opinion that your decisions are as fallible as theirs.



When we research a subject or event we need to be rational about how we look at the context in which the information came into being, and then trace how this information was shaped by the contexts of each era of hands through which it has passed. If we fail to do this we start subjecting our ancestors to some very weird accusations. Conspiracy theory, on the other hand, and those who keep crying conspiracy theory are, for me, a little like those who insist that everything is the fault of the Devil. There is either no real thought going on in the heads of both groups, or they are somehow in on the scam. I have a nasty feeling that a cry of 'conspiracy theory' is just another way of beating researchers into submission, discouraging them from asking really hard questions. It's a wonderful catch-all. Don't believe what he or she says because it is conspiracy theory stuff that isn't valid. The only so-called gain from attitudes like this lies in the fact that important research often lands up on the trash heap and, you have to ask yourself, who exactly benefits from this?



Jamie Clubb: *An Unconventional Soldier* is about the war for gold in Africa. Where do Wild West Shows fit into this story?



Heather Vallance: What does Hollywood have to do with oil in the Middle East? Politics rides on the back of what works. What works is what blurs the boundary between reality and fiction, and keeps the masses from questioning the motives, direction and deeds of the governing classes. The British royal family and government benefited from association with the Wild West Show and its performers in the same way they benefit from the iconic cult of Diana. Theodore Roosevelt created the Rough Riders straight out of the pages of the Wild West, and he fought a war powered by the myth of good versus evil. Go as far back as the earliest expressions of an epoch, as far back as the first rune or glyph and you will find that popular culture is both the drug of the masses, and the impetus which drives the political will of a nation or an empire.
The 'Wild West' was the international standard in popular culture from the 1870s into the era of silent movies. In the same way Hollywood defines our vision of the world as we know it, Wild West Shows defined the vision of America and the world as John Blake knew it. If we want to understand the epochs we research we have to understand these in the context of their popular culture. *An Unconventional Soldier* takes place at the time Africa became the new frontier in the 1880s and 1890s. Americans flocked to subSaharan Africa, taking with them all their preconceptions of their world which had been shaped by American popular culture. Wild West Show performers, like movie stars today, metamorphosed into expressions of the politics of the time. John Blake was often referred to as not unlike Buffalo Bill. Stars themselves over-stepped the boundaries between their fictional world and the real world, placing their mark directly on the political truth of the day. No different, to any number of actors and actresses who rise through the political ranks or become outspoken critics of ideologies today. We simply can't ignore their influence on or their presence in history. The same can be said about the Wild West and the shows it spawned.



Jamie Clubb: Why do you say that the term "cowboys" entered our vocabulary as a result of the Civil War?



Heather Vallance: The Civil War destroyed the South. It left a lot of men and women scraping about for a living. Among these were some of the future artistes of Wild West Shows. They used what they knew to create a story that would bring in enough money to pay the bills. Buffalo Bill popularized the 'cowboy' in his Wild West Shows. He created the 'universal protector of good against evil' with his guns by his side, riding into the sunset. This icon in real life was a humble cattle driver who, before the rise to fame of the Wild West Shows, had never been heard of by British queens or Danish princes, and certainly not by Boer farmers.



Jamie Clubb: When we think of Wild West Shows we think of Indians as people who attacked stage coaches while wearing headdresses, people who lived in tepees and remote places. You claim that this is not the whole picture in *An Unconventional Soldier*, why?


Heather Vallance: Native American culture has been hugely misrepresented in popular culture, and in the history of 19th century politics. Native American society throughout history has been as diverse in its political ideologies and attitudes toward things as any other culture. Popular culture was allowed, in a sense, by the political pundits of the day, to pack this diversity into a single image – the feathered barbarian. The single image facilitated the aims of those who wanted to annihilate the Indians as a political force in American society – to assimilate them. *An Unconventional Soldier* contains stories of Native Americans who were indistinguishable from their settler neighbours, not only in dress but in daily life and activity.


Jamie Clubb: Without revealing too much of your material, just how did the American Indians end up fighting for the Boers?



Heather Vallance: *An Unconventional Soldier* is all about gold, yes, but it is also about the struggle to save land from those whose intention it was to claim that land as their own. Evidence suggests that the struggle for land rights was a universally shared ideology at the turn of the 20th century, much in the same way that you get associations of labour unions today. This is a part of history that really has to be excavated more fully. I say 'excavated' because here is a classic example of the destruction of historical sources because those who weeded information thought that Indians were irrelevant to the history of their own culture, whatever that culture was at the time.



Jamie Clubb: What has attracted you to the material that we see mainly promoted on the Pen and Spindle Blog?



Heather Vallance: The vision behind the Pen and the Spindle is to provide a virtual home for stories that have either been weeded out of traditional history or stories that are too humble to be considered important by the keepers of documents. I am also attracted to these stories because they reveal more about the truth of the times in which they play out than the written-to-order histories that perpetuate the same tedious themes and ideologies we are fed from birth. The world is, and was, a far more exciting place than we're led to believe.


Jamie Clubb: When I first corresponded with you, you and Cathy Barrett were on the trail of Texas Jack who was yet another figure who was famous in his time, but yet almost forgotten today. What attracts you to these figures? Cathy still has some unravelling to do on Texas Jack. She hopes to have his story out to pasture within a few more years. And, as you ask, what is it that draws me, and other researchers like Cathy, to characters who have essentially lost their history?



Heather Vallance: The answer is quite straightforward, actually. We are attracted by the challenge of reconstructing lost histories from the shadows that remain behind, shadows that tell us that something once existed in that spot. 1. Another topic I have seen reoccur in your writing is the subject of platonic relationships and how, all too often, modern day historians jump to assumptions regarding the friendship people have with each other. How do you feel this obscures history? I think that the popular culture of our own era is to blame for the contemporary approach to perceiving historical and present day relationships as sexual only.
We're trapped in a sort of fifteen-year-old, giggly girl approach to deciphering the complexity of human nature and interaction, and that disturbs me. Knowledge building is not a plaything. It is the method of survival of identity, of culture, and nationhood. By adopting a Butterfly Express method to our intellectual asset building for the future, we treat learning as a superficial, self-gratifying game that takes us down the road to our own obscurity. I suppose I've never understood people who are consciously and deliberately self-destructive, and part of that self-destruction is to water down the interaction between and among people to its most basic form. We're a bit more complex than that and a bit more interesting, and so I always look for the power of collective and platonic friendship in history and in life. There is just so much more to explore.



Ultimately, from an historical perspective, we have replaced the *Who's Who*study of Great Men with the *Who Slept With Whom* study of social history. Neither furthers our understanding of past epochs or of ourselves as a species trying to survive under increasingly difficult conditions.



Jamie Clubb: *An Unconventional Soldier* will form part of a larger piece of work you hope to finish in two years time. Can you give me more information on this book and will be published in a hardcopy format?



Heather Vallance: *An Unconventional Soldier* is a stand-alone story whose core research will play a role in a more complete story about the politics and popular culture of the late 19th and early 20th century. It was published initially as an eBook because the cost of hard copy and shipping these days discourages many potential readers whose international currency exchange is horrible. eBooks can retail for half the price of a hard copy but contain exactly the same information. I will probably produce a hard copy in early 2008 which will include verbatim copies of public domain sources important to the story. This hard copy will be for the serious researcher, but anyone simply interested in the story will benefit from the eBook, for the exact reason I gave in the beginning, - cost.



Jamie Clubb: Where do you see the Pen and Spindle blog going? It certainly seems to be gathering steam.



Heather Vallance: I would like to see it become a respected resource and a touchstone for people who are truly curious about the past.

Who was Wilhelm Philadelphia?

The expression "celebrities in their day" can be aptly applied to many of the characters I have researched for my upcoming book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce". The two elephants themselves were described in one objective contemporary book as currently the most famous elephants in the UK when barely a decade later, Sauce's name was changed to "Jumbo" to garner public attention on Cody's Circus. The name was to be changed back again to Sauce or "Saucy" by Billy Butlin her final owner when she appeared at his holiday camp in Skegness. However, one character who certainly seems to have been well known in his day, but there is little surviving evidence of is Wilhelm Philadelphia. The man has the recognition of being Salt and Sauce's first ever trainer.

In his book "Grey Titan: The Book of Elephants", George Claude Lockhart, the famous ringmaster, described the troupe of elephants his father purchased as being "wild". Apparently the marks of their rough handling in India were visible on their legs. This wildness is given as a reason for why they were so unruly during the 18 months or so his father, George William Lockhart, trained and presented them. The fact of the matter is that George Snr would have had to have been an incredible trainer to put wild elephants through the routine they are pictured doing with him in the short amount of time. There is also one other factor that counts against him being the elephants' first trainer and that is the credited presence of Wilhelm Philadelphia. George Jnr. names him in his book and in other sources as the man responsible for delivering the group of four elephants. Young George also remarks that Philadelphia had previously been injured by elephants and his body contained steel plates as a result.

Other historical information later revealed photographs of Philadelphia pictured with a lion and then we found another piece of compelling evidence - Philadelphia lining up a group of four baby elephants at Hagenbeck's Zoo on a photograph dated 1900. He was clearly a well respected and experienced elephant handler.

The fate of Wilhelm Philadelphia is not clear. Here is the footnote I wrote for "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" on the man:

"I recently discovered a fairly objectively written piece on the keeping of elephants in captivity on the “Elephant Country Web” website http://www.elephantcountryweb.com/ that lists several examples of people killed by elephants. One of these people, according to the article, was Wilhelm Philadelphia. The article states “Ross, the cow elephant, crushed the trainer Wilhelm Philadelphia to death on the wall of her box at the Sarrasani Circus in 1921”. The date, of course, contradicts the archival information we have on Philadelphia’s appearances on Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus".

Challenging Material

What connects realistic self-defence, feminist author Angela Carter, counter-culture icon Timothy Leary, the Marquis De Sade and a new film about forgiveness? Follow this link and find out http://www.clubbchimera.com/?p=196

Lust for Failure

This is an article I have recently written for my martial arts website. It deals with the importance people place on success and failure, and asks the question what does it mean to fail? It was inspired by several things I picked up in the media recently including an article published in the "Gracie" magazine and a radio programme. The title comes from an social observation made by the Glaswegian comedian, Billy Connolly. Jamie Clubb www.clubbchimera.com/?p=188

Anti-Bullying Interview

Robert Higgs recently conducted an interview with me in connection with my self-defence teaching. Robert is one of the UK's top anti-bullying experts, his work includes the excellent book "So What Have I Done to You", two plays and his first novel commissioned for publication in 2008. He interviewed me regarding the nature of bullying and the methods through Clubb Chimera Martial Arts I have used to help bullied children and adults. http://www.roberthiggs.co.uk/article24.htm

Big Charlie - A Giant Contemporary

Salt and Sauce may have been Britain's most famous elephants, but "Elephant" Bill Williams ensured that a contemporary of theirs - a prospective "husband" in fact - was immortalized in words almost half a century before my book will be published. Williams was a good friend of my grandfather's, Dick Chipperfield Snr., and mentions our circus family several times in his first book "Elephant Bill". "Big Charlie" was his final book.

Big Charlie - A Giant Contemporary

It is difficult to say when Salt and Sauce’s fame peaked. After Salt’s death, the Kentish Gazette recalls a dubious “40 years” of visits to the city by the two well-known elephants. Whether the overwhelming response to Salt’s death by the inhabitants of the city can be seen as a reflection on her fame, as the journalist suggests, or just simply because many had seen her trapped in the lake, we will never really know. Sadly it is most likely the latter. By the time “Saucy” was sold to Harry Coady a new name had already been decided for her: Jumbo. She would be called “Saucy” again when she appeared at Butlin’s Holiday camp in Skegness, but, although she was featured on many of their postcards and souvenirs, such as mugs and toys, her fame existed only in the considerable shadow of another grey giant. His name was Big Charlie and if Salt and Sauce were the elephant queens of British Circus, Charlie certainly ruled as the king tusker of Butlin’s Holiday Camps.

Charlie’s fame really hit its height when Billy Butlin decided to move him from his Holiday camp in Ayr, Scotland. Originally Sauce was to be scheduled to be his “bride” when he arrived at Butlin’s larger camp in Filey, Yorkshire. However, it was decided that she was too old and was instead used in an attempt to replicate Charlie’s success at Butlin’s Holiday Camp in Skegness. In a move that was part-request-part-publicity stunt, the holiday camp innovator placed an advert in “The Times” offering £1,000 in cash for the safe delivery of Big Charlie from Ayr to Filey. Of the recorded 3,500 applicants, Billy Butlin chose elephant expert Colonel J.H. “Elephant Bill” Williams to act in an advisory capacity alongside Charlie’s former owner, Willie Wilson. Wilson had moved Charlie before, from his zoo in Craigend to Ayr. Williams was brought in mainly for his fame, but also helped a lot with the move. He had written two books, “Elephant Bill” and “Bandoola”, which detailed his experiences with domestic elephants in Burma (now Myanmar), and it was thought he would help add to the public profile of the move.

As predicted, the advertisement caused a media storm and Big Charlie became an overnight celebrity. He was described by Butlin’s publicity as “the largest elephant in captivity” and Williams was so impressed by him that he wrote his last book about the move and Charlie’s life entitled “Big Charlie”. The journey took three days and over the period, Williams absorbed a lot new knowledge about circus elephants, such as Charlie, and became very impressed by Charlie’s dedicated mahoot, Shaik Ibrahim.

Unfortunately Charlie, like Salt and Sauce, was also notoriously dangerous. He was a bull elephant, which was something the British circuses generally tended to keep away from. Williams had argued quite a few times with both Ibrahim and Willie Wilson about the dangers of not controlling a bull elephant when it came into “musth”. Musth was the sexual condition that male elephants experienced periodically around the year. The most obvious sign of an elephant coming into musth was the large secretion of moisture around his cheeks. As Charlie matured his temper at these times became worse. Shaik Ibrahim was really the only man who could properly control Charlie and it was upon his death that serious problems arose resulting in Charlie’s tragic death.

Charlie had been coming into “musth”, which made him, as a bull elephant, become unmanageable and very dangerous. Famous Director, Dick Chipperfield had foreseen Charlie’s dangerous potential, when Mrs. Cotrelli first purchased him in India. Dick shared the same ship as Charlie and on being fully aware of the damage a bull elephant could do when in must he made a point of purchasing an elephant gun when he arrived back in UK. This was all in spite of the fact that Dick had nothing to do with Charlie; the elephant did not even appear on his circus. He was sure that one day someone was going to require the services of an elephant gun and someone who knew how to use it. Years later the call came from Andy Wilson, who ran his zoo at Craigend. He now owned Charlie who he feared had now become uncontrollable and was a dangerous liability. Dick arrived ready to take on the task, but as he approached Charlie his heart sank. Dick later told me how he apologised to Andy that he could not shoot such a “beautiful animal” for no real reason.

Allegedly the RSPCA were called in years later when it was once again decided Big Charlie was unmanageable and therefore dangerous. Once again, the order was given for Big Charlie to be killed. Apparently the method decided upon was by gassing. On hearing the news of Charlie’s eventual demise, Dick Chipperfield lamented “what a tragic end to such a magnificent creature”.

Sources: WILLIAMS, J. H. "Big Charlie" London, Rupert Hart-Davies. 1959.
Also: Reports given to me by my father through his conversations with my grandfather, Dick Chipperfield Snr.
©Copyright. Jamie Clubb 2007

Deleted Introduction of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce"

Continuing on from my previous post, I decided to publish another entry that did not make it into my completed book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce". This time it is one of many attempts at an introduction. Back in March 2004 I was quite confident that the whole story of Salt and Sauce had been told. Little did I realize that I would be receiving information that would change and unveil so much about their lives three years on from that date. In fact, I was still uncovering information and establishing great contacts during the month of the deadline Aardvark Publishing had set. Looking back on the introduction it is quite sad to see the name of at least one person who has died during the writing of the book, Clinton Keeling, and also amusing to see the cultural approach I took back then regarding Music Hall and Circus. It's amazing to see how much has changed in the past few years.

This book deals with the past. It begins in the Victorian era, sometimes harking back even further, the main action of the tale covers the Edwardian decade, The Great War years through to the Second World War and finally we go through the late forties, the fifties and coming to a conclusion in 1960. It is the result of work contained in three bulging folders of information and several out of print books. Two thirds of the information in the folders comes in the form of cuttings or photocopies of old newspapers most easily over half a century old and some over the whole century. Yet the writing of this story for me didn’t begin with the reading any of these primary sources. It started with an email dictated by my father and typed by me, an email that was never finished, but evolved into the book you are about to read.

I work for my family’s firm in the Cotswolds, supplying and training exotic animals for the film industry. Years ago my parents ran a circus and before that my mother’s parents were part of a famous travelling showbusiness legacy that stretched back to the 1600s. I have grown up in the world of entertainment and animals. My father is a keen zoo and circus historian. The two businesses are very far apart in Britain today, but their histories are closely linked, as I was to discover when researching the lives of Salt and Sauce. Dad grew up in an age when the two openly traded animals with one another and joined the circus for a last hurrah in wild animal training before the industry began its decline in the UK. Today he is often consulted by both zoo and circus enthusiasts, helping them with their research, information he has often gleaned from contemporaries of the time or their relatives. Dad has the advantage being both a scholar and an experienced veteran in his field of study.

It was October 2001 and my father received an email from Rob Vaughan, a zoo historian. An article had recently been published in “Zoo!” magazine entitled “A Pachyderm Puzzle” by zoo curator and historian Clinton Keeling, which had raised many questions about two famous captive elephants known as “Salt” and “Sauce” of the first half of the twentieth century. Dad began answering Sam’s questions and correcting some of Clinton’s mistakes in a very matter-of-fact way. The email was going fine until Dad became unsure about a few facts. As time went on, so did the email. After a week or so Dad was bringing in all the information he had on the elephants and before long we were noticing some big contradictions. It soon became obvious that the research we were doing and the work were compiling fitted something far larger than a simple email response. Quelling Sam Whitbread’s requests for updates on our answers to his questions, Dad announced we were going to write an article.

It wasn’t long before extra books were bought and we began contacting other people who had written books that mentioned Salt and Sauce. Soon we were receiving research from various members of the public and performing contemporaries of the elephants. Relatives of the families who were involved with the elephants also sent copies of their research notes and newspaper clippings. This had become a large project. We had sources in several fan-based publications that were happy to publish the resulting article and even serialise it, but it seemed to me that these two amazing elephants deserved a lot more than this.

They had helped sell countless numbers of circus and music hall tickets. Newspapers and books recounted episodes featuring the two elephants. Several radio broadcasts concentrated on them, a major motion picture featured them, hundreds of flowers had been left in memorial of the death one and souvenirs had been sold off the continuing success of the other. They even lent considerable weight to two business arrangements. They had become a part of circus folklore and episodes of experiences with them had been re-told around the proverbial campfire for many generations. Some were awed by the amazing skills the two elephants were trained in, others sold their tales on the elephants’ notoriety. No, a simple series of articles didn’t justify the first complete recounting of such celebrated histories.

I suggested to Dad that we should look towards publishing it as a booklet. He was already building a collection of photographs and postcards of the elephants and agreed. However, the idea of turning into a book didn’t take long. Dad was interviewed by an author of a book on animals in films. I took the opportunity to ask for the professional writer’s help. He assisted me a lot and put me in contact with an excellent agent, Laura Longrigg, who has been a constant objective yet enthusiastic guide to me.

Being the son of a wild animal trainer and an employee of a company that provides animals for the world of entertainment, it will be of no surprise to readers that I didn’t take the animal rights route. Having said this, it would have been easy for me, with the materials provided, to write a sentimental story of poor animals torn from their natural environment and unnaturally trained by greedy men only to be exploited for the whims of a decadent society. The truth of the matter is that I didn’t see a life of cruelty in the histories of Salt and Sauce, and I don’t believe it would have been respectful to their memories to have recorded it in this way.

There are many accounts in newspapers, books and off contemporaries of the animals that they often wondered wild on the circus grounds they occupied. They lived to good ages and were often regarded affectionately in spite of their infamous reputations for killing and destroying. I don’t believe they lived a life of luxury anymore than many of the humans who lived alongside them. However, they were never hidden from the public and in spite of being transported in an era where live exotic animal exportation was in its infancy as was veterinary work and animal husbandry, Salt and Sauce triumphed over disease and disaster to perform for six decades.

The world of circus and music hall today is looked upon with a snooty derision by the country that gave birth to it. In the British comedy series, Blackadder Goes Forth, the following comment sums up the modern era’s attitude to the old world of variety: “Oh yes, the great music hall tradition; two men with incredibly unconvincing cockney accents going ‘what’s up with you then?’ ‘what’s up with me then?’, ‘yes what’s up with you then?’ ‘I’ll tell you what’s up with me, I’m right browned off, right browned off.’ Get on with it!”

As for circus, I have far more personal recollections of the condescending scorn poured on it. Recently a circus friend of mine invited me to a touring comedy show. The performance was being held inside a circus tent and my friend was in charge of organising its dismantling and erection; what in the circus world is known as a tent master. The last comedian on the bill had a constant problem with a heckler. All of the comedians were enjoying a socialist stance, but couldn’t resist making derisive comments about the tent, ironic when I think how the working classes supported the circus throughout its heyday in Britain and how circus gave many a working class individual the chance to make his fortune. This particular comedian responded to the heckler’s cries to entertain him with: “I see, you thought this was a circus. You were expecting to see some poorly treated animals and clowns that pretend to chuck water over you.”

It’s fair comment to say the institutions in Britain didn’t move enough with the times. Nell Stroud speaks in her book “Josser” of how she dreamed of becoming a part of a romantic traditional circus, but to her dismay often found circus artists trying to piggyback off the latest media craze. The result in most cases is a tackiness that takes much away from the romantic’s idea of the unique institution that is circus. The best have been guilty of it. As a child growing up my parents circus I loved our attempt of using a Star Wars gimmick in order sell the legendary “Gina in the Moon” act, Shirley Fossett’s fantastic aerial display. Ironically when Shirley first did the act it was completely original and was often imitated. There have been rare examples when the imitation far exceeds the product it is deriving inspiration from. Eva Garcia, who died from a tragic accident at Yarmouth Hippodrome Circus whilst I was writing this book, sold her aerial silk act as the “Tomb Raider” character Lara Croft and provided a scene that was far more beautiful and had far more substance than anything the video game or empty feature film could hope to achieve.

Nevertheless circus remains the outside art form, despite being the most versatile; appealing to virtually every part of society. There are circuses in nearly every country in the world. In Europe the traditional circus is revered. The same could be said for Asia and the Middle East. America is home to the famous Ringling Brother’s, Barnum and Bailey Circus that has become such a large institution that it has toured with more than one unit for decades now. However, in Britain the only circus that is given respect by the media is the Canadian import, Cirque du Solei. Although a brilliant spectacle it draws little from the foundations for the modern circus set down by Phillip Astley in 1768. There is sometimes no ring and never any horses.

Yet for all Britain’s embarrassment over their centuries old tradition the mark of the circus can be found across the land. Buildings with names such as the Hippodrome, Empire, Coliseum and Arena were created by circus people for the showing of circuses. It was in buildings such as this that Salt and Sauce lumbered through their routines and packed houses. They would live deep within the bowels of the building and be visited by the same public who cheered through their displays. They could be seen through the streets of London, Manchester and many others, linked trunk to tail often stopping traffic and, one occasion, even the King of England himself. Outside of the large cities and across the countryside these two magnificent icons trod their path from one circus ground, or tobre, to the next. Even the coastlines of Britain saw the elephant duo mingling with holiday makers and immersing their great grey hides in the sea.

Salt and Sauce touched the hearts of many generations. They were celebrated creatures of over a half century that, in spite of the fear they inspired through the legends spread about them, were present at three weddings and brought happiness to at least one child member of the public who rode on Sauce’s back. Salt and Sauce are part of my people’s culture and history, they are also part of yours.


Jamie Clubb March 2004

©Copyright. Jamie Clubb 2007

The Indian Elephant: Wild and Domestic (Deleted Chapter from "The Legend of Salt and Sauce")

The following is an early version of a chapter I completely re-wrote for my book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce". Salt and Sauce were Indian elephants not, as it is occasionally been stated, Singhalese. The Asiatic elephant was, up until the 1960s, the most popular type of circus elephant. The large African counterpart (Loxodonta africana) only became popular in the later 1960s onwards.

The Indian Elephant: Wild and Domestic

Most historians begin the Salt and Sauce story from their arrival in Brighton, when George Lockhart Snr, the elephant trainer, took delivery of them. Yet the two elephants had already passed between at least two countries before they arrived in Britain and had been through at least one other trainer’s hands. I thought that if I intended to do as thorough job on the history of Salt and Sauce as possible, I could at least spend a chapter looking at their real roots and the institutions that were responsible for their capture and exportation. After all, Salt and Sauce were not born into the lively Victorian theatres or travelling circuses they would be forever associated with. Their lives began as newborn members of a herd of elephants in the jungles of India.

Elephas maximus, otherwise known as the Asian or Asiatic elephant, has been captured and domesticated in India and its surrounding countries for centuries. Generally speaking the Asian elephants’ temperaments prove to be far calmer than their African counterparts, which make them safer to work with. In addition to this, the two species have a few physical differences as well. The most obvious of these is that the African elephant, or Loxodonta Africana, has comparatively far larger ears than its Asian cousin and is also noticeably bigger in stature. Another conspicuous distinction between the two is that the African has a convex forehead, whereas the Asian has a hollow space at the top of its skull. On closer inspection we see that the African elephant also has three nails, known as hooves, on its rear toes compared to the Asian’s four, sometimes five rear toe hooves. Just for the record both elephants have five hooves on their front toes and both possess huge, wide columnar-shaped feet.

The modern-day elephant originated in Africa and are of the family Elephantidae.
They evolved from a semi-aquatic plant-eating African species called Moeritherium, which lived over forty million years ago. These creatures were pig-like in appearance with long bodies and short necks. Popular theory has it that as they increased in height Moeritherium found it more difficult to eat plants and therefore developed their upper lips and noses into trunks.

Around forty five million years later the animal had evolved into a creature known as Stegodon, which resembled the shape of the modern day elephant. There were still further biological developments for the animal to undergo and the most celebrated variation of the order was the enormous Mammoth. This fifteen-foot tall behemoth, believed to be the ancestor of the Asian elephant, lived up until nine or ten thousand years ago, when either through a dramatic climate change or excessive hunting by man the species was wiped out. At the time of writing scientists are attempting to clone a mammoth using genetic material from preserved remains and a current day female Asian elephant.

Elephants spread throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Over two hundred and seventy species of elephant have said to exist, of which the African and Asian are the only surviving members. Popular theory has Elephas maximus first occurring in Syria, Iraq and southern Asia. Today their wild numbers are restricted to the Asian continent, where large numbers have been captured and trained.

The female or cow of the Asian elephant species is a natural herd animal, living in large groups sometimes reaching a hundred members, but most commonly between fifteen and forty. One dominant female leads the group. These herds are proof of the extent of the species’ intelligence as their movements are thoroughly organised. Sometimes the herds divide up into sub-units and at other times they converge en masse into one large “clan” that can amount up to two hundred elephants in one area. This is quite different to the males or bull elephants, which are usually quite solitary once they have hit puberty; although they have occasionally been known to form small “bachelor” groups.

The Asian elephant has a head and body length measuring between 550 and 540 centimetres and the height from the shoulder to the ground measures between 250 and 300 centimetres. Males weigh over 5,000 kg and females, just less than 3,000 kg.
The animal’s entire body is covered in a thick grey to brown hide, occasionally mottled about the head, trunk and chest with flesh coloured blotches. The skin, which is surprisingly sensitive, is scarcely covered by long bristly hairs.

Evolution doesn’t seem to have been generous with improvements on the modern-day elephant. The short-necked Moeritherium’s ghost can be seen in the restricted head movements of the animal. Of its seven neck vertebrae only three are functional. Another biological shortcoming of the animal is its digestive system. The elephant can only digest forty-four per cent of what it can eat, which explains its consistent devouring of food all day long.

The elephant is not only unique in the respect that it is the largest land animal alive; it also has other distinguishing features, the most unusual being its trunk. This highly adapted prehensile part of the animal’s face is used not only for breathing but also as a highly effective tool. The trunk is long, flexible and strong. It functions like an extra limb and picks up food that it pushes into its mouth, or dirt that it throws over its back also as a method of cooling down. At the end of the trunk there is a small finger-like part that is sensitive enough to pick up very small objects. The trunk is also able to suck up water and spray the elephant’s body when it bathes.
Another outstanding feature of the species is its tusks, used both for digging during draughts and as weapons when fighting challenging elephants. Because of its tremendous size, weight and strength, the elephant has few natural predators. Tusks are most noticeable in the male elephant, but females also have them, albeit generally a shorter version. In places such as Sri Lanka, males rarely have them and the females never do. Ironically this lack of a defensive tool protects the Sri Lankan species from the elephants’ greatest enemy: Man.

The trade of ivory has been one of the most dramatic impacts on the lives of elephants. Large amounts of their wild number were hunted for their tusks, which reached high prices all over the world for the various ornaments and furniture that can be carved out of them. This large-scale destruction reached its zenith in the early nineteenth century, resulting in a huge reduction of numbers in Sumatra, Thailand and the Malaccan peninsula. In addition to this the increasing population of humans brought man and elephant closer together in a rather less than friendly relationship. Over the centuries the Indian wild elephants were pushed back into the jungle as their natural habitat became destroyed. In response to the human intrusion considerable numbers of elephants wrecked farmland, causing major economic problems within the native crop industry. The danger of these rampaging herds was quite significant too. Even as late as 1989 it was reported that between 100 and 150 people were killed annually in India during elephant crop raids. The humans reacted to the problem with one swift solution; the animals were culled. As a result of this and the ivory poaching, today elephants are a registered endangered species.

However, elephants have been a part of Indian culture for almost as long as there has been civilisation in Asia. You only have to look at images of the Indian Hindu god of prophecy, Ganesa, who is represented with an elephant head, to see the cultural regard such a creature is held in. The tradition of capturing them from the wild goes back at least 5,500 years and its origins can be traced to the historical Indus Valley.

The process of capturing these magnificent animals was an operation steeped in ritual for the villages that took part and became their sole means of profit. The trap the elephants were herded into was a fenced-in area known as a Keddah. It stood four metres high, surrounding an area of more than a kilometre and a half. This fence was made up of tree trunks sunken two and a half metres into the ground and lashed together by ropes and jungle creepers. It had a huge V-shaped entrance where a heavy trap door was positioned above the herd’s eye view and held in place by thick ropes that were tied to trees ready for the gate-men’s sharp knives to sever. Time passed and the monsoon season came, bringing rain that had washed the scent of man away from the Keddah, making it look as if it were a natural part of the jungle.

Scouts who made their living by delivering information to Keddah contractors were sent out into the jungle to observe herds of elephants as they drew nearer to the trap. Eventually news arrived at the Keddah village that a herd of elephants had moved into position.

One day in around the year 1901 the herds Salt and Sauce belonged to were startled by a gunshot and the sudden presence of humans – thousands of them. In blind panic the animals charged through jungle undergrowth towards their orchestrated capture. Onward they ran finding themselves heading for a series of bamboo-bridges strategically positioned ahead. As they crossed, two huge walls of fire, lit by the bridgemen, sprung up around them to narrow their passage.

Having lit the fires, the men who had been honoured with this task rushed away, as the bridges themselves erupted into flames behind the charging herd of elephants. Escaping the blaze the herd would rush through the Keddah’s gateway and into the awaiting darkness. With split second timing the ropes would be cut and the trap door dropped sealing their fate. From here the village would select appropriate elephants and release the rest.

The chosen elephants would be trained in basic obedience and then be auctioned off to various purchasers. In most cases the elephants were used to transport teak logs down the Indian rivers, as general beasts of burden and also as steeds for hunting. The elephant is a majestic looking creature and royalty, along with other people of high standing, ride on top of the animals in richly decorated howdahs. In addition to this, they are raced and there are historic records of huge amounts of Asian elephants even being used in battle from 1100 BC to AD 1500.

It was in this country that the traditional industry of capturing wild elephants in some way contributed to keeping the animal away from the threat of extinction. Before the days of funded conservation, the only way to prevent mankind from wiping out endangered species was if that species became a desirable commodity alive. So long as these animals were needed as beasts of burden or ceremonial showpieces their species would remain. There was also another institution where man would have a large place for elephants: the world of entertainment.

The mid-nineteenth century saw an increasing interest from Europe and America to see live elephants as well as other Asian and African animals. These unusual creatures were now being transported back to the menageries and circuses that were fascinating the western world. By touring, these shows were bringing animals, normally only seen in zoos, to a far wider audience. Soon western adventurers were going out on safari to bring back exotic specimens for the growing demand back home. As contact with foreign animals grew, so did public sympathy. Even during the regency era, when ivory was in incredibly high demand; the elephant touched the hearts of celebrities such as the poet, Lord Byron. He remarked once on his happy experience he had visiting the London Tower Menagerie when the resident elephant enchanted him. Byron, like many others, kept a small private collection of exotic animals and was famed for sharing his university boarding quarters with a trained bear.

I am not about to argue that the people who caught, sold and bought elephants did it consciously to preserve these animals. However, I think it is interesting to note that after the potential threat of having the entire elephant species wiped out by the ivory fashion; man’s tastes once again changed the course of natural history.

During the 1880s huge numbers of elephants were being exported to the west. As animal husbandry improved so did the elephants’ survival rate. Once they arrived they had to be fit enough to be exhibited. Those who had the ability to organise the successful selecting and importation of large numbers of elephants could more or less name their price to huge circuses such as Barnum and Bailey’s in America. Elephant trainers began to come into their own, making their fortune by presenting these gigantic creatures.

The elephant would soon replace the horse in becoming the most popular animal in the circus. Words such as elephantine and mammoth would enter the English language to describe great size. Even the English word “jumbo”, meaning huge, came from the legendary circus and showbusiness pioneer Phineas T. Barnum’s gargantuan elephant of the same name.

The female elephant calves soon to be known as Salt and Sauce, along with two others who would share equally eccentric Cruet names, “Mustard” and “Pepper”, were destined for to be sold to the entertainment history. Soon they would be cruelly removed from their mothers and the rest of the herd, but mercifully saved from a possible fate with a poacher’s bullets. In such cases the lucky ones would die, whereas the wounded would be left to a lingering death caused by infection and starvation. Man was not their only predator either. The hot humid weather of Southeast Asia presented ideal conditions for the breeding of parasites. Such diseases as these thrived within the Indian jungles and swamps, where elephants frequented. We know for definite that such a disease already had infected at least three of these baby “Cruet” elephants.

Perhaps the four calves were related or maybe they were caught on separate occasions. We will never know. One can only imagine the frightened animals listening as all around them the Indian village began celebrating as the sun rose over their Keddah after a successful elephant catching operation had been completed. Being very young it is unlikely that their captors would have bothered training them. Such attention was normally reserved for the older elephants. They were displayed, still wild, in front of many bidders and traders that came to India.

Amongst these people was an agent for the German animal trainer, zoo-owner and catcher Carl Hagenbeck. Hagenbeck was born on 10th June 1844, the son of a fishmonger, who almost by accident had chanced upon the wild animal trade. Over the years Hagenbeck had carried on his father’s business, building up zoos around Germany and also running circuses. He was amongst the first trainers who advocated what he called the “gentle” or “gentling” methods in training animals. This food reward system would be the foundation to what would much later be known as “positive reinforcement” training and was soon readily picked up after his high-profile international demonstrations in the 1890’s. This was in opposition to the aggressive methods often used by wild animal exhibitors, which pretty much amounted to fighting the animals on display.

The reach of Hagenbeck was considerable. He had a number of experienced and famous animal catchers on various assignments all over the world tracking down large quantities of animals for zoos, circuses, menageries and various other exhibitions. However, it was the considerable popularity of the elephant in late nineteenth century England and America, which helped push his business to new heights. At the turn of the century such success was demonstrated in his buying of a new four and half acre property in Stellington near Hamburg. Hagenbeck had gradually outgrown each of his zoos and had helped revolutionise the care in captive animals in the process. He transferred everything he had from his old zoo in Neuer Pferdemarkt to the new location and, with the help of investors, bought land in-between Hamburg and Stellington. This would be a new beginning for the zoological pioneer as he rose to international success in the captive animal world.

His new zoo opened in 1902. This was the same year that he sent his elephant man, William Philadelphia, to Great Britain with the future Cruet members. They arrived at the doorstep of a very unique individual. This man was a true representative of the Hagenbeck-style of training and also an innovator in his own right. At different times both this man and his brother would be given the title “the greatest elephant trainer that ever lived.”

Previously he had purchased his first elephants whilst in Asia and was credited by some press as starting the elephant craze in Europe. Americans were also accused of trying to imitate his elephants’ comedy and musical routines. According to newspaper reports of the time, because of this man, agents were “scouring” the continent in order to find acts containing elephants. Perhaps he was indirectly responsible, in part, for the numerous elephant orders Hagenbeck was now getting on a regular basis.

Two of the four members of the Cruet would be connected with their new owner’s name for the rest of their lives and over half a century after his death. They would be known as Salt and Sauce. Their relationship with him would result in both their fame and their infamy, for they would be both his protégés and his killers. And this was only part of what the future held for them as they stepped out of the remains of their wooden containers and into the life of George William Lockhart.

©Copyright. Jamie Clubb 2007

Carl Hagenbeck: Pioneer

Carl Hagenbeck (1844 - 1913) is described by some as a noted merchant of animals. This is a huge understatement. He was a pioneering trainer who, like the Lockhart trainers featured in my book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce", was responsible for revolutionizing the animal training methods of his time. He also founded zoos in Germany, ran a circus and has a legacy that exists to this day. Hagenbeck is so famous that even his connection with Britain's most famous pachyderms seems superflous to any writings on his career, however, he was the starting point I had to take - along with the Indian tradition of capturing wild elephants - when I began chronicling the life of Salt and Sauce the elephants. Hagenbeck bought the captured Salt and Sauce along with the other future members of George William Lockhart's Cruet and, in spite of George Jnr's insistance that the elephants arrived in England in a wild state, employed the well known trainer Wilhelm Philadelphia to train them. Late in our research my father even found dated pictorial evidence to prove this fact. Below is a draft I wrote up when I considered putting in an appendix about Hagenbeck in my book. In the end I decided against this tangent. However, I hope it may serve as some source of interest to prospective readers of my book. The information was mainly taken from the 1910 edition of Hagenbeck's autobiography "Beasts and Men" and it ends in 1902, a significant year for Hagenbeck and a significant year for the elephants he had delivered to George Lockhart in Brighton.

CARL HAGENBECK

Hagenbeck was born on 10th June 1844. His father was a fishmonger by trade, who also kept a small menagerie of animals. One day a chance incident inspired him to begin a new venture in animal exhibiting and trading. The venture would eventually result in one of the most successful series of zoological parks and circuses in Europe. In March 1848 Hagenbeck explains that his father found six seals in his fishing net. Using the accident to his advantage he decided to exhibit the seals, for a price, at his house in Spielbudenplatz. The success of the seals urged him to travel to Berlin, where he also made a tidy profit showing them to the citizens of the country’s capital. The seals were sold, but the future was paved for the Hagenbeck family and very soon, in 1857, their animal trading company was set up. For a while this business co-existed with their fish trade. Soon they were dealing back and forth with animals from all over the world. Their suppliers included the famous Lorenzo Cassanova and their clients included the legendary showman Phineas T. Barnum.

It was in 1872 when Carl Hagenbeck, who had, by then, taken the reins of the business, first met and sold a consignment of animals to Barnum. He paid £3,000 for them. During the transaction the larger-than-life Barnum explained to Hagenbeck that he had come to Europe in search of new ideas. Hagenbeck recounted to him, amongst other amazing experiences, tales of elephant races in India and ostriches in Africa being ridden like horses. Barnum was so impressed that he even offered the animal trainer a partnership in his business, where he would own a third of the company’s income. The offer was tempting, but he graciously refused. After all the trade in exotic animals was huge in the 1860’s through to early 70’s and Hagenbeck, now a married man with children, had big plans for his own business.

He had grown up through times when westerners were largely ignorant of transporting and caring for non-domestic animals, yet he and his father had learnt through trial and error the safest methods to move and handle them. To begin with the business had been run on a loss and many of their livestock had died or escaped. Gradually, however, they were educated from their mistakes and their persistence paid off. Now in 1872 it seemed like Hagenbeck’s zoological park would never cease making money. This was not the case. A year or so after Barnum’s proposition it seemed that the enthusiastic Hagenbeck might have been a bit too optimistic about his business’s future.

The menagerie his father had begun in Spielbudplatz had finally become too small to contain the ever-growing amount of livestock he was importing. They moved their premises to Neuer Pferdemarkt in Hamburg in April 1874 - and not before time. The mid 1870’s saw the supply of wild animals exceed the demand and now Hagenbeck had to find a solution to his approaching financial problems or face his business going down hill. He needed to branch out in some way.

Like his father before him, Hagenbeck’s idea came from a chance incident. The animal painter Heinrich Leutemann had made an off-the-cuff suggestion that it would be nice to see some reindeer, Hagenbeck was currently importing, accompanied by their Laplander handlers. The idea proved to be a success and the reindeer and their completely innocent native masters captured the fascination of the public. The Laplanders simply looked after the reindeer and were fed and provided for by the Hagenbecks, who used their presence to enhance the animal attraction. The idea of spectacle and exhibition was starting to expand in Carl Hagenbeck’s mind. Soon he was following the Laplander exhibition with American Indians, Eskimos and various other primitive peoples.

In 1880 the animal trade began to show promise again and soon Hagenbeck was back supplying elephants to Barnum and also to his rival Forepaugh in America. Hagenbeck sent his famous travelling agent, the explorer Joseph Menges to begin importing these grey giants, which had now become the most popular attraction in American circus. 1883 saw the Barnum and Forepaugh war claim sixty-seven elephants from Hagenbeck’s. They discovered that their best source for elephants was Ceylon. The Cingalese elephant had, of course, largely escaped the ivory hunter’s bullets because of its lack of tusks and being a sub-species of the Asian elephant, possessed a relatively docile nature. The success of importing elephants from Ceylon gave Hagenback inspiration for a grand display. In 1884 he toured all over Germany and Austria with his Cingalese exhibition, which consisted of twenty-five elephants, a huge variety of cattle and sixty-seven people.

It was not long after this that Hagenbeck revolutionised animal training. As the nineteenth century drew to a close, the public had learnt a lot about animals by being in contact with them. Blood sports such as dog fighting, cockfighting, bear and badger baiting were loosing their mainstream interest and it would not be long before they were made illegal. Humans were becoming more sympathetic towards animals, and Hagenbeck was a staunch advocator of this generation’s philosophy. He invented a system he called “gentle training.”

In 1887 Hagenbeck began his own circus and employed a trainer called Deyerling. He explained to his new employee that he wanted him to train a group lions using his new experimental methods. Up until this stage wild animal acts had resembled gladiator battles with trainers entering cages and spending the majority of their time warding off aggressive carnivores such as the big cats. Animal training was fairly basic and the aggressive methods used by some of the trainers resulted in a large number of them becoming injured or killed. The “techniques” being used, as far as Hagenbeck was concerned, were not only barbaric and cruel, but also stupid. Through being in close contact with various animals and being brought up with a father who had a lot of affection for them, he had learned about their under-rated intelligence and feelings. On a basic level he argued cruelty is repaid by hatred and kindness is more than likely to produce a more positive reaction.

Hagenbeck had trained dogs as part of his research, using food rewards for learning various actions. He believed this system could be scaled up to the larger carnivores and insisted that this was the method Deyerling would implement. During this test period Hagenbeck learnt more about identifying correct characters in animals in much the same way as the Indians do when they assess elephants in their Keddahs. Early on he and Deyerling would be able to predict which animals had the correct temperament for training and which would be the safest.

In 1889 Hagenbeck’s innovative “gentle training” produced its first act. Deyerling appeared on the appropriately named Nouveau Cirque in Paris, France with his four lions performing a varied routine that climaxed with three of them pulling him on a chariot. This style of training would become the foundation for modern animal training and what would become known in the successive century as “positive-reinforcement.”

Meanwhile Hagenbeck had big plans for his new methods. Amongst his new generation of trainers was Heinrich Mehrmann, who was his brother-in-law and was beginning to garner a lot of fame presenting animal acts. He intended to take Mehrmann to Chicago, USA, to demonstrate the new humane method of training at a massive exhibition that was being held in 1893. Together Hagenbeck and Mehrmann produced an act consisting of twelve lions, two tigers, several cheetahs and three bears. This troupe premiered at Crystal Palace, England and was such a massive success that Hagenbeck was offered $50,000 by two Americans for the purchase of the act. He turned the money down and may have regretted it for the animals were soon all struck down by a mysterious disease, which seems to have been contracted from bad meat bought in England. Days after their triumphant performance the whole troupe was dead.

On returning to Hamburg, disease struck Hagenbeck’s animals again and soon an epidemic was spreading through the zoo like wild fire. Eventually it was discovered to be cholera, which was going through Germany at the time, and the illnesses were subdued. The act was eventually assembled for the Chicago exhibition, but Hagenbeck’s problems were not over yet. A cablegram arrived towards the end of 1892 from his agent in America, instructing him to send his act to England to be quarantined for the winter. On hearing of the outbreak of cholera, the United States government had insisted that the animals do this to prevent any spreading of the disease in America.

After completing their quarantine and being transported successfully to Chicago, illness struck the act yet again. This time it was not the animals who had fallen sick, but their presenter. Just before the beginning of the exhibition, Mehrmann was clearly unable to work the act and it was left to 49-year-old Carl Hagenbeck to take on the task. In spite of being out of contact with the animals for five months previously, the act went well and so began the legacy of Hagenbeck’s international animal displays.

The turn of the century saw Hagenbeck’s business grow into a large commercial industry. His animal trading generated a steady income, his acts were an international success and his zoo continued to prosper. The zoo would, of course, soon became too small once again. In answer to this he acquired a four and half acre land in Stellington near Hamburg. Here, with the help of investors, he built one of his most famous establishments and transferred everything he had from Neuer Pferdemarkt to it. Using his innovative ideas, he once again helped revolutionise the humane treatment of animals by improving their living quarters with more space and areas to exercise. This proved popular with the public as well as more beneficial for the animals in his care. He began extensive breeding programmes and continued to make steps in improving animal husbandry. The zoo opened in October 1902 and his future was looking brighter than ever. Hagenbeck would eventually branch out with zoos all over the world and his circus would become world famous.
Hagenbeck was born on 10th June 1844. His father was a fishmonger by trade, who also kept a small menagerie of animals. One day a chance incident inspired him to begin a new venture in animal exhibiting and trading. The venture would eventually result in one of the most successful series of zoological parks and circuses in Europe. In March 1848 Hagenbeck explains that his father found six seals in his fishing net. Using the accident to his advantage he decided to exhibit the seals, for a price, at his house in Spielbudenplatz. The success of the seals urged him to travel to Berlin, where he also made a tidy profit showing them to the citizens of the country’s capital. The seals were sold, but the future was paved for the Hagenbeck family and very soon, in 1857, their animal trading company was set up. For a while this business co-existed with their fish trade. Soon they were dealing back and forth with animals from all over the world. Their suppliers included the famous Lorenzo Cassanova and their clients included the legendary showman Phineas T. Barnum.

It was in 1872 when Carl Hagenbeck, who had, by then, taken the reins of the business, first met and sold a consignment of animals to Barnum. He paid £3,000 for them. During the transaction the larger-than-life Barnum explained to Hagenbeck that he had come to Europe in search of new ideas. Hagenbeck recounted to him, amongst other amazing experiences, tales of elephant races in India and ostriches in Africa being ridden like horses. Barnum was so impressed that he even offered the animal trainer a partnership in his business, where he would own a third of the company’s income. The offer was tempting, but he graciously refused. After all the trade in exotic animals was huge in the 1860’s through to early 70’s and Hagenbeck, now a married man with children, had big plans for his own business.

He had grown up through times when westerners were largely ignorant of transporting and caring for non-domestic animals, yet he and his father had learnt through trial and error the safest methods to move and handle them. To begin with the business had been run on a loss and many of their livestock had died or escaped. Gradually, however, they were educated from their mistakes and their persistence paid off. Now in 1872 it seemed like Hagenbeck’s zoological park would never cease making money. This was not the case. A year or so after Barnum’s proposition it seemed that the enthusiastic Hagenbeck might have been a bit too optimistic about his business’s future.

The menagerie his father had begun in Spielbudplatz had finally become too small to contain the ever-growing amount of livestock he was importing. They moved their premises to Neuer Pferdemarkt in Hamburg in April 1874 - and not before time. The mid 1870’s saw the supply of wild animals exceed the demand and now Hagenbeck had to find a solution to his approaching financial problems or face his business going down hill. He needed to branch out in some way.

Like his father before him, Hagenbeck’s idea came from a chance incident. The animal painter Heinrich Leutemann had made an off-the-cuff suggestion that it would be nice to see some reindeer, Hagenbeck was currently importing, accompanied by their Laplander handlers. The idea proved to be a success and the reindeer and their completely innocent native masters captured the fascination of the public. The Laplanders simply looked after the reindeer and were fed and provided for by the Hagenbecks, who used their presence to enhance the animal attraction. The idea of spectacle and exhibition was starting to expand in Carl Hagenbeck’s mind. Soon he was following the Laplander exhibition with American Indians, Eskimos and various other primitive peoples.

In 1880 the animal trade began to show promise again and soon Hagenbeck was back supplying elephants to Barnum and also to his rival Forepaugh in America. Hagenbeck sent his famous travelling agent, the explorer Joseph Menges to begin importing these grey giants, which had now become the most popular attraction in American circus. 1883 saw the Barnum and Forepaugh war claim sixty-seven elephants from Hagenbeck’s. They discovered that their best source for elephants was Ceylon. The Cingalese elephant had, of course, largely escaped the ivory hunter’s bullets because of its lack of tusks and being a sub-species of the Asian elephant, possessed a relatively docile nature. The success of importing elephants from Ceylon gave Hagenback inspiration for a grand display. In 1884 he toured all over Germany and Austria with his Cingalese exhibition, which consisted of twenty-five elephants, a huge variety of cattle and sixty-seven people.

It was not long after this that Hagenbeck revolutionised animal training. As the nineteenth century drew to a close, the public had learnt a lot about animals by being in contact with them. Blood sports such as dog fighting, cockfighting, bear and badger baiting were loosing their mainstream interest and it would not be long before they were made illegal. Humans were becoming more sympathetic towards animals, and Hagenbeck was a staunch advocator of this generation’s philosophy. He invented a system he called “gentle training.”

In 1887 Hagenbeck began his own circus and employed a trainer called Deyerling. He explained to his new employee that he wanted him to train a group lions using his new experimental methods. Up until this stage wild animal acts had resembled gladiator battles with trainers entering cages and spending the majority of their time warding off aggressive carnivores such as the big cats. Animal training was fairly basic and the aggressive methods used by some of the trainers resulted in a large number of them becoming injured or killed. The “techniques” being used, as far as Hagenbeck was concerned, were not only barbaric and cruel, but also stupid. Through being in close contact with various animals and being brought up with a father who had a lot of affection for them, he had learned about their under-rated intelligence and feelings. On a basic level he argued cruelty is repaid by hatred and kindness is more than likely to produce a more positive reaction.

Hagenbeck had trained dogs as part of his research, using food rewards for learning various actions. He believed this system could be scaled up to the larger carnivores and insisted that this was the method Deyerling would implement. During this test period Hagenbeck learnt more about identifying correct characters in animals in much the same way as the Indians do when they assess elephants in their Keddahs. Early on he and Deyerling would be able to predict which animals had the correct temperament for training and which would be the safest.

In 1889 Hagenbeck’s innovative “gentle training” produced its first act. Deyerling appeared on the appropriately named Nouveau Cirque in Paris, France with his four lions performing a varied routine that climaxed with three of them pulling him on a chariot. This style of training would become the foundation for modern animal training and what would become known in the successive century as “positive-reinforcement.”

Meanwhile Hagenbeck had big plans for his new methods. Amongst his new generation of trainers was Heinrich Mehrmann, who was his brother-in-law and was beginning to garner a lot of fame presenting animal acts. He intended to take Mehrmann to Chicago, USA, to demonstrate the new humane method of training at a massive exhibition that was being held in 1893. Together Hagenbeck and Mehrmann produced an act consisting of twelve lions, two tigers, several cheetahs and three bears. This troupe premiered at Crystal Palace, England and was such a massive success that Hagenbeck was offered $50,000 by two Americans for the purchase of the act. He turned the money down and may have regretted it for the animals were soon all struck down by a mysterious disease, which seems to have been contracted from bad meat bought in England. Days after their triumphant performance the whole troupe was dead.

On returning to Hamburg, disease struck Hagenbeck’s animals again and soon an epidemic was spreading through the zoo like wild fire. Eventually it was discovered to be cholera, which was going through Germany at the time, and the illnesses were subdued. The act was eventually assembled for the Chicago exhibition, but Hagenbeck’s problems were not over yet. A cablegram arrived towards the end of 1892 from his agent in America, instructing him to send his act to England to be quarantined for the winter. On hearing of the outbreak of cholera, the United States government had insisted that the animals do this to prevent any spreading of the disease in America.

After completing their quarantine and being transported successfully to Chicago, illness struck the act yet again. This time it was not the animals who had fallen sick, but their presenter. Just before the beginning of the exhibition, Mehrmann was clearly unable to work the act and it was left to 49-year-old Carl Hagenbeck to take on the task. In spite of being out of contact with the animals for five months previously, the act went well and so began the legacy of Hagenbeck’s international animal displays.

The turn of the century saw Hagenbeck’s business grow into a large commercial industry. His animal trading generated a steady income, his acts were an international success and his zoo continued to prosper. The zoo would, of course, soon became too small once again. In answer to this he acquired a four and half acre land in Stellington near Hamburg. Here, with the help of investors, he built one of his most famous establishments and transferred everything he had from Neuer Pferdemarkt to it. Using his innovative ideas, he once again helped revolutionise the humane treatment of animals by improving their living quarters with more space and areas to exercise. This proved popular with the public as well as more beneficial for the animals in his care. He began extensive breeding programmes and continued to make steps in improving animal husbandry. The zoo opened in October 1902 and his future was looking brighter than ever. Hagenbeck would eventually branch out with zoos all over the world and his circus would become world famous.

©Copyright. Jamie Clubb 2007

Never Forgotten Elephants: A Hundred Years of Salt and Sauce

The following is an article I wrote back in 2003 for the "Kingpole" Magazine. It was in response to an article that mentioned Salt and Sauce. Yet again misinformation had been passed on regarding the lives of the elephants. I did my best to the record straight in this article. Since then I discovered more and more information on the elephants right up until the deadline for finishing my book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce".

"Never Forgotten Elephants: A Hundred Years of Salt and Sauce"

By Jamie Clubb

Recently my attention was drawn to Robin Brampton’s article in the 141st edition of the “King Pole” Magazine, entitled “More Memories of Ringlands.” Mr. Brampton’s article is the most recent in several that mentions the famous and infamous circus and music hall elephants, “Salt” and “Sauce.” Such interest inspired my father and I to research the many varying accounts of their lives, hoping to help piece together their remarkable history. The result of this investigation has led me to spend over a year working on my book, “The Legend of Salt and Sauce”, which I hope for the first time will provide the definitive account of these elephants’ recorded lives. As the title hints it will also expose the myths that have been passed down from generation to generation.

January 25th 2004 will mark the hundredth anniversary of the day the infamous reputation of Salt and Sauce was born. This was the day the group were panicked at Walthamstow station, killed their owner, the famous “George” William Lockhart Snr., and charged on into circus fable. Only last year marked the centenary of their first recorded appearance, when they arrived at Lockhart’s home in Brighton.

After Lockhart’s death they passed through the hands of some of the most famous trainers of their day; Herbert “Captain Joe” Taylor, John “Broncho Bill” Swallow, Charles Van Niekirk, Ivor Rosaire, Emily Paulo, Dennis Fossett, Yank Miller and Jack Smith, to name but a few. They also worked in some of the most famous institutions in circus such as the Agricultural Hall, Islington, the Yarmouth Hippodrome, Blackpool Tower, Billy Smart’s Circus, Bertram Mill’s Circus, Rosaire’s Circus, Paulo’s Circus, Ringland’s Circus and Cody’s Circus.

Returning to Robin Brampton’s article, there are a few points, which need to be put right before I answer his question as to what happened to Salt and Sauce (a.k.a. Saucy) after they were bought by “Long” or “Big” Tom Fossett.

Firstly, there was never a Cruet member called “Baby.” The reasons for this common mistake are explained fully in my book. “Baby” was an entirely different elephant who Salt and Sauce worked alongside when John Swallow purchased them. The original Cruet was Salt, Sauce, Pepper and Mustard. Salt, Pepper and Mustard were struck by a mysterious tropical disease, which only Salt survived from. Vinegar and the second Mustard were then bought as replacements. Again this entire epidemic episode is fully discussed in my book.

“Captain Joe” Taylor was their next owner. During their time with him from 1904 to 1923 my father and I encountered the least recorded events of the remaining Cruet’s career. In fact, Vinegar and the second Mustard disappear without trace. Taylor sold the remaining Salt and Sauce to John Swallow, who owned them until his death in August 1945 at Canterbury on Paulo’s circus. Salt would also die at Canterbury on Sunday 5th October 1952 at 12:35pm (according the veterinary surgeon’s report) on Dennis Fossett’s Ringlands Circus a week after she was rescued from falling into Vauxhall Lake (not the River Stour). The whole event was publicised in the local press and over a hundred wreathes were lain for Salt by the residents of Canterbury. Again there are many different versions of both Swallow and Salt’s deaths, which provide more material for the elephants’ legendary tale. There is even one story of Salt killing Swallow. Another fascinating story tells of Zena Rosaire hearing “the ghost of John Swallow” at Canterbury calling Salt’s name a few years prior to the elephant’s death.

Mr. Brampton would have seen Sauce at Cody’s Circus after Dennis Fossett sold her. In spite of her fame, she was always billed as “Jumbo” there. She was then sold to Butlin’s Holiday Camp in Skegness, in the charge of “Steve” Les Stevens, where she remained until her death in October 1960. The circumstances of her death are still a subject of our investigation and like many other accounts of incidents during the history of Salt and Sauce has a few variations.

A common mistake with some historians is to confuse Sauce’s death with the dramatic demise of the second of her successors, “Gertie.” Even people who knew Sauce have been wrongly informed for years that she died in the publicised “Elephant in the Pool” incident at Butlin’s Camp in Skegness. Curiously there are also variations on Gertie’s death. Two press reports have it that she had decided to go for a bathe in the pool, even though she wasn’t usually allowed during the holiday season, and waded into the 12’ deep end. She quickly panicked, began thrashing about and swiftly died. In spite of the tale being re-told again in the 1998 edition of Evening Telegraph Special Publication, it has been argued that this was actually a cover-up story.

To re-cap, Gertie was obtained from Sir Garrard Tyrrwhit-Drake’s Maidstone Zoo when it closed in 1959. Butlin’s historian, Mick Smith, informed me that after acquiring Sauce, Butlin obtained an elephant called “Joey.” This elephant died within the same year and Gertie (a.k.a. Gert and Gertrude) conveniently took his place as the camp’s mascot. “Steve” Les Stevens stayed on as the elephant handler. On Tuesday July 24th 1962 Gerti took her fateful dip in the swimming pool. Two would-be rescuers dived in, but only served to confirm Gerti was already dead. Mick Smith, who was holidaying at the camp on that day, recalled a number of flags being used to screen the incident off from the resident campers. The press claimed Gerti died from a heart attack, but according to “The Story of Maidstone Zoo”, their last elephant drowned after the flooring gave way under her feet and she became stuck. Contrary to the newspaper reports, Mick Smith says that Gerti was in fact regularly bathed in swimming pool every Friday - holiday season or not - before it was routinely cleaned for the campers. Perhaps Gerti broke away from her handler and ended up there by either slipping or voluntarily plunging in. A Boston firm was hired to remove the huge carcass with a crane thus concluding the history of the last of Butlin’s elephants.

Before writing this article I was helped by Circus historian Ray Dolling, whose research I am most grateful for. Just when I thought there was little left to report on the lives of Salt and Sauce he provided me with a wealth of new material.

For all those interested in the life story of Britain’s most famous and infamous elephants, “The Legend of Salt and Sauce”, is nearing completion. We will keep the “Kingpole” Magazine regularly informed.

©Copyright. Jamie Clubb 2007