James M. Cole Circus in United States


James M. Cole Circus
James M. Cole Circus ad, 1936
James M. Cole Circus ad, 1936
Typecircus
Owner 1936-1950: Jimmy Cole
Founded1936
First elephant arrived1946
Last elephant left1949
Closed down1949
Country United States
Directors-1950: Dorothy H. Cole (director)
Key People
Veterinarians
Elephant department
Head keepers
of elephants		 -1950: Sonny Cole
(elephant trainer)
Elephant keepers
Record history
History of updates2023-09-11
Latest document update2023-09-11 12:30:19
Random literature
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
Description

James M. Cole Circus, United States , was founded in 1936 and the first elephant arrived in 1946. The last elephant left in 1949. James M. Cole Circus closed down in 1949.


Comments / pictures
Records about James M. Cole Circus from William "Buckles" Woodcocks Blog at http://www.bucklesw.blogspot.com/
The James M. Cole Circus toured from 1946 thru 1950. Their first elephant "Frieda" was on the show from the start, the other two "Elizabeth" and "Dorothy" were imported in 1947. After the show closed, Mr. Cole retained the elephants as an independent act, 1951-´57, during the time Mr. Dykes pictures were taken, after which all three were sold in 1958 to Hagen Bros. Circus (Howard Suesz)
Buckles

William "Buckles" Woodcock



At one point the Coles had five elephants, but the ones the papers mentioned most often besides Frieda were Elizabeth and Dorothy. I did not find much on Elizabeth, but Dorothy came directly from Ceylon at nine months old. Baby Dorothy was also very popular. She was billed as the smallest elephant in the circus world, and the paper reported that she searched through peoples’ pockets in hopes of finding treats. By the time he was seven, James Cole Jr. was working the elephants in their act, and for some years he was “the youngest elephant trainer in the country.”

Alice Askins, Education Coordinator at Rose Hill Mansion


1949-04-04: The circus was sold.

References for records about James M. Cole Circus

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2025). James M. Cole Circus, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=1819. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:



Search more with Google for James M. Cole CircusThe link will automatically include James M. Cole Circus and open a new browser window.


Search more on the Internet Web for James M. Cole CircusThe link will automatically include James M. Cole Circus and open a new browser window

Categories circus in United States | United States Portal | northamerica Portal


About this documentThis document was updated: 2023-09-11 12:30:19 with valid HTML5 Valid CSS


Elephant Encyclopedia and database
ELEPHANT
ENCYCLOPEDIA
Established 1995
ELEPHANT
DATABASE
Established 2006
Your ip: 13.59.69.109