Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, in Peru, Indiana, United States , was founded in 1907. Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus closed down in 1938.
In the fall of 1906 after the Carl Hagenbeck show folded in Mexico, Ben Wallace, the owner of the Great Wallace circus, bought the 15 elephants from Carl Hagenbeck. They were 1. Moms 2.Topsy 3. Trilby 4. Jughead Nellie 5. Betty 6. Pinto 7. Nancy 8. Zeffa 9. Bedelia 10. Baby These were all Female Asians. 11. Monte 12. Satan and 13. Josky were all Male Asians. 14. Jumb and 15. Kongo were Female Africans. Mr. Wallace resold, Monte, Topsy, and Moms to Van Amburgh Circus (Mugivan & Bowers) shortly thereafter with the other twelve joining the four (Robbins Queen, Tess, Mama, and Ding, all Asian females) he still had and becoming the Herd of the new Hagenbeck-Wallace title.
Ben Wallace never had more than 5 or 6 elephants with his Great Wallace Show but with the addition of the Carl Hagenbeck elephants in 1907, the Herd rose to 16 but was soon streamlined down to around a dozen. Included from the Hagenbeck Show were Reuben Castang listed as Menagerie Supt. and Percy Phillips in charge of the elephants and seen in the picture above. http://bucklesw.blogspot.com/2008/09/percy-phillips-1.html In reviewing the H-W show of 1907, the Billboard describes the fourth display as a öA Herd of elephants, introduced by Mr. Reuben Castang [ring 1], and a second Herd [ring 3] under the direction of Mr. Percy Phillips, worked to perfection, and the Bengal tiger riding an Asiatic elephant, as introduced by Mr. Charles Judge [ring 2], made people sit up and marvel.ö For the seventh display, the review mentions that in the steel arena öAttention was centered upon the equestrian feats of an African lion and tiger, presented by Charles Judge and Reuben Castang. Dick Flint, Buckles Blog William "Buckles" Woodcock
In reviewing the H-W show of 1907, the Billboard describes the fourth display as a öA Herd of elephants, introduced by Mr. Reuben Castang [ring 1], and a second Herd [ring 3] under the direction of Mr. Percy Phillips, worked to perfection, and the Bengal tiger riding an Asiatic elephant, as introduced by Mr. Charles Judge [ring 2], made people sit up and marvel.ö For the seventh display, the review mentions that in the steel arena öAttention was centered upon the equestrian feats of an African lion and tiger, presented by Charles Judge and Reuben Castang.
The April floods of 1913 swept thru Indiana and covered the Peru Quarters. Some reports indicate that all elephants were lost except three. Jumb's carcass was found down the lane by the bridge. Nancy and Trilby were discovered by the cook house door.
