Water For Elephants

Yesterday I bought a book called "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen and this afternoon I put it down with a sigh, wishing that I could read it again for the first time. I really enjoyed this novel for many reasons- the beautiful and descriptive writing, for the fascinating stories of the life and adventures of circus train workers during the Great Depression, and for its raw, emotional and introspective study of human nature. This is also one of the first books I've read in a long time that featured a male narrator, which I found refreshing.

"From the stereoview collection of Ron Erickson."

Water for Elephants is the story of a young man who jumps a train one night and inadvertently runs a way with the "Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth" traveling circus! He is thrust into a life that seems almost a charicature of our regular society- featuring all the major players, the good, the bad, the mad, the old, the cruel and the cripples and how each struggles to find his place in the hierarchy of their self governed world. I love the depth of the characters the brilliant way the author brings to life the mad mad world of a traveling circus, the lives of the men and women who worked it, the animals that survived it and the Great Depression that touched them all.

"Carl Hagenbeck Trained Animal Show. 1905 courier, one of the most artistic ever designed. Pfening Collection. Cover, Bandwagon, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jan-Feb), 1963. "

Water for Elephants is written by a Vancouver born woman who clearly has a working knowledge of horses and a evident love of animals. Some of my favorite characters (who were equally well developed and as rich as their human counterparts) were Bobo the orangutan, Rosie the elephant, Queenie the Jack Russel Terrier and Silver Star the Arabian. I also appreciated the good old fashioned love story the author managed to squeeze in between such madness as that of a paranoid schizophrenic ring masters abusive training methods and a rather descriptive account of an amply bosomed woman's stip tease (that made me blush three shades or red). The writing is raw, honest unreserved, and certainly not for the faint of heart.

"Pawnee Bill's Wild West program, probably 1905. Cover, Bandwagon, Vol. 5, No. 6 (Dec), 1961."

Of course, being the google junkie I am, I no sooner finished the book and I was busy looking up the photos and history of real life traveling circus shows like the Ringly Brothers, and Barnum and Bailey, or even the great Wild West shows. In the process I stumbled across some amazing pictures I thought I'd share as well as some beautiful hand drawn posters. The author must of found them equally as entrancing because she included many historical photos in the pages of her work. Aren't they fabulous?

"Walter L. Main first used his name as a circus title in 1885. By 1893 his show had grown to a medium size major railroad circus, with 29 cars. The Walter L. Main's Eight Enormous United Shows was the imposing title he used on the cover of the newspaper courier shown here. The drawing on the courier was done by E. Roe for the United States Printing Co. of Cincinnati. Courier is from the Pfening Collection. Cover, Bandwagon, Vol. 8, No. 3 (May-Jun), 1964. "

"A child's delight, the circus train unloading early in the morning. Oh for the sight of fine baggage stock being unloaded from the stock cars, as shown in this Atwell photo of the Miller Bros. 101 Ranch Real Wild West. Back cover, Bandwagon, Vol. 8, No. 3 (May-Jun), 1964. "

All photos from Circus Historical Society (click for link) Many more neat photos on this website.