Jake Posey
Posted By thecircusblog on May 15, 2011
A very interesting comment made by Patrick Wagner. Thank you
Also a wonderful comment by Mary Jo the young girl in the photo.
About the author
thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
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This picture was taken on Jake’s 96th birthday at the Hollywood home of Lyman “Shelly” Sheldon on Beechwood Drive. The party was held outside on his hillside patio. Shelly owned a sign shop and hand painted this giant birthday card for all of us to sign. He was a big circus fan and a member of Circus Fans of America. (If you look closely, you’ll see “Lyman Sheldon” is the next to last signature on there. My mother’s signature is the fourth one down.)
Jake Posey lived in a small house behind my grandmothers house in Huntington Park, Ca toward the end of his life. I don’t remember his wife, Jessie, very well except occasionally they would both join us in Grandma’s house for a dinner party, (Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc).
He and my grandfather (Harry Wills) were both circus showmen and good friends.
I remember sitting at Jake’s feet when I was a kid listening to his stories of the circus and his adventures in both the U.S. and Europe. He was an amazing man with an amazing memory. He could remember names, dates, places, events with no effort at all.
I also remember going to the big dinners at the Showman’s Club in Los Angeles, I think, once a year and meeting his friends.
We have a beautiful silver service presented to Jake while he was in England. The tray needs replating, but the rest is sterling and in excellent condition. The tray is engraved, “To Jake Posy, a Man With a Heart. From His Brother Tigers, Glossop, England, 1909”.
He was a big man, both in stature and in heart and I’m incredibly lucky to have known him
My thanks to Ivan Henry for this blog…..
Patrick, my parents used to take me to visit Jake in your grandmother’s back house – of course, at the time I didn’t know who it belonged to, and I was so young, it probably never even crossed my mind to wonder.
I remember walking down the driveway to get to his little place in the back. I also remember driving past the Farmer John meat packing plant whenever we went there and can still conjure up the smell to this day. Jake was my “adopted grandfather” and we talked on the phone several times a week when I was a kid and we probably drove over and visited at least once or twice a month.
When he went into the hospital at the end, my mom and I drove from our home in Highland Park over to the huge General Hospital complex in East Los Angeles in search of him. It took quite a while, as I recall, because the place was so massive, but we finally located him in one of the wards. I’m not sure he even realized who we were at that point. Very sad.
Your silver service is a treasure and I’m glad it’s in good hands. I know after Jake died, someone – without naming names – went into his house and took almost everything of value, be it monetary or sentimental. I’ve always wondered if this person kept the ill-gotten items or sold them to the highest bidder. Still kinda ticks me off almost 50 years later!
Ivan…
I have something of Jake Posey’s which I think Mary Jo Winter would love to have. Would you please give her my email address? Thanks!!! Pat Wagner