Zellmar Circus
Posted By thecircusblog on September 30, 2013
Zellmar Circus. This photo comes from the Bertha Conner Collection.
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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
3 Responses to “Zellmar Circus”
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Ivan – When I saw the name “Zellmar” I immediately thought “Engesser”, but couldn’t make a mental connection as to why that popped into my head. So I did a google search and learned that indeed the show had been owned by the Engesser family (George Engesser, father of GeeGee and Roxy). Wonder if the two girls on the car could be Engesser sisters, or are they part of the Conner family?
Hi Ivan
just ran into you blog and the name Zellmar
I am a circus model builder belong to CHS and CFA and a life member of CWM
I have some information on the Enggesars their Shell and Zellmar bros circus but always looking for more we are from Minn and they were a MN born show and we have taken the Zellmar name for our circus club for several years we had a wagon it was not from the Enggersar shows but had painted for the Zellmar circus and it was at the MN state fair and had MN circus memorabilia in it
the Historical ‘”Soc in St Peter MN has a file on them also but the last time we contacted them they were not willing to share much
Ned Kronberg
Here are my notes on the Essenger shows
Prior to the circus they had a Ole Show and Barney Google Show they toured with
1925 Clarion Bros have not found any routings etc on this but was told it was used to
frame the Zellmar Bros circus
1926 – 1928 Zellar Bros Circus Geo Essenger prop
39 trucks 65 employees 4 cages 1 elephant about 20 head stock
2 Ring show
1927 Winter quartered in Weathorform Texas
54 trucks 15 horses elephants and camels 11 cages of wild animals
dogs and goats to 7 ½ KW light plants
1928 No information
1929 -1936 Schell Bros Geo Essenger prop
went broke in Oklahoma and left his show with a sheriff
Added note excerpt from The Free Press Mankato MN 9/26/1985
Geroge Engesse was a 15 year old high school boy in 1909, working in Danielson’s music store, when he make his first show-biz performance with an itinerant vaudeville troupe that had lost its pianist.
He met his wife Vates in the business. She was a performer in a vaudeville show. They married in 1913 and traveled with small shows for a few years
In the mid-teens they started teir own tent shows, featuring the Swedish “dialect comedians” (“Let Ole Do It.” “The Man From Minesota”) that were popular at the time. Later came “Uncle Toms Cabin” At one timethey had three shows traveling adding uniformed bands, lady saxophone combos. Dancers and jugglers.
In 1925 the first real circus hit the road, a small show with one elephant and one lion. Sources differ as to the name of the first shoe Clarion Brothers or Zellmar Brothers
It was Zellmar brothers in 1926, and from then until 1936 the names Zellmar and Shell Brothers were both used, Schell in Texas , were the show played in the fall and spring and sometimes wintered over, and Zellmar in the Midwest.
In a letter to Circus World researchers Engesser explained
“As towns are scarce, I must play them well. I used the old title, they thought they were getting the same show, as I was jus there a few months previous.”