Posted By thecircusblog on May 13, 2009
Jack Wright saddled up and waiting to go into the show arena on his horse Toney. He would make his entrance on Toney, come out and get his trick riding horse Paint, shown in the right of the photo.
Posted By thecircusblog on May 11, 2009
There is some Native Americans in this group, but I do see a couple of pale faces here and there. The 101 in 1927 .
Posted By thecircusblog on May 11, 2009
It might be hard to see but on the bottom of this picture you can see “Tex Cooper Feb 22,1926 Announcer 101 Wild West Show.” Here is the real thing…you can see his confidence and show biz style in this picture.
Posted By thecircusblog on May 11, 2009
We had a lot of trick riders on the 101 and Jack Wright was one of the best. In this picture Jack is vaulting over the of the back of the saddle. He would then swing down with both legs and feet bouncing off ground giving him the momentum to carry him to the other side of the horse. This trick was done the full length of the hippodrome. In the back ground you can see the crowd sitting under a long half tent which gave them shade and protection from the elements. This structure is the same one that was used on the mid 1940’s version of the 101. It did need a lot of repair work after being in storage for so many years but it was repairable.
Posted By thecircusblog on May 11, 2009
Jack Wright was featured on this show. He is shown in the center of this flyer trick riding, doing a shoulder stand on his horse Toney. This hand bill was used in the early 1930’s. Jack was no longer with the 101 at this time.
Posted By thecircusblog on May 11, 2009
Here is Jack Wright demonstrating the Texas Skip. The trick is not that easy, you spin a large horizontal loop and pull it to your left, then to your right at the same time you are jumping though the loop as you see here. I learned how to do this trick from my father and I fell on my pan handle so often that my whole state was pretty sore. Photo was taken in Atlantic City.
Posted By thecircusblog on May 9, 2009
In this shot you can actually see the loop coiling over the top of the horses. When I first saw this picture, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There in the back ground is our family’s house trailer. I know it is ours because of the blue and white stripe though the middle just below Jack’s right arm. Jack got his nickname “Big Loop” because of his roping syle. The 101 Wild West Show and Circus: 1946.
Posted By thecircusblog on May 9, 2009
Jack and a friend. I posted this picture in hopes that someone would know this person with Jack. On the back of this photo it says, in memory of Hazel. In the past months on the circus blog I have had many grandchildren, nieces or nephews seeing their relative on thecircusblog.com. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to renew memories of their families.
Posted By thecircusblog on May 9, 2009
From left to right areTex Cooper and the one and only Tom Mix. Tex was the announcer for the 101 Wild West Show in the 1920’s. Tom Mix, of course was a Cowboy movie star and he owned a circus. Just a little side note. In 1988 I was managing Lakemont Amusement Park located in Altoona, Pa. for Bill Capell. One afternoon we decided to get away from the park and the grind. We drove about 50 miles and stopped at this small cafe. As we were ordering Bill looked up at what was on the wall and there it was a picture of Tom Mix. When our order came we asked the waiter why he had a picture of Tom Mix on his wall…… he smiled and said “why this is Tom’s home town and we are very proud of him”. We further discovered that Lash Larough, another famous cowboy, came from Hollidaysburg, PA.
Jack Wright visiting friends….. Mrs Foy and her daughter.