When I moved to Florida in 1981 I met
Mae Noell at the Chimp Farm in Tarpon Springs. We got to talking and bonded over our mutual love
for the animals and art.
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This is Mae Noell with her original
Gorilla painting in the background |
She was born into a family of
performers; her father and mother were both well established
vaudevillians; “top bill” show people. Her father Jack Roach was
a ventriloquist, comedian and lecturer her mother was a talented
dancer and musician. Her family later owned and operated a medicine
show selling ointments and salves; much like what is available to us
in health stores today. The free entertainment brought the folks in
and the medicine payed the bills.
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Here is an old time medicine show being set up
the towns people really enjoyed the entertainment. |
Mae's father hand carved his own ventriloquist dummy and the component parts, this was not an easy feat to accomplish.
While Anna Mae Roach was busy helping
her parents and learning the trade; Bob Noell was busy learning his
own skills as a ventriloquist puppeteer and comedy skit performer
while traveling the small towns of eastern United States with his
foster father and mentor Doc Etling who owned the San Blas Indian
Remedy Co, Medicine Show.
When Bob and Mae met it was true love,
marriage, followed by children and a career traveling and
entertaining which eventually evolved into with their own unique form
of entertainment; “Noell’s Ark Gorilla Show”.
Their headliners were chimpanzees who wrestled people. May said they called it Gorilla Show because folks
out in the country at that time did not recognize the word
chimpanzee. Women would get in the cage with the chimps and the
chimps would be gentle with them doing things like examining their
hair and pulling out their bobby pins. But the young men who thought
they could get the better of the chimps were in for a whopping.
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A truck used for travel with Mae's art advertising
the Gorilla Show |
A sculpture at Noell's Ark in Tarpon Springs
When the the Noells retired they step up the
Chimp Farm in Tarpon Springs Florida; a home for retired primates. At
the Chimp Farm they also took care of some other animals, such as a
bear in a cage whose owner was going to shoot rather than build a
bigger cage and they owned a nearly 90 year old 12 foot long
alligator who was at the farm before they bought it. The primates and
other animals they took in were usually sick, old damaged, or
abandoned; these were animals that would have been put down.
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Chimp Farm roadside entertainment stops like this
were common in Florida in the 50's and 60's |
Noell's Ark was so successful with their breeding of primates
that zoo’s would contact them for advice, because at the time many
of the zoos were having trouble with their breeding program.
This is a pastel I painted of one a babv chimpanse born at
Chimp Farm which is now called
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary
Mae told
me how many books on primates and zoos had included them as experts
in handling the primates. I went to the Clearwater Florida Library on
her recommendation and looked at many books sighting the Noell’s as
experts and resources in the field of primate care and breeding.
The animals at the Noell’s Chimp Farm may not have the latest most
luxurious cages but what made them happy and able to breed well was
the love and attention they received from the Noell family; their
caretakers. What Mae said is what made them good breeders was love;
these animals were part of the family.
I can attest to that from what
I observed, these people really cared for and loved these animals.
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Through the years, Leela with some of her pets
Anyone who owns a pet, whether it be a bird, a cat, or dog knows this is a great truth; love may be most important ingredient in caring for someone be it man or beast. |
The Noell's also kept up some of their
vaudeville days with yearly performances; a fundraiser at the Masonic
Temple in Tarpon Springs and the Suwanee River Festival.
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| Entertaining is a family affair at this church benefit |
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Here is the program from the Medicine Show I attended
sadly this was their last show. |
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Here is Bob Noell with his ventriloquist
dummy getting the better of him. |
T
he Smithsonian Institution interviewed
May about her background with the medicine show. I have a copy of her
one of her personal accounts of those days. I am sure many of those
herbals ointments and tonics sold at the Medicine Shows are similar to the ones I buy in my local health food store.
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| Here is an old photograph of a Medicine Show Tent rained out, a performers life on the road can be hard |
Mae wrote how the Vaudeville performers all got their start in the Medicine Shows. Performers such as Red Skelton,
who's father also was a performer in Medicine Shows.
Here is Red Skelton with one of his famous clown paintings; to learn more about his art I have posted two sites, but also do your own search on this master clown and expert
of the self portrait of an artist as clown.
When you look at television you can see the vaudeville acts and the medicine show as influencing the birth of this new media and how it's influence continues to this day. Think of the sale of soap and cough medicine as funding the shows you watch and the old time medicine show comes to mind.
Mae wrote how the skits they performed went back hundreds of years. This reminds me of how in Medieval times performers would put on what was known as Morality Plays with Biblical themed lessons for the towns people.
Brooks McNamara, Professor of Drama,
School of the Arts, New York University said , “ Mae Noell, veteran
medicine show and carnival worker, entertainer, historian and artist
is a living encyclopedia of the customs and traditions of the outdoor
amusement business. She is considered one of America’s National Treasures.”
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| Here is Mae entertaining with drawings, while she drew recited a ditty that ended with a drawing which when turned upside down was a different drawing. |
Here is a page of these drawings she did for me as
she told me the rhymes that went with each one.
I am grateful for the time I was able to spend
with this remarkable woman; meeting her family and her extended
family of primates and the other animals which they adopted and cared
for. I am so happy to see that the Chimp Farm has survived as The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary and is
still being run with the loving care of the children and grandchildren
of this remarkable woman.
The Artist as a Clown is a 4 Part Series:
Links:
The
Suncoast Primate Sanctuary is home to over 100 animals with various
backgrounds that had no where else to go. They
all have unique personalities and characteristics. We invite you to
come and see why we came to love each of these special animals by
scheduling a visit to the sanctuary. Why not consider “adopting”
one of our animals?
Robert
Noell and his daughter Jenny Chapman with more information on this fascinating family.
Bright lights and baloney
From medicine shows to modern arcades, generations of the Noell family have spent their lives persuading people to part with the change in their pockets.
By ROBERT FARLEY
Published October 10, 2004
