Fred Kerslake’s Famous Pig Circus, Part 2

The three mains stars hogging the limelight from Fred Kerslake were pigs Jerry, Peggy, and Pete, whose antics were irresistible. Recognizing the possibilities, booking agents sought them for summer tours and winter vaudeville circuits. Rave reviews followed in Buffalo, Chicago, Philadelphia, and a host of other stops in between. Audiences couldn’t get enough of watching pigs play leapfrog, read, and count―it was both bewildering and hilarious at the same time.

Professionals were taking notice as well. Among them was Germany’s Carl Hagenbeck, who pioneered the displaying of animals in their natural habitats rather than in caged enclosures. Hagenbeck emphasized properly selecting animals with the right temperament for training or display choosing only a few prospects from a large group, and then using what was described as “constant patience, firmness, and kindness” to train them. Still, there’s no denying that whips were used to tap or give a quick sting to animals during training.

Hagenbeck recognized Kerslake’s remarkable rapport with his performing pigs, and both men appeared like-minded in their high opinions of animal intelligence. If they carried a whip, it was used mostly for suggestion, protection, or intimidation when in danger. Fred admitted learning year by year that the whip became less necessary as he improved his own abilities. Purists won’t like any use of animals, but if nothing else, Hagenbeck’s and Kerslake’s methods were improvements over those who routinely browbeat or physically abused their animals.

Besides, Fred was more than familiar with the term “pig-headed” and the hog’s unswerving stubbornness, which was as bad as any mule’s. Even with such well-trained partners as Kerslake enjoyed, some of the comedy in his act came from pigs suddenly deciding they wanted to do something else at the moment, much to the chagrin of their supposed “master.”

As Fred himself said, “In many respects, the pig is the exact counterpart of the lion in disposition―that is, he cannot be driven [pushed]…. All the obstinacies imaginable are to be found in the pig. He will invariably want to do exactly the opposite, and some of them can never be overcome.”

To demonstrate this, Fred loved sharing stories about the animals he came to know so well. One of his favorites was about teaching a pig to walk a tightrope, which was actually two ropes a few inches apart. The pig was very adept at this and audiences loved it—until one day, when the pig fell from the rope and bruised his side.

At the next performance, the pig wasn’t made to walk the tightrope, allowing time to ensure he was healed. But for Fred, it revealed just how cunning and smart these animals were. In his own words: “And do you know the next time he tried it, he fell off identically the same way. The shrewd old cuss had remembered that he didn’t have to work after the first fall. And every time after that, in spite of everything I could do, he would fall on his side and hurt himself rather than walk the rope.”

In the 1890s, Fred performed with Hagenbeck’s American shows for several years, and to great acclaim. As the act became widely known, he appeared in very large venues like the massive Hammerstein’s Olympia Theater in New York City, where he played for three consecutive months.

In 1899, Fred joined the Walter L. Main Circus for several years as the main attraction. During each summer tour, they performed 6 days a week across 14 states, visiting more than 150 cities, towns, and villages each season.

After an absence of ten years, Carl Hagenbeck returned to America in 1903, once again enlisting the services of Fred Kerslake and his trained pigs. Behind the scenes, as always, was Mary Kerslake, caring for the animals and assisting Fred as needed. They trained a few donkeys and added them to the act, which Hagenbeck took on tour, culminating in appearances at St. Louis for the World’s Fair.

Billboard Magazine reported that Kerslake’s acts (the pigs, and Happy Ned the donkey) “were bringing down the houses at St. Louis.” A major feature of the fair was more than 50 varied exhibitions “on the Pike,” a mile-long strip at the entrance, where Fred and friends were a big hit.

Billboard also noted: “One of the biggest hits of the Hagenbeck’s Animal Show on the Pike is that of Kerslake and his pigs. This is one of the cleverest of acts, and people never leave the performance until after his turn has come on.

“While the act with the pigs is exceptional and first class, he has another that is still greater, that of his donkeys…. His donkeys and pigs each wear pants, coats, and vests, and a more clever, interesting, amusing, and lasting performance is seldom seen. Mr. Kerslake is to be commended in the highest terms for his successful and clever training of these animals.”

For two more years he performed under Hagenbeck at the largest venues in the country, drawing huge crowds. When the opportunity arose, Ringling Brothers stepped in to secure Kerslake and his pigs as one of their main attractions. From New York City to Florida, from California to Seattle, and everywhere between the two coasts, he wowed them all.

Fred was very funny in his own right, but often played straight-man for many of his beloved pupils. As he noted, “To make a pig exhibition interesting, you must have a clown pig, and by the way, a clown pig is the most difficult thing in the world to obtain. In the first place, he must be smart, and in the second place, you have got to work with him. You get such a pig as that, and after you have thoroughly trained him, he will continually introduce new features of his own, always pleasing and comical.”

Fred’s team of miniature donkeys―Louisiana, Skeeter, and Buster―were a hit at the World’s Fair, but the teams of pigs he developed over the years were closest to his heart. Early on, there was the famed clown pig Jerry, plus Ginger, and Delaware. In 1909, Madison Square Garden crowds couldn’t get enough of watching Fred talk Theodore, Geraldine, Evelyn, Maybelle, Hortense, and Jeannette through their paces.

Next week―The Conclusion: The best from coast to coast.