I recall an incident, however, which goes to show that the most
expensive attractions do not necessarily prove the greatest drawing
cards. Among the rare animals which I had one season were some
Memiponias, or tiny deerlets--"hell benders," as they were commonly
called. One of the opposition shows was making a great feature of a
pair of hippopotami, or river horses, from the Nile. I had made
arrangements to receive, at stated intervals, regular numbers of "hell
benders," and I would wire my agents ahead, "Another living hell bender
arrived to-day." This he would advertise with great gusto, getting out
special bills and keeping up the excitement.
One day, while one of my agents, who happened to be back with the show,
was sitting in my office, a bill to the amount of six dollars was
presented for "One dozen hell benders." Seeing this he inquired what it
meant.
"Don't you see?" said I. "'One dozen hell benders, six dollars.'"
"Do you mean to say," my agent exclaimed, "that I have been advertising
fifty-cent hell benders?"
"You have," I laughingly replied.
"Well," said he, "if that doesn't beat the deuce! These fifty-cent hell
benders have knocked $10,000 worth of hippos higher than a kite!" It
certainly was a fact that our fifty-cent articles had been so
judiciously advertised as to create more excitement than the costly
"hippos" of the opposition.
In the course of the same season I made a discovery which proved to be
a valuable drawing card. I owned some young elephants which I had lent
to a showman on the Bowery. On going to see them one day I noticed a
man holding his finger in the mouth of one of the smaller ones. I
placed my finger in the mouth of another and found that the creatures
seemed to derive pleasure from the action of sucking. Immediately I
sent out for an ordinary infant's nursing bottle. The young elephant
drained the bottle as if to the manner born. It was passed from one to
another of the infant class. Finally they fought in the most
indescribably comical manner for possession of the bottle.