Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
BERTELLE'S BIRD CIRCUS
BERTELLE'S BIRD CIRCUS. Sponsored by the Methodist Youth Fellowship in 1945 and 1946, the circus was trained and organized by the Rev. and Mrs. Wendall Hansen of Lone Tree, Iowa and was started in 1940 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1945 its show was to raise money to send a group of fourteen boys and girls to a summer amp at Clear Lake. (1)
Among the acts was that of Muds, a female redwing blackbird, that swallowed a sword nearly its body length. Polly, the parrot, sang "Moonlight and Roses." Boom-Boom, the pigeon, sat on his tail in a small chair. (2)
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Source:
1. "Bird Circus Pleases Crowd at St. Luke's," Telegraph-Herald, June 7, 1945, p. 13
2. "Bird Troupe to Play in Dubuque," Telegraph-Herald, June 26, 1946, p. 15