What A Place For A Wedding: The Pagel & Wilkie circuses

After circus owner William Pagel died, Aberdeen resident Frank Wilkie took over most of his animals.  Frank had collected animals since he was a boy.  At one time he had 24 lions.  He created a zoo in the little Karoo town of Aberdeen and this came to the attention of the world when Numero Killian and Bubie Maiers got married in one of the lion cages.  None of their friends was brave enough to join them there, so the “bridesmaids” were seven lionesses. The only other person in the cage at the time was Frank Wilkie, owner of the lions and a professional lion tamer. The magistrate, who performed the ceremony, wisely in the opinion of the locals, opted to stand outside the cage, writes Bartle Logie in Traveller’s Joy.

© Rose’s Roundup, Jule 2012 (No 222)

To subscribe to Rose’s Roundup, contact Rose Willis at: karootour@telkomsa.net