Missing elephant caused a stir in Windham area in 1957
THE VIDBEL ELEPHANTSAnonymous
The Daily Star
Mon Nov 14, 2011
Oneonta, NY--Generations of us have grown up with comic strips, cartoons and TV sitcoms with animals able to talk amongst themselves, or to humans. Share my imagination a bit as we return to a true story that took place near Windham in October 1957. It was a story readers followed day by day in The Oneonta Star and later in a November edition of Life Magazine.
It was probably a quiet day on the Vidbel farm on what was then called Vining Road in the Mitchell Hollow area of the town of Windham. It was Thursday, Oct. 17, on what was not your average farm in the Catskills. Among animals on the Vidbel farm were three elephants named Bombay, Delhi and Siam. The Vidbels trained the elephants as well as horses for the George A. Hamid Circus, and Windham was a winter home for the animals.
My imagination kicks in with Dusty, a rascally horse, who knew as well as we do that elephants can get nervous when they're startled. Dusty and some equine cohorts saw the elephants hosing themselves down in the nearby creek and said, "Let's play a little joke on those guys."
The horses came out of nowhere and charged at the elephant trio, making them predictably rear up and then bolt for the woods of Mitchell Hollow, much to the amusement of Dusty and company, no doubt.
The imagination fades a bit at that point, and the true story begins. Alfred and Joyce Vidbel started a search for the elephants that evening. About an hour later, they found Delhi and Bombay (known now as Mumbai). Siam, however, had a case of wanderlust and likely told the other two, "I'll catch up with you later."
Once word got out that a two-ton elephant was loose near Windham, the search party got bigger. Civil Air Patrol planes joined the search, as did animal "experts." Once school got out in the afternoon, students from the area wanted to help find Siam. Many a youngster knew Siam from the circus or appearances on television.
A problem soon became apparent. Siam spottings were made, but searchers wondered what to do when they found the elephant. At the time, Joyce Vidbel said just to stay calm and do nothing, and to send for her.
"I'm the only one who can talk to her and make her behave," she said. Joyce and Siam performed a center ring trick called "the leg in the mouth and carry," so both performers had to trust each another.
Siam apparently liked her temporary spree of anonymity, as time and time again she'd be spotted and would slip away to freedom. A week passed and Siam had found plenty to eat in the wilderness. She soon became known in the newspapers as "America's AWOL Elephant." The nights were getting colder and the Vidbels were getting concerned. Siam was becoming a bit less jittery when encountered by humans, probably thinking it was time to get back to the Vidbel's farm. Warmth and all-you-can-eat hay were probably in the back of her mind.
After 13 days of roaming, Siam calmly gave in to a group of friendly captors. Joyce Vidbel fed her some hay and talked to her as they brought her to the waiting transport trailer. Siam gave up at a quarry about seven miles from the Vidbel farm. Siam had caught a cold during her wanderings, but was soon back to her old self. She probably had a lot of stories to tell Delhi and Bombay.
Dusty was unavailable for comment.
Back in September, I had the pleasure of an unexpected meeting with Joyce Vidbel, still living on the farm at Mitchell Hollow. When I identified myself and wondered about the infamous Siam, Joyce went indoors and brought out two huge scrapbooks.
Siam was indeed famous in Windham. The road name near the Vidbel farm had been changed to Siam Road in the late 1950s because of this episode. The Vidbels eventually parted company with the Hamid Circus and got their own Vidbel Circus underway, entertaining audiences near and far until retiring in 1998. A new generation has carried the show forward, now called Circus Vidbel.
"It has been an exciting life," Joyce said while going through the scrapbooks.
It was probably a quiet day on the Vidbel farm on what was then called Vining Road in the Mitchell Hollow area of the town of Windham. It was Thursday, Oct. 17, on what was not your average farm in the Catskills. Among animals on the Vidbel farm were three elephants named Bombay, Delhi and Siam. The Vidbels trained the elephants as well as horses for the George A. Hamid Circus, and Windham was a winter home for the animals.
My imagination kicks in with Dusty, a rascally horse, who knew as well as we do that elephants can get nervous when they're startled. Dusty and some equine cohorts saw the elephants hosing themselves down in the nearby creek and said, "Let's play a little joke on those guys."
The horses came out of nowhere and charged at the elephant trio, making them predictably rear up and then bolt for the woods of Mitchell Hollow, much to the amusement of Dusty and company, no doubt.
The imagination fades a bit at that point, and the true story begins. Alfred and Joyce Vidbel started a search for the elephants that evening. About an hour later, they found Delhi and Bombay (known now as Mumbai). Siam, however, had a case of wanderlust and likely told the other two, "I'll catch up with you later."
Once word got out that a two-ton elephant was loose near Windham, the search party got bigger. Civil Air Patrol planes joined the search, as did animal "experts." Once school got out in the afternoon, students from the area wanted to help find Siam. Many a youngster knew Siam from the circus or appearances on television.
A problem soon became apparent. Siam spottings were made, but searchers wondered what to do when they found the elephant. At the time, Joyce Vidbel said just to stay calm and do nothing, and to send for her.
"I'm the only one who can talk to her and make her behave," she said. Joyce and Siam performed a center ring trick called "the leg in the mouth and carry," so both performers had to trust each another.
Siam apparently liked her temporary spree of anonymity, as time and time again she'd be spotted and would slip away to freedom. A week passed and Siam had found plenty to eat in the wilderness. She soon became known in the newspapers as "America's AWOL Elephant." The nights were getting colder and the Vidbels were getting concerned. Siam was becoming a bit less jittery when encountered by humans, probably thinking it was time to get back to the Vidbel's farm. Warmth and all-you-can-eat hay were probably in the back of her mind.
After 13 days of roaming, Siam calmly gave in to a group of friendly captors. Joyce Vidbel fed her some hay and talked to her as they brought her to the waiting transport trailer. Siam gave up at a quarry about seven miles from the Vidbel farm. Siam had caught a cold during her wanderings, but was soon back to her old self. She probably had a lot of stories to tell Delhi and Bombay.
Dusty was unavailable for comment.
Back in September, I had the pleasure of an unexpected meeting with Joyce Vidbel, still living on the farm at Mitchell Hollow. When I identified myself and wondered about the infamous Siam, Joyce went indoors and brought out two huge scrapbooks.
Siam was indeed famous in Windham. The road name near the Vidbel farm had been changed to Siam Road in the late 1950s because of this episode. The Vidbels eventually parted company with the Hamid Circus and got their own Vidbel Circus underway, entertaining audiences near and far until retiring in 1998. A new generation has carried the show forward, now called Circus Vidbel.
"It has been an exciting life," Joyce said while going through the scrapbooks.
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