"Yours with a Roar," Manuel King

Brownsville says goodbye to another homegrown legend.  His father W.A. "Snake" King  concluded corresponding letters with his signature "Rattling Yours ... Snake King" and Manuel made it a custom to sign autographs in similar fashion with "Yours with a roar!! ...  Manuel King."  

1964 cover of book written by William Abraham King, Jr.  It tells about how his father W.A. "Snake" King built a wild animal farm near Palm Blvd (Palm Village Shopping Center today) and called it Snakeville.  He became world famous and his son went on to become the World's Youngest Wild Animal Trainer.  The book has plenty of anecdotes to keep the reader entertained but (no spoilers) by the end you'll have a special place in your heart for Snakeville.

This Snake Catching Contest held at the Fort Brown during the Mid-Winter Fair is a freeze-frame from a 1914 film by Adolph Dittman.  Dittman built the first movie theater in Brownsville and occasionally filmed for Pathe' news clips.  His "Battle of Matamoros" film clips in June 1914 went national.

If you want to see what the Texas Archive of the Moving Image did with a 35mm nitrate film (which is highly combustible) click on THIS.

No need to tell whole Snake King's story with this post but here's a blank to to check again for future posts.   Raising lions at the animal farm produced about ten cubs as once.  One time Manuel's father caught him playing with the cubs after having been warned not to and Manuel thought he was in for it!

Manuel had made friends with the cubs and gave them names.  His closest was Yo-Yo and he named the other cubs Mickey, Dynamite, Prince, Bubbles, Tiger, Spitfire, Ruth, Leo and Nero.  With them he emulated his lion trainer hero Clyde Beatty, the most daring wild animal trainer of all time who stunned audiences with fight scenes between a Bengal tiger and African lion in The Big Cage (1933).  If you don't believe me, just Google that and enjoy the fights. 

Manuel's father met John C. "Chubby" Guilfoyle who was a first-class trainer even after he lost his arm in the 1920's during a lion/tiger mix-up which went really bad.  W.A. King hired him to train Manuel to train lions.  Guilfoyle thought the Snake King was insane to ask a man who lost an arm in the cage but he was talked into making a visit to Snakeville.  This photo was taken in 1933 the first day Chubby and Manuel met.

John Guilfoyle next to cat cage while traveling with the Christy Circus c1925 (from John C. Guilfoyle Collection)

 Manuel had names for all these lions.  If you can find the book, grab it and read.  John's wife was also a trainer and she lent her outfit to Manuel which he also wore for a Universal Newsreel clip.

Click HERE if you want to watch it.

 May 1934 handbill from the John C. Guilfoyle Collection courtesy of Leah Malasko.  W.A. "Snake" King had it all set-up.  He alerted the press, got a bite, and soon enough Manuel was ready to take his show on the road.

Here are two trucks used to haul the lions and crew to carnivals, circuses and preferably big county fairs.

One thing Manuel liked to remind me was that they never use the ter Lion "tamer" -- It's Trainer - not tamer.  The belief that these lions raised from cubs can be "tame" is to not understand the unpredictability of these magnificent cats.  

The rolling barrel trick was no trick at all.  This was one of the most difficult feats to do smoothly but Manuel was well trained and while the lions gnarl and roar and paw at Manuel it's all an "act" but the potential danger can come if the routine is not followed, such as a sudden noise or movement.

A very rare photo of W.A. and Manuel King together circa 1934-35 courtesy of Leah Malasko.

 W.A. Snake King at a zoo wrapped in a python (from the John C. Guilfoyle Collection)

 The Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey (1935) was where Manuel spent a summer or two and it looks like he must have had a swell ol' time.

 Bronsbil Estacion version of the poster in the above photo

He saw his name in lights 

1935-36 taken by Fred Parker-photographer Louisville Times At Fontaine Ferry Park-KY (John C. Guilfoyle Collection)

 The lion training arena at Snakeville.

Manuel told me that Clyde Beatty did not like the idea of teaming with a boy and his lions but there were no worries -- Manuel brought his own lions to act with.  The film is shot in 15 episodic "cliffhangers" which were major theater draws for folks wanting to catch the next installment.  

May 1936 ad announcing Manuel's big screen debut.  Only two years before had he made his debut on a theater stage (see handbill above).

 from the Brownsville Herald's Memories of Home (colorized by Bronsbil Estacion)

Manuel continued in the business a few years, joined the army, returned home and continued working with animals the rest of his life.  Thanks to Mr. King for sharing his collection of photos and memories and Leah Malasko and family for their sharing of photos from the John C. Guilfoyle Collection.  It was truly an honor to have met with Manuel and William Abraham King back 10 years ago while researching Snakeville for a historic exhibit.

Brownsville likes to honor it's builders, it's wealthy entrepreneurs and vast land owners and that really is the thing to do but very few places have been homes to legends such as W.A. "Snake" King and the "World's Youngest Wild Animal Trainer" or "WYWAT," as his older brother Bill called him.

~ Javier R. Garcia

1950 Brownsville Music Company - Gilbert Pineda and Dan Alaniz

Gilbert Pineda and Dan Alaniz ~ Brownsville Music Company (BMC) sent by Gil Tatar Pineda last January.  The original appears at bottom of this post.  This is the colorized version with photos found online to help with the coloring process.  The Wurlitzer 1250 was introduced in 1950.

The photo appears to be taken at a trade show convention with a display the latest Wurlitzer music boxes on the market.  The BMC store was located in the San Fernando complex building facing Market Square from the side of 11th St.  Sorry, no photo of that.

Gilbert Pineda was a teenager when he started working for the Brownsville Music Company prior to World War II.  He enlisting in the army in 1943 and took part in the D-Day Invasion operating heavy artillery and returned home in December 1945.  He returned to work for his uncle Bernadino ("Tio Nino") who owned BMC.  After Tio Nino passed on Gilbert and Dan took over the business and leased jukeboxes, pool tables and pinball machines throughout Brownsville, Port Isabel and Los Fresnos areas well into the 1990s.

This is an early Robert Runyon photo of Frenchman John B. Viano (standing) and parade float.  He was the proprietor of the "Diamond Loop Brownsville Music Company" and displayed the United States of America and French flags on his flower decorated float for a parade popular with Brownsvillites who owned vehicles in the early 1900's.  Viano probably sold pianos and phonographs and other musical instruments popular at the time.

1911 Flower Parade in Brownsville, Texas (Brownsville Historical Association)

 July 28, 1938 obituary for John B. Viano

 May 4, 1952 Cinco de Mayo ad from Brownsville Music Company

 The Wurlitzer Model 1250 jukebox showcased a visible record changer and could play (both sides) of  24 -  10" or 7" records.  It weighed about 380 lbs and stood 59" high, 36" wide and 27" deep.  

 Wurlitzer Model 4007 oval wall-mount auxiliary speaker featured a silver grille cloth and mirrored rim which was the top-of-the-line.  The 12" speaker gave increased output.  The unit was about 30" high, 22 wide and 11" deep.  Another attractive feature was the "revolving colored light cylinder behind Musical Note."

The Wurlitzer 3020 wall box accepted 5¢ 10¢ & 25¢ to play up to 24 selections of music from the Wurlitzer 1250.  It was nickel-plated with red push buttons.

Thanks to Gil Tatar Pineda for allowing me the privilege to colorize this piece of Brownsville history.  This was a difficult photo to work with and I did not achieve the desired realistic colors I wanted but that's alright.

Colorized photo of JC Penny party in 1951 in Brownsville, Texas with 1941 Wurlitzer 750 jukebox. Photo loaned by Nora Vasquez at Junk -N- Treasure in Brownsville, Texas (my first experience colorizing a jukebox).
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(photo & comments added 3/2017

San Fernando building complex at Market Square early 1970s 

"Love these photos side, by side. My father, Alfredo Serna, Sr., owned The Victory Place until he passed away in August 1970. It was a beer joint and the address was 1108 East Adams. It was the only bar that opened to both Adams and Market Square St. (The beer trucks lined up there, made me smile.) Looking at this picture I can't tell if my dad's bar was in the building next to the park or was torndown for the park. This is a clipping from a Mother's Day advertisement in the '50's I believe. My mom, Maria Teresa Serna, was the switchboard operator at City Hall just across the street, for many, many years, retiring a few years after he passed away. So, this photo and the recent photo of City Hall you posted hold so many memories for me and my family."

~ Lali Serna Castillo (via Facebook page)

"My dad Benito F Garcia owned the bar at the corner " El Caballo Blanco " all his life. He had an ajointed door to the Jukebox company owned by my cousins the Pinedas that faced the market. These pictures bring me back to those days of my dads good old days. People knew my dad as El Venado."  

~  Nago Garcia