Looking Back - Reminiscing with Jack Lebo
Remembering New York City’s Famous ‘Flea Circus’ And More
When I was a young Air Force Sergeant stationed with the Armed Forces Press, Radio & TV Service located at 57th Street and Broadway in New York City, I would commute each day via bus from Belleville, New Jersey. I would arrive at the Port of Authority Bus Terminal at 8th Avenue and 42nd Street and walk to my office building.
On the way, using 42nd Street, I couldn’t help noticing a huge sign over a store front window reading, “HUBERT’S FLEA CIRCUS.” Eventually, curiosity finally got the best of me, and I paid the dime admission, entered the store, and what I saw, shocked and amazed me. Yes, it certainly was what they advertised — fleas actually performing!
From the mid-1920s until 1965, this greatest of New York City institutions occupied 228-232 West 42nd Street near Times Square — the former location of a lobster restaurant, closed by prohibition. The building which housed Hubert’s Dime Museum was a schoolhouse built in the 1880s, by the prestigious architects McKim, Mead & White. Hubert’s is legendary for serving as the sometimes and seasonal home for many of the greatest freak, novelty, sideshow and variety acts for four decades — not to mention the last working flea circus in America.
The origin of Hubert’s seems to be on Coney Island, New York, where a 1925 advertisement for “Hubert’s Museum” in the “Show World “ magazine lists “Hubert Miller, Owner” and shows a photo of the namesake museum on the Coney boardwalk. A 1927 photograph of the same location shows the sign altered to read, “Huber’s Museum.” The final “t” had been dropped, perhaps signifying a change in ownership.
Did Hubert Miller sell-out and move Hubert’s Museum to 42nd Street in 1925? Yet, another photo dated 1925 of “Hubert’s Museum” at the 228-232 42nd Street location seems to suggest this.
By the late 1930s the museum was owned by Schork & Schaefer, who relocated Hubert’s to the basement of the building to make room for their street-level pinball parlor and shooting gallery. The subterranean space was reached from the street entrance below the Hubert’s marquee. In 1925, the admission was “Afternoons 10 cents, Evenings 15 cents, Sundays and Holidays, 15 and 25 cents.”
Flea Circus And Other Attractions
The Flea Circus eventually occupied a walled-off area of the Hubert’s basement, guarded by its own ticket box and sliding wooden door, which opened to a small room where the professor and fleas did their thing for an additional admission of 10 cents, then 15 cents, and finally 25 cents. Hubert’s hosted the flea-training Heckler family from 1925 until 1933. Leroy Heckler took over the operation in 1933, and kept the fleas dancing at Hubert’s until his retirement in 1957.
Hubert’s was a Mecca for millions, from the high-toned, tuxedoed Broadway theatre crowds of the 1920s and 30s, to the down and dirty Times Square street toughs who frequented the spot until its demise in the mid-1960s. Immortalized by Lenny Bruce, Tiny Tim, Andy Kaufman and many others, Hubert’s was a world unto itself.
In its later years, from approximately 1956 until its closing, the museum was managed by Richard Lucas, known as, “Woo-Foo,” a former Ringling Brothers fire-eater.
Lucas’ wife, Mary Sahloo (Mary Wigfall), whom he married in 1943, was known as “Princess Sahloo” and “Princess Wago” and performed at Hubert’s for many years as the “Voodoo Jungle Snake Dancer.”
Little has been written about Hubert’s final days, but from the pages of Lucas’s personal diaries it is suggested that the day-to-day grind of running of the museum in the mid-1960s was a mental and physical strain, which along with declining profits, and the relentless chokehold of sleaze and decay, which characterized 42nd Street, doomed Hubert’s to an untimely death. By late 1965, Lucas was gone, and “Hubie’s” stopped it’s live performances. The downstairs basement remaining open free of charge with its decaying exhibits until 1968. A few seconds in the 1969 movie, “Midnight Cowboy,” capture Hubert’s neon entrance — a last fleeting glimpse of the New York legend.
Among those who were featured there were: 1925 - The Carlson Sisters, “Twin Fat Girls”; 1928 - Baron Paucci, “Smallest Perfectly Formed Man in the World;” 1956 - “Headless Woman in a Box”; 1958 - Susie “Elephant Skin Girl,” Sealo “Seal Boy”.
Other performers thought to have performed at Hubert’s include: Edna Price, “Lady Sword Swallower;” Larry Love, “The Human Canary;” Myrtle, “The Four-Legged Girl;” and Alfred Langevin, “Eye Smoker.” And this is just a partial listing of the personalities who had performed there. Yes, Hubert’s Flea Circus is just a memory now, but for a few of us, it will never be forgotten!
*
Secane, PA’s Barbara “Babs” Daniels must have food on her mind, especially sweets.
This time, she turned to that corner soda fountain, just loaded with sugar. You say you’re on a diet? But you’re bound to break down sometime, so there’s no time like the present. After reading her thoughts on the subject, you may run, not walk to the nearest purveyor of sweet treats for the tummy....
According to Babs, “Sometimes, the simplest things bring back fond memories. During the 1940s and 50s, when we went to the local soda fountain, which was usually a pharmacy, we had some wonderful treats. Coca Cola was the beverage of the day, usually served in a round cone-shaped paper cup. We had vanilla cokes, with a shot of vanilla syrup, and also cherry coke with a shot of cherry syrup. These were always served over ice, and the cost was a mere ten cents.”
Another favorite was a root beer float consisting of a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a tall glass, then covered with a bottle of old-fashioned root beer soda, creating a frothy delight. This cost 35 cents. Most of the soda pop used came from Franks Beverage Company in Philadelphia. They sold delicious true-to-taste fruit soda like Grape, Orange, Cola, Vanilla-Cream, and the popular black cherry Wishniak. Recalling how the jingle went: “Is It Franks? Thanks!”
Sadly, the company was sold, but its products can still be found at a few local bottlers. Franks also sold a metal serving tray bearing their logo, and a painting of the fruits they used in their beverages. Today, this tray has become a collector’s item. Babs would love to locate one and add it to her collection.
Another lip-smacking treat was the ice cream sundae, consisting of a scoop of ice cream smothered with either chocolate sauce, marshmallow, butterscotch, walnuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top.... You could have as many toppings as you wished, at no extra charge. In 1950, this was 25 cents.
Then, there also was the banana split, composed of 3 scoops of ice cream, a banana sliced in half length-wise, covered with walnuts, mounds of whipped cream, and cherries, all for 45 cents!
Eating in a diner brings back old-fashioned memories, such as a creamy breakfast favorite of chipped beef on toast, or sometimes known as “frizzled beef.” During the 1940s, our military folks nicknamed it S.O.S.
*
In the 1930s and 40s, our newspapers carried comic strips sections we called “The Jokes” or “The Funnies.” These were beautifully drawn by talented cartoonists. Children were enthralled by the variety of subjects and, even the Mayor of New York City, Fiorello LaGuardia would read them to the kids via the radio on weekends.
Do you recall in the early days “Felix the Cat,” “The Katzenjammer Kids,” and “Betty Boop?” Then there was on radio “Jack Armstrong-The All-American Boy,” and “Tarzan of the Jungle.” In newspapers, there was the amazing adventures of “The Phantom,” also a good guy in the jungle.
A huge favorite among readers was “Alley Oop,” featuring a group of cave men, who enjoyed having fun. There was a one-panel cartoon, “Casper Milquetoast,” a quiet wishy-washy man who was ruled by his overbearing wife, and then we had “The Little King,” who roamed around his palace and never uttered a word.
A much-loved comic strip, “Mutt and Jeff,” dealt with everyday events in the life of a tall gent and his shorter best friend. Another charming strip was “Nancy,” a sweet chubby little girl who lived with her Aunt Fritzi and shared innocent fun with her boyfriend, “Sluggo.” One of the longest running strips today is the exquisitely drawn “Prince Valiant,” with his beautiful wife, Aleta, and the wonderful comedy of everyday life, “Blondie,” with her bumbling spouse, Dagwood Bumstead, and their son Alexander, their daughter, and their pooch. Mr. Dithers, Dagwood’s grouchy boss, completes the fun. All these comic strips contained clean, innocent, decent story lines. The only present day comparables are “Peanuts,” by the late Charles Schultz, and “The Family Circus,” by Bil Keane.
*
When I was a young teenager, I was very fortunate to be able to attend the Earle Theatre in downtown Philadelphia most every Saturday matinee. On the bill, there was a forgettable B-Movie, and a stage show featuring vaudeville acts and a name band. Bandleader Ina Ray Hutton just happened to be the name band on stage on the day that I attended. What a joy it was seeing and hearing Ms. Hutton in action. The show was so enjoyable, that I stayed in the theatre for the remainder of the day, much to the concern of my parents.
Ina Ray Hutton, the half-sister of Pied Piper June Hutton, was the only prominent female bandleader during the Big Band Era. She gained notoriety during the 1940s for both her music and her seductive stage persona, earning her the nickname of “The Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm.”
Ina Ray began singing and dancing at the age of eight. During the early 1930s, she appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies and the George White Scandals, and in 1934, was asked to front an all-girl orchestra, “The Melodears,” with which she appeared in several Paramount musical shorts. The group achieved some popularity, mainly as a novelty act. It disbanded in 1939.
In 1940, Ina Ray formed an all-male orchestra. Though her new outfit was quite talented, it was her seductive swaying and dancing on stage that helped gained the group a following. Sax player and arranger George Paxton, to whom Ina Ray had reportedly offered 50 percent of her profits to join the band, played a large part in the orchestra’s success, becoming musical director and de facto leader until he left to form his own group in 1944. Standout musicians included guitarist Jack Purcell and pianist Hal Schafer. Vocalist with the band were Stuart Foster and a trio called the Kim Loo Sisters.
In 1944, Ina Ray starred in the Columbia production, “Ever Since Venus,” her only major film role. She disbanded her orchestra in December of 1946, but later formed a new all-girl orchestra, which appeared on a regional television program from 1951 to 1956, with a brief network run in 1956. She retired from music in 1968 and passed on in 1984 of complications from diabetes.
*
Looking Back appears each month. Do you have a memory you’d like to share? Drop a line to: Jack Lebo, Looking Back, 37 Locust Lane, Levittown, PA 19054, or call (215) 943-8870, email: jacklebo@verizon.net.
When I was a young Air Force Sergeant stationed with the Armed Forces Press, Radio & TV Service located at 57th Street and Broadway in New York City, I would commute each day via bus from Belleville, New Jersey. I would arrive at the Port of Authority Bus Terminal at 8th Avenue and 42nd Street and walk to my office building.
On the way, using 42nd Street, I couldn’t help noticing a huge sign over a store front window reading, “HUBERT’S FLEA CIRCUS.” Eventually, curiosity finally got the best of me, and I paid the dime admission, entered the store, and what I saw, shocked and amazed me. Yes, it certainly was what they advertised — fleas actually performing!
From the mid-1920s until 1965, this greatest of New York City institutions occupied 228-232 West 42nd Street near Times Square — the former location of a lobster restaurant, closed by prohibition. The building which housed Hubert’s Dime Museum was a schoolhouse built in the 1880s, by the prestigious architects McKim, Mead & White. Hubert’s is legendary for serving as the sometimes and seasonal home for many of the greatest freak, novelty, sideshow and variety acts for four decades — not to mention the last working flea circus in America.
The origin of Hubert’s seems to be on Coney Island, New York, where a 1925 advertisement for “Hubert’s Museum” in the “Show World “ magazine lists “Hubert Miller, Owner” and shows a photo of the namesake museum on the Coney boardwalk. A 1927 photograph of the same location shows the sign altered to read, “Huber’s Museum.” The final “t” had been dropped, perhaps signifying a change in ownership.
Did Hubert Miller sell-out and move Hubert’s Museum to 42nd Street in 1925? Yet, another photo dated 1925 of “Hubert’s Museum” at the 228-232 42nd Street location seems to suggest this.
By the late 1930s the museum was owned by Schork & Schaefer, who relocated Hubert’s to the basement of the building to make room for their street-level pinball parlor and shooting gallery. The subterranean space was reached from the street entrance below the Hubert’s marquee. In 1925, the admission was “Afternoons 10 cents, Evenings 15 cents, Sundays and Holidays, 15 and 25 cents.”
Flea Circus And Other Attractions
The Flea Circus eventually occupied a walled-off area of the Hubert’s basement, guarded by its own ticket box and sliding wooden door, which opened to a small room where the professor and fleas did their thing for an additional admission of 10 cents, then 15 cents, and finally 25 cents. Hubert’s hosted the flea-training Heckler family from 1925 until 1933. Leroy Heckler took over the operation in 1933, and kept the fleas dancing at Hubert’s until his retirement in 1957.
Hubert’s was a Mecca for millions, from the high-toned, tuxedoed Broadway theatre crowds of the 1920s and 30s, to the down and dirty Times Square street toughs who frequented the spot until its demise in the mid-1960s. Immortalized by Lenny Bruce, Tiny Tim, Andy Kaufman and many others, Hubert’s was a world unto itself.
In its later years, from approximately 1956 until its closing, the museum was managed by Richard Lucas, known as, “Woo-Foo,” a former Ringling Brothers fire-eater.
Lucas’ wife, Mary Sahloo (Mary Wigfall), whom he married in 1943, was known as “Princess Sahloo” and “Princess Wago” and performed at Hubert’s for many years as the “Voodoo Jungle Snake Dancer.”
Little has been written about Hubert’s final days, but from the pages of Lucas’s personal diaries it is suggested that the day-to-day grind of running of the museum in the mid-1960s was a mental and physical strain, which along with declining profits, and the relentless chokehold of sleaze and decay, which characterized 42nd Street, doomed Hubert’s to an untimely death. By late 1965, Lucas was gone, and “Hubie’s” stopped it’s live performances. The downstairs basement remaining open free of charge with its decaying exhibits until 1968. A few seconds in the 1969 movie, “Midnight Cowboy,” capture Hubert’s neon entrance — a last fleeting glimpse of the New York legend.
Among those who were featured there were: 1925 - The Carlson Sisters, “Twin Fat Girls”; 1928 - Baron Paucci, “Smallest Perfectly Formed Man in the World;” 1956 - “Headless Woman in a Box”; 1958 - Susie “Elephant Skin Girl,” Sealo “Seal Boy”.
Other performers thought to have performed at Hubert’s include: Edna Price, “Lady Sword Swallower;” Larry Love, “The Human Canary;” Myrtle, “The Four-Legged Girl;” and Alfred Langevin, “Eye Smoker.” And this is just a partial listing of the personalities who had performed there. Yes, Hubert’s Flea Circus is just a memory now, but for a few of us, it will never be forgotten!
*
Secane, PA’s Barbara “Babs” Daniels must have food on her mind, especially sweets.
This time, she turned to that corner soda fountain, just loaded with sugar. You say you’re on a diet? But you’re bound to break down sometime, so there’s no time like the present. After reading her thoughts on the subject, you may run, not walk to the nearest purveyor of sweet treats for the tummy....
According to Babs, “Sometimes, the simplest things bring back fond memories. During the 1940s and 50s, when we went to the local soda fountain, which was usually a pharmacy, we had some wonderful treats. Coca Cola was the beverage of the day, usually served in a round cone-shaped paper cup. We had vanilla cokes, with a shot of vanilla syrup, and also cherry coke with a shot of cherry syrup. These were always served over ice, and the cost was a mere ten cents.”
Another favorite was a root beer float consisting of a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a tall glass, then covered with a bottle of old-fashioned root beer soda, creating a frothy delight. This cost 35 cents. Most of the soda pop used came from Franks Beverage Company in Philadelphia. They sold delicious true-to-taste fruit soda like Grape, Orange, Cola, Vanilla-Cream, and the popular black cherry Wishniak. Recalling how the jingle went: “Is It Franks? Thanks!”
Sadly, the company was sold, but its products can still be found at a few local bottlers. Franks also sold a metal serving tray bearing their logo, and a painting of the fruits they used in their beverages. Today, this tray has become a collector’s item. Babs would love to locate one and add it to her collection.
Another lip-smacking treat was the ice cream sundae, consisting of a scoop of ice cream smothered with either chocolate sauce, marshmallow, butterscotch, walnuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top.... You could have as many toppings as you wished, at no extra charge. In 1950, this was 25 cents.
Then, there also was the banana split, composed of 3 scoops of ice cream, a banana sliced in half length-wise, covered with walnuts, mounds of whipped cream, and cherries, all for 45 cents!
Eating in a diner brings back old-fashioned memories, such as a creamy breakfast favorite of chipped beef on toast, or sometimes known as “frizzled beef.” During the 1940s, our military folks nicknamed it S.O.S.
*
In the 1930s and 40s, our newspapers carried comic strips sections we called “The Jokes” or “The Funnies.” These were beautifully drawn by talented cartoonists. Children were enthralled by the variety of subjects and, even the Mayor of New York City, Fiorello LaGuardia would read them to the kids via the radio on weekends.
Do you recall in the early days “Felix the Cat,” “The Katzenjammer Kids,” and “Betty Boop?” Then there was on radio “Jack Armstrong-The All-American Boy,” and “Tarzan of the Jungle.” In newspapers, there was the amazing adventures of “The Phantom,” also a good guy in the jungle.
A huge favorite among readers was “Alley Oop,” featuring a group of cave men, who enjoyed having fun. There was a one-panel cartoon, “Casper Milquetoast,” a quiet wishy-washy man who was ruled by his overbearing wife, and then we had “The Little King,” who roamed around his palace and never uttered a word.
A much-loved comic strip, “Mutt and Jeff,” dealt with everyday events in the life of a tall gent and his shorter best friend. Another charming strip was “Nancy,” a sweet chubby little girl who lived with her Aunt Fritzi and shared innocent fun with her boyfriend, “Sluggo.” One of the longest running strips today is the exquisitely drawn “Prince Valiant,” with his beautiful wife, Aleta, and the wonderful comedy of everyday life, “Blondie,” with her bumbling spouse, Dagwood Bumstead, and their son Alexander, their daughter, and their pooch. Mr. Dithers, Dagwood’s grouchy boss, completes the fun. All these comic strips contained clean, innocent, decent story lines. The only present day comparables are “Peanuts,” by the late Charles Schultz, and “The Family Circus,” by Bil Keane.
*
When I was a young teenager, I was very fortunate to be able to attend the Earle Theatre in downtown Philadelphia most every Saturday matinee. On the bill, there was a forgettable B-Movie, and a stage show featuring vaudeville acts and a name band. Bandleader Ina Ray Hutton just happened to be the name band on stage on the day that I attended. What a joy it was seeing and hearing Ms. Hutton in action. The show was so enjoyable, that I stayed in the theatre for the remainder of the day, much to the concern of my parents.
Ina Ray Hutton, the half-sister of Pied Piper June Hutton, was the only prominent female bandleader during the Big Band Era. She gained notoriety during the 1940s for both her music and her seductive stage persona, earning her the nickname of “The Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm.”
Ina Ray began singing and dancing at the age of eight. During the early 1930s, she appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies and the George White Scandals, and in 1934, was asked to front an all-girl orchestra, “The Melodears,” with which she appeared in several Paramount musical shorts. The group achieved some popularity, mainly as a novelty act. It disbanded in 1939.
In 1940, Ina Ray formed an all-male orchestra. Though her new outfit was quite talented, it was her seductive swaying and dancing on stage that helped gained the group a following. Sax player and arranger George Paxton, to whom Ina Ray had reportedly offered 50 percent of her profits to join the band, played a large part in the orchestra’s success, becoming musical director and de facto leader until he left to form his own group in 1944. Standout musicians included guitarist Jack Purcell and pianist Hal Schafer. Vocalist with the band were Stuart Foster and a trio called the Kim Loo Sisters.
In 1944, Ina Ray starred in the Columbia production, “Ever Since Venus,” her only major film role. She disbanded her orchestra in December of 1946, but later formed a new all-girl orchestra, which appeared on a regional television program from 1951 to 1956, with a brief network run in 1956. She retired from music in 1968 and passed on in 1984 of complications from diabetes.
*
Looking Back appears each month. Do you have a memory you’d like to share? Drop a line to: Jack Lebo, Looking Back, 37 Locust Lane, Levittown, PA 19054, or call (215) 943-8870, email: jacklebo@verizon.net.
