Captain Barnett's Traveling Whale Show

Many years ago, I received a letter from Mrs. George T. Ferris of Houston. Ferris told me that as a child, she would visit her aunt and uncle who lived in Gonzales back in the 1930s. These folks were Ollie and Riley Zumwalt — Mr. Zumwalt owned a barbershop across from the Alcalde Hotel.

Mrs. Ferris said that when she was about seven years old, she was in Gonzales on one of her visits and was witness to a somewhat unusual event. That occurrence was the arrival of “Captain David Barnett’s Whale Show.”

It seems that the whale show was a big motorized museum that arrived in Gonzales on January 30, 1933. According to several old articles found in The Gonzales Inquirer, the exhibit was to be in town for two days.

Located on the Michelson lot next door to the Inquirer office on St. Paul Street, the show was viewed by many of the local citizens. After all, the price was right — the admission fee was only ten cents.

The exposition was led by Captain David Barnett, a whaling sea captain, who stated that his exhibit was the only one of its kind except for permanent ones located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York.

The paper reported that the display included one preserved whale, as well as; a 15-foot octopus and her baby, a shark, a barracuda, a crucifixion fish, a sea horse, a 350-pound turtle, and many other creatures that inhabit the ocean depths.

Evidently, the whale and the rest of the exhibits were all inside some sort of glass case. The report didn’t say if any of these specimens were alive. All indications are that they were of the preserved or stuffed variety.

Indeed, Mrs. Ferris indicated in her letter, “the whale was not that large and was mounted in the center of the trailer, and it was possible to walk around it, and there were displays of all sorts on the walls.”

The newspaper went on to write that the frequent lectures by Captain Barnett were very interesting and educational in that they, “... tell only of sea-going ships and their dangerous battles with the mighty monsters of the deep while their killer ships keep right on seeking new whales to conquer.”

Mayor George Ewing said he granted permission for the show to be held because of its educational features. Evidently the local PTA was also involved in bringing the exhibit to town.

Henry Reese, owner of The Gonzales Inquirer, saw the event as a good way to increase subscriptions to the newspaper.

In one article the paper stated that if a person brought in a new subscription, that individual would receive a free ticket to the show.

It wasn’t all about the money, however; school teachers, ministers, and underprivileged children were all invited to visit the exhibit free as guests of Reese.

From all indications, Captain David Barnett’s traveling exhibit was a big hit in Gonzales.

It was the type of incident that lingers in the memory of both the adult and the child for many years.