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Chapters
1 & 2 from "The North American Roller Pigeon" Copyright
1993 by Kelley D. Spurling. All Rights Are Reserved. CHAPTER
ONE ORIGIN AND
DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ROLLER PIGEON Just
when Birmingham Roller Pigeons were sent to North America is unknown, the
breed is thought to have first arrived into Canada; then introduced to the
United States from Canada. Whatever the case, Chas. Lienhard of Cincinatti,
Ohio was breeding them in the late 1870's. An advertisement from a James Grist and Sons appeared in the May 1881 issue of 'The Homing Pigeon'. It
read: "IMPQRTED
BIRMINGHAM ROLLER PIGEONS" "The
most interesting little Flying Pigeons living. Can be flown twice a day
and remain up hours during which they pass through the most wonderful and
marvelous aerial gymnastics at an immense altitude." In
the same issue, it is reported that at the Lancaster, PA show Birmingham
Rollers were exhibited under that name by.J.E. Schum, H.G. Hirsch, and C.
Lippold. This
early introduction to Birmingham Rollers began to happen to others, and by
1890 Rollers began to become popular. Ohio and Pennsylvania were the
leaders in their importation, and it's major early breeding centers. Ohio
was definitely more superior over the Pennsylvania center. F.S. Schlicter
in Portsmouth, Fred "Grandma" Liebchen and Arthur C. Karp in
Cleveland, Richard R. Krupke in Canton, Thompson and Hengle in Akron, Tom
Barnum in Berea, and Lienhard and G.E. Wilthew in Cincinatti. They were
all well known fanciers, and all of them played a role in the development
of the North American Roller. Iuse
the term North American Roller, because the goals and standards of North
American Roller fanciers were clearly seperate than those of the English
Roller fancier. In
the U.S. and Canada, the longer roll became the measure of upmost value in
Rollers. Selection is the key- and selection meant deep rollers, mated to
even deeper rollers. Liebchen in Cleveland, finally began following the
Canadian practice of crossing Birmingham Rollers onto Asiatic (Orental)
Rollers. This eventually established the long roll of 50 and 75 and past
100 feet in one unbroken sequence, and the~obvious differences in type
between North American and English Roller Pigeons. Meanwhile, in
Pennsylvania; the cross of Birmingham Roller upon various Ground
performers was a favorite. In the great metropilis of New York City, the
Birmingham Roller was crossed upon the German Flight or Beard- the result
was a type of North American Roller that would later become known as
"The Flyers". They rolled but little, yet were capable of
matching good English Tipplers for Flying endurance. Select rollers had
this habit of ending up in Ohio, is it any wonder that Ohio is the genuine
birthplace of the North American Roller? By
all rights, the selection for the long roll was actually conducted in
England by Ohio men. No long roller, anywhere, was safe from the wandering
Ohio group. Schlicter in Portsmouth was a traveling salesman for a shoe
factory, through his travels he established a lifetime friend by the name
of Mr. Crangle. Crangle happened to be the superintendant of the New York
City Zoo, and Schlicter's interest in Rollers soon became Crangle's as
well. During his trave1s to buy zoo animals, Crangle visited every Roller
loft possible. He considered no price too high for a Roller, so long as it
matched his Ohio friend's description. No English loft was safe from
Crangle, and never again could the English compete for the depth of the
roll. Nor did they really choose to. At
this time, there was a massive Tippler infusion into the Rollers of
England. It served a purpose, and the English succeeded in achieving their
goals. The result was a high flying pigeon that kitted very tightly, and
executed kit 'turns' in a graceful manner. The turns of a kit of North
American Rollers. is anything but graceful, it resembles more an absolute
explosion of rolling powers. The English Roller was now a Grizzled or.
brander Bronze bird with an orange or 'corn' (yellow) eye. They resembled
a Tippler that was capable of rolling. On
the contrary was the newly developed North American Roller, almost always
a Pie-bald marked bird with pearl.or gravel grey eyes. Tippler Prints and
Brander Bronze never existed in the rollers imported to North America
prior to 1920. There was never a North American Roller of either
coloration, just as there were never any Almond Birmingham Rollers. The
Almond or "ermine" coloration exists in North American Rollers
due only to it's Asiatic parent. If you posess an Almond Roller you can be
sure that there is. North American ancestory behind the bird at some~point.
Besides definite differances in color, markings, and eye color; the North
American Roller also differs from the Birmingham Roller in type. The North
American Roller is always somewhat 'Tumbler- headed' compared to
Birminghams, in other words; their head is more rounded and the beak is
shorter. The North American is also a longer cast bird, and has tendencies
to be more loose-feathered in the secondary flights than a Birmingham.In
Performance the North American Roller was totally distinct from the
Birmingham Roller. There were actually three types of North American
Rollers, seperated by means of their performance. Firstly, were the 'Long
Rollers'. This particular group were capable of flying for two to four
hours on end, they rose up in groups of 50 to 150 birds; when upon they
rolled, they would spin like a ball descending 50 and 75 or 100 feet and
beyond! This was the most common group sought after. Secondly, were the
'Spinners' which were capable of flying two to four hours, their performance was very short in depth. These were
found nearly exclusively in New England and later in the Toronto area.
Lastly, were the 'Flyers' as they were called. They rolled little, if at
all. Their specialty was Tippler-like duration, staying aloft for eight to
ten hours; sometimes longer. This type was mostly found in large
industrial.cities, no doubt because rolling would be a dangerous act among
tall buildings in such a city. They were also used in 'Roof Flying'
contests, or 'le guerra' as it was called (the war), this is also called 'pigeon
napping'. Quite an old sport. Whatever. the type of performer, all of
these birds were pearl eyed, marked birds, that flew high and long.
Along
about 1900, word of the Whittingham Strain reached North America. The
Whittinghams had an international reputation for being outstanding high
and long fliers. Toronto, Canada became. the leading importer of
Whittinghams; starting in 1905 with J.V. McAree. The Whittinghams were
slightly differant in type than the North Americans, yet both were a
pearl-eyed, badge marked roller. Tipplers were never infused into the
Whittinghams, they therefore were free of the Brander Bronze and Light
Print markings. Because of their flying abilities, the Whittinghams became
very prized birds and virtually every strain of North American Rollers
received at least small infusions of Whittingham blood. Of course, some
fanciers kept nothing but the Whittinghams and the standards of North
American fanciers were encrouched the Whittinghams, they too, became a
long roller, a spinner or a flyer depending on the locality. Therefore,
the North American Roller and the Whittinghams became one. Rollers
became even more. popular in North America. Flying contests and Roller
Shows became not only popular, but common place. There was one unfortunate
aspect of Roller shows; there was no distinction made between the
differant breeds of Rollers. It was common to find North American Rollers
and all sorts of foreign rollers grouped together in one class. In fact,
about this same time; there was a huge controversy over which was a better
performer- North American Rollers or asiatic (Oriental) Rollers. Each is a
distinct breed, but they just called both 'Rollers'. This unfortunate
mistake, would later play an important role in. the near extinction of the
North American Roller years later. In
July of 1935, the United Roller Club of America was founded to promote
Rollers in North America. It's officers were as follows: President,
Wm. Tierney, Camden, NJ; Vice-Presidents, Chas. Clark, Fullerton, CA; and
Ray E. Gilbert, Salt Lake City, UT; Sec./Treas., G.E. Wilthew, OH;
Directors, James E. Graham, Ontario; E.R.B. Chapman, Stoneham,MA; Dr. E.K.
Carmichael, Center, CO . The
October 1935 issue of The American Pigeon Keeper, was a special issue
about the formation of the U.R.C.A. Wm. Tierney's Red Badge cock is seen
on the cover. This particular issue is now a very rare collecter item.
There are not many copies left in existance.
The
first Standard and Yearbook of the U.R.C.A. was published in 1937, by
Homer Robinson of Muncie, IN. Reprints of this book were I available.
through the American Pigeon Journal only a few years ago, therefore,
copies can be found. Information pertaining to the 1st annual U.R.C.A.
meet cannot be found, however; the second was held in Peoria,IL. Here are
listed the four top birds shown:
CHAMPION: #995-Wm. Harvey
Old
Cock: #8898-Wm. Harvey
Old Hen: #8896-Wm. Harvey
Young
Cock: #995-Wm. Harvey
Young Hen: #920-Wm. Harvey Mr.
Harvey and his winning streak did not stop there, he was a very successful
fancier and judge for many years. The
1930's also saw a number of books written upon North American Rollers by
North American fanciers. The first of these was "Acrobatsof the
Air" by James E. Graham in 1931. It was later reprinted in 1944,
1956 and later in 1980. The second book, was written in 1934 by E.R..B.
Chapman; it was called Rollers~
And All About Them". The third-book was written by Dr, A.D.
Blackburn. The latter, is an extremely rare book- I cannot even find
anyone with a copy, nor do I know it's name or publishing date. A well
known Pigeon book collecter in CA told me has heard of it, but has never
came across a copy. The
North American Roller ruled the skies of North America with little effort,
until about 1935; word of a Wm. Pensom in England reached the U.S. and
Canada. Nearly 70 years after it's creation, the North American Roller
would again meet the Birmingham Roller- this time head on in conflict.
With the words of Bill Pensom also came his birds,
first he sent birds to Schlattmann in St. Louis, MO, then to
Perkins and Smith, then even more. it was obvious that they were here to
stay. Roller
shows became even more comon, the winners of these shows tended to
gradually lean more and more to.the recent English imports.
I Standards had been drawn up, and they to began to resemble the
Tippler I printed English birds. Soon fanciers of North American Rollers
began to cross in Pensom
birds into their North American birds; so as to rate better in the shows.
Markings such as Baldheads, Saddles, Beards,
Spangles, Rose-Wings, Whitesides, and Bell-necks became rare,
having given way to the Tippler print of English birds. Gradually the
North American Roller was re-absorbed back into the Birmingham Roller, and
it's popularity had begun to wane. With
the new. English impprts had arrived new feeding methods, as well 'as a
new system of aerial competition and standard. Long rollers require a bit
more feed than a typical Birmingham Roller, only the old timers realized
this. Novice fanciers of North American Rollers began applying the English
techniques to their birds, the results were disast Normally stable, long
rollers began rolling down and becoming ragged. in their performances. The
reputations of the masters and their Rollers had been destroyed due to
sheer ignorance. The same novices, of course they failed to realize that
the English birds were a totally seperate breed from the American birds;
and- since Rollers come from England,
the English must know best and have the best. The long rolling
North American Roller was a totally distinct performer from the English
birds it would be nearly impossible for it to live up to the English
standard of aerial excellance. It did not, and soon the very existance of
the North American Roller would be questionable. Noone, except the old
timers and their students realized that the Birmingham and North
American Roller were entirely differant breeds from one another. Gradually
the old time fanciers began to die off or leave the hobby
for various reasons. To say the breed became scarce is a large
under- L statement, only a
few die-hards kept the breed alive. They were nearly unheard of during the
late 1970's and early 1980's. Along about 1990, I noticed a gradual
re-newal in the breed. In the Sept. 1992 APJ I gave mention to several old
strains of North American Rollers- I receiv[ a flood of letters and calls.
In the late 1994 issues of the Roller Journal we saw quite a few articles
pertaining to the Fireballs. The
1990's will no doubt be the new century in North American Rollers. CHAPTER
TWO FAMOUS
FANCIERS AND STRAINS Over
the last 120 years, many fanciets have bred and flown North American
Rollers. A select few have made a significant impact upon the breed,
either as a breeder or~a spokesman. It is important that the legacies of
these fanciers and their birds are not forgotten. In the chapter that
follows; I will make a discussion of famous groups of North American
Rollers and the men that developed them. I realize that some names and
strains of rollers may be missing, this is due only
to a lack of information; and not a lack of space. To my knowledge
this is the first and only time that this information has ever been
printed together. It is the result of nearly a decade of collecting
information. RICHARD
R. KRUPKE,
Canton, Ohio (June l3th,1873-April 23rd,1970) One
of the greatest fanciers of all time was Richard Krupke of Canton,
Ohio. Krupke played a major role in the development of the North
American Roller, along with Liebchen, Schlicter, and others. Krupke
may have played the role. For over 80 years he bred and flew North
American Rollers. He
was born in Elbon, Germany and immigrated to Canton, Ohio at age 13 with
his parents. Krupke has said, "Dad had raised pigeons in Elbon since
1858. We were in Canton only a month when we imported Tumblers."
Krupke and his father also made important contributions to
the fancy breeds of this country. In 1889, they imported Shields, Komorner
Tumblers, Beard Tumblers, and Magpies from Germany at great expense. They
also developed quality Frills, Pouters, Dragoons, and Runts. Krupke
is still better known as a roller fancier, his kits went up for thousands
of spectators over the years. It seems they never failed to please. Krupke's
strain was developed mainly from birds he aqquired from licter and
Liebchen, but also from birds bred by an English immigrant named
Tom Guild. Guild had succeeded in bringing his pigeons over in a basket at
age 17. Krupke used birds from Guild on a regular basis. Krupke
generally bred 150 birds a year, three kits; from the 19 pair of his best
performers from the year before. Then he would sell all 19 pair. He did
this each year, constantly replacing one generation with the next. He had
so much faith in his birds, even the best never stayed more than one
season. On breeding Krupke says, " I always bred the deep spinners to
short snappy rollers that were good kit birds and like to fly. When
necessary, I bred from Rolldowns. I selected the breeders from the air.
When I was sure it was the one, I removed it to wait for the breeding
season. When my nineteen pairs were selected, I sold the rest." F.W.
LIEBCHEN,
Cleveland,Ohio ( ?-?) Liebchen
is said to be the first American fancier to practice the method of mating
Birmingham Rollers to Asiatic Rollers. It was from this mating that the
long roll was finally obtained, and Almond Rollers procurred.
According to Krupke, Liebchen kept about 200 rollers in a large
barn and they were as good as they get. Liebchen was also influential in
the writing of the first written aerial standard by American fanciers.
Unfortunately little else is known about him. F.S.
SCHLICTER, Portsmouth,
Ohio (?-?) Very
little is known about Schlicter even tho he is one of the major developers
of Rollers in North America. It was through a friendship between Schlicter
and Mr. Crangle, that many long rollers were imported into the U.S. After
a~shipment arrived, Schlicter would immediately send some of the new
arrivals to Krupke in Canton, and Liebchen in Cleveland. ELMER
R. B. CHAPMAN,
Stoneham, Massachusetts (?-?) Chapman
is considered one of the pioneers of the Pigeon Fancy in North America. He
was considered an~authority on many breeds, but. was more so a Roller
fancier. Whatever the case he wrote many small booklets on the various facets of pigeon
keeping. He
aqquired his first rollers from Chas. Lienhard of Cincinatti, Ohio in 1884
and kept them for nearly 60 years. Chapman also exper-imented with many
other breeds of performing pigeon so as to gain a further understanding of
his Rollers. He as well, corresponded with fanciers of performing pigeons
of all sorts by the hundreds, not only in North America, but also England,
Europe, and Asia. In
1934, Chapman published a book on rollers entitled "Rollers and
All About Them". Among his observations are the following: "A
kit is a family, and the best kits were found to have been bred
off of one bird or family which had the properties required." "Don't
believe everything written or printed about rollers. Read, study your kit
and use your own experience as a guide and you can have a kit that will
fly high and long, spinners or long rollers, and birds that will always
stay home." O.C.
CASPERSON, Wisconcin
(?-1930) Another
famous fancier was O.C. Casperson of Wisconsin. His strain was highly
prominent during the 20's and 30's. It is a well known fact, that
Casperson purchased many Valueable birds of Whitting~ descent from an 'Old
Man' Stevens of Toronto, Canada; about the perioc of 1905. Shortly after
Casperson's death in 1930, L.G. Eldridge of East Greenwich, RI purchased
Casperson's entire stud from his widow at an unheard of sum. Through
Eldridge, the strain became even more common; especially in Rhode Island .
Unfortunately, during WWII many fanciers were forced to sell out due to
hard times to the dealers of pigeons. From then on this grand old strain
was absorbed into other strains. Throughout
the entire course of my research, I only discovered two fanciers who still
kept this old strain. One lived in Rhode sland, and the other was W. Paul
Bradford of Salt Lake City, Utah. 3radford said that he purchased these
rollers at the age of nine from railroad man named Tat Taylor in Salt Lake
City. He described them as
all either Black, Red, or Yellow selfs. Bradford, age nine; paid One
dollar a pair- a pair of each color. Taylor purchased these birds rom
Eldridge, no doubt after 1930. J.V.
MCAREE, Toronto, Canada
(?-1956) Prior
to about 1950, the supreme Roller fancier in all of Canada~ ~as none other
than J.V. McAree of Toronto. He is of course best known for his
importation from all three generations of Whittinghams. Beginning about
1905, McAree began importing a half dozen pair per year from the
Whittinghams- for roughly 45 years. McAree kept the Whittinghams for
nearly 50 years, and gained quite a reputation as a fancier. One
of his greatest achievements actually came through his student, and best
friend; the Rev. James E. Graham of Ontario, Canada. Graham of course
wrote a book entitled 'Acrobats of the Air' in 1931, and achieved a
huge following. McAree had aided Graham to a large degree in writing the
book, and received constant mention in it's pages. To the effect of:
"J.V. thinks ...." in regard to such and such subject. Graham
also says; "What I have seen Mac deem as worthless, most would place
at the front of their kit." On
breeding, McAree says he "always mates one. long roller to another
long roller; breeding at times from a Rolldown." McAree inbred his
birds closely for many years. He goes on to say: "some
rollers will be mere tumblers or mediocre performers for two or three
years or even longer, and then will begin to roll well. Some of the best
Rollers I have ever seen would have been killed and left no descendants
had it not been for the accident of having given them away, when they were
destined for pie. - They had not developed as youngsters and I was
discarding them, for it was my practice for some years to begin on the
first of the year following that in which the pigeons were bred to begin
killing those which had not begun at least to tumble. This was folly on my
part, for undoubtedly I ignorantly destroyed many birds that would have
proved valueable." In
1956, we find that Graham moved next door to McAree in Toronto and
purchased all of McAree's birds. They were housed in a large barn behind
McAree's, along with Graham's other birds. They must have been the finest
Roller collection known to the world at the time. JAMES
E. GRAHAM;
Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada (?-1982) As
we already know, the Rev. James E. Graham was a student of J.V. McAree of Toronto,.Canada.
In 1916, Graham purchased some Whittinghams from McAree. For nearly
60 years, Graham maintained a pure family of Whittinghams. In
1931, Graham published "Acrobats of the Air". It was the
first book upon Rollers written by a North American fancier, but since
Graham had only had Rollers for 15 years and considered himself still a
novice; he enlisted the aid of not only McAree, but also E.R.B. Chapman of
MA, Ray E. Glibert of Salt Lake City, UT, and Ken L. Payne and Wm. H.
Pensom both of Birmingham, England. The book was an instant success, and
Graham became rather famous. Within the book's pages was a striking photo
of a fabulous Red Brooch cock with jet black eyes, that had established
himself as a favorite in Graham's loft. Graham chose the name "FIREBALL"
to add a flavorful touch. Inquiries from everywhere poured in about the
bird, including one offer for $50, an unheard of figure in those days. Of
course, he was not for sale, but Graham sold many of his young and other
birds. From then on, the entire strain was known as "The Fireballs" The
first Fireballs sent to the U.S. were sent to a teen aged fancier named
Tom Butler, by way of train in early 1932. Incidentily, I spoke to Mr.
Butler during the Summer of 1992. He was residing in Deer, AR and still
had some Fireballs. It was an interesting conversation that I will always
remember. I am sorry to report that I was informed that Mr. Butler passed
away on Sept. 29th, 1992.
By
1940, the Fireball strain became so widespread that the Fireball Roller
Club was formed. Among it's charter members were Dr. C.A. Nordland of
Portland,OR and Samual Saunders of Maine. Both became the club's
workhorses and each held several terms in the office of President. Grahau
was often fond of saying that his entire strain descended from "The
Fireball", while this is true; "the Fireball" was not the
foundation pigeon. 1933, found Graham relocating to Northern Ontario.
Since he had just moved and it was winter, Graham housed his birds
temporarily in a small woodshed. Upon the second day, "Fireball"
escaped; he took several rolls and was never seen again. A blizzard struck
only hours later, and temperatures plummeted far below zero. Fireball no
doubt perished. Graham did have one son of "Fireball", a Red
Beard; and it was this bird that founded the entire strain. In
1956, Graham moved next door to McAree, and purchased all of his birds.
They were kept in McAree's barn. Graham then selected his ten best pair,
and McAree's ten best pair as breeding stock. The rest of all the birds he
sold off. Upon McAree's death that same year, 1956; Graham again relocated.
This time to Wisconsin, where he stayed until 1972. At this point, all the
birds were sold and Graham moved to retire in Bradenton, Florida. In
1980, Graham released the 3rd revision of "Acrobats of the Air"
which was anything b~ut successful. 1981 finds the Fireball Roller Club
bankrupt due to it's Sec/Treas. having stolen the funds and leaving for
parts still unknown with a woman other than his wife. Here ends a major
chapter in North American Roller history. LESTER
J. MANZ; Riverside,
New Jersey (?-1976) Another
famous fancier was Les Manz of NJ. He is also the mentor of one of our
modern day old timers, none other than Chandler B. Grover of Elk Grove,
CA. Manz was a proficient writer on Rollers, and respected by many. Les
Manz's strain of rollers hold their origin to a group of Whitting-hams
brought to Camden, NJ in 1925 by an Englishman named Hargrove. Hargrove
immigrated to work at the Easterbrook Pen Factory in Camden, NJ. A
fancier named Bygraves secured a good many of these Whittinghams from Hargrove,
and upon his death in 1929, Manz purchased the entire stud from Bygraves'
widow. Then in 1934, Manz along with a fancier named Frank Sinciair
purchased the entire outstanding stud of A.C. Karp of Cleveland, Ohio.
Karp was a top notch fancier, and an authority on Rollers. At that point,
Les Manz blended the Whittinghams with the Karp birds'; even tho they were
totally differant in type. The result was a family of Reds, Yellows,
Blacks, Duns, Bronzes, and Sulfers-all marked birds. Upon
Manz's death in 1976, his breeders went to a Mr. Chas. Hubbs, and the kit
birds to Chan Grover. Twelve years later, Chan Grover later sent the
author the remnants of this old family. Three birds I bred down from these
are soley responsible for my entire family of Red and Yellow Whitesides. I
believe I had in my posession, the very last living Les Manz bred bird in
existance. This was an Odd-Eyed Red Spangle Cock NIRC #3732-76. He~was a
favorite among my loft visitors and they referec to him as "Old
Odd-Eye". He produced into his 13th year, and at age 17 escaped from
my breeding loft where he resided as a foster parent; oftei I could trust
the old boy with as many as 4 or 5 young and once with 7 babies. The
latter time was totally an accident, as he actually stole a clutch from
another pair! One thing is certain, at the very least; this grand old
family make excellant feeders. Once I had a hen fall ill with her first
round of young, she continued feeding them right up to the day she died.
Another fancier reported a similiar incident with the same family. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Certainly
other fanciers and their birds desereve mention in this section,
unfortunately; the history of North American Rollers has been lost with
time. The early fanciers were seldomly skilled writers, and it generally
took an outsider to write about someone's pigeons. It is ridiculous that
we know more of 5000 year old Egyptian mummies than we do of 70 year old
Roller strains. Other desereved fanciers were Jack LaRue, A.D. Blackburn,
Hagernorst, Tom Barnum, Russ Harter, S.P. Mathie~ Wm. Ross, August Nue,
Rube George, Francis Buckley, the Dubois Bros., J.A. Smith, Wm. Tie mey,
G.E. Wuthew, and many others I have perhaps never heard of. Should the
reader hold any valueable historical info-rmation on Rollers, or Pigeons
in general; please document it in writing: and
send it to one of the periodicals. Or you can drop me a line and I will
save it in my files.
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