Once a world-famous acrobat, in his late 30s Albert Geyer’s circus career came to an end. He had suffered an injury while performing and also persistent vision problems. Geyer, shown here in his barnstorming days, found his way to a hospitable Los Angeles and a partnership in two of the city’s most notable drinking establishments.
Albert was born in December 1861 in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Frank and Caroline Schill Geyer. Both parents were immigrants, Frank from Switzerland, Caroline from Baden, Germany. Not long after the boy’s birth the family moved to Quincy, Illinois. There, according to the 1870 census, the Geyers, husband and wife, down to a ten year old son, were engaged as “hands” in a tobacco factory.
It was in Quincy that Albert, now 13 or 14, was “discovered” by the manager of a variety company playing in town. With the permission of his parents, the youth made appearances as a song and dance artist and acrobat. After taking first prize in a professional dancing contest, Geyer appeared at major theaters all across America, including the famous Harrigan & Hart Theater in New York City.
There Geyer was spotted by the manager of the Great London Circus for his acrobatic prowess and signed to a year’s contract. According to the Quincy Post:
“By continuous hard practice he found himself at the expiration of two years, on the very topmost round of Fortune’s bright ladder, being the undisputed champion tumbler of the known world, and receiving the highest salary ever paid this class of performers.”
Geyer’s prowess as an acrobat brought him to the notice of America’ foremost impresario, P.T. Barnum. This well may be Albert shown in a Barnum poster executing what the showman called “Desperado’s Terrible Leap for Life.” It called for the acrobat to dive 80 feet and land on his chest on a skid placed at an angle of 50 degrees. Barnum issued a challenge offering $10,000 for anyone equalling Geyer’s skill.
Through all this hoopla and world fame, Geyer stayed close to his immediate family, as he would all his life. The 1880 census found him with them in Lexington, Missouri, where they had moved and his father was now working as a harness maker. The census gave Albert’s occupation as “circus actor.”
Geyer left Barnum at some point and joined the Forepaugh and Sells Bros. Circus. Adam Forepaugh had risen from a poor working class background to become an entrepreneur and circus owner. He was credited by many as “Barnum’s only rival” and the innovator of the three ring circus. One of Forepaugh’s posters featured the derring-do of acrobats, depicting a troupe, likely Albert among them, jumping over a herd of elephants. The poster described them as “high, long distance, layout, twisting, single and double somersault leapers…”
While working for Forepaugh, the strenuous nature of Geyer’s occupation began to catch up with him. Throughout his circus career he was constantly attempting to devise new and more difficult stunts. In Philadelphia he was in the process of executing the spectacular finale of his act, a twisting backward somersault landing on a mattress below, when things went wrong. The mattress had not been properly placed and Geyer struck the ground with his knee. Despite recuperating for six months and the best medical treatment available at the time, Geyer was told his recovery depended on giving up acrobatics. He ignored that advice and continued his circus career for several more years.
In 1900 while in his late 30s, because of issues with his knee and chronic eyesight problems Geyer left show business and moved to Los Angeles, where some of his siblings now lived. His fame had preceded him to California, as did a reputation as “a very pleasant gentleman, a public spirited citizen who has shown himself ready to give his time and money to advance the welfare.
Los Angeles opened its arms to the world-famous acrobat. The Capital, a local showbiz publication opined: “Here Mr. Geyer is at home to his friends and here he finds the opportunity and environment so well suited to his genial temperament.” More specifically, he was invited by John aka “Gene Ed” Bernhard and a partner to join them as the third owner of the “The Palace,” one of Los Angeles’ premier restaurants, located at the corner of First and Spring Streets. Advertised as “patronized by the businessmen of the city with their families,” the eatery also fancied itself a “Conservatory of Music,” featuring a free orchestral concert every night from 8 p.m. to midnight. “No vaudeville,” its ads read.
In 1904 Geyer and Bernhard moved on to a new venue at 335 South Main Street. There the noted Los Angeles architect Abram Edelman had designed a three story theatre building named after the famed American theatrical producer and playwright, David Belasco, the building shown above. On the ground floor the partners opened a saloon and liquor store they called the Bernhard & Geyer Liquor Company. A “puff piece” published by the Los Angeles Herald noted: “Among the most popular and elegantly appointed of the many handsome saloons in Los Angeles none is more attractive as a resort…”
Hailing Albert Geyer’s reputation as “the champion tumbler of the world,” the newspaper complimented Bernhard and Geyer for understanding “the art of keeping a saloon in first class style…of whiskies they handle only the finest of whatever brands….” The partners also were notable for their giveaway items to special customers and barflies alike. The former might be presented with a celluloid and metal advertising match safe, while the latter might be given a token worth a nickel— just enough to buy a shot of house whiskey.
The saloon gave Geyer a venue to display his collection of photographs, collected during his circus travels to many parts of the globe. Said The Capitol publication: “The collection is the most complete of any in the world and consists of splendid portraits of the world’s celebrities and many of the most beautiful women of the world.”
By the time of the 1910 census, Geyer had left the liquor business and was heading a household composed of an unmarried sister, Carrie; a married sister, Emma, and her husband, Frank. None of the three was working, possibly supported by Albert’s profits from the saloon. The 1920 census found the former circus star living with Carrie and two boarders. By 1930, the two Geyers had been joined by a brother, Charles. Albert’s occupation was listed as “writer, magazines,” apparently spinning tales of his career. By 1940, the former acrobat was living with a widowed sister, Anna.
Despite his physical problems, Geyer lived to be 84 years old, dying in December 1945, just as World War II was ending. He was buried among family members in Section 5 of the historic Angelus Rosedale Cemetery where many Los Angeles notables are interred. Unfortunately his gravestone has weathered badly, making it hard to read. For Albert’s epitaph, I have selected a 1900 quote from the Quincy newspaper about this once world-famous personage: “By his pleasing address and unassuming manners he endeared himself to all who had the good fortune to meet him.”
Note: I was drawn to the story of Albert Geyer by seeing the image of the matchsafe found here. Exploring the background of these saloonkeepers brought forth the details of the famous acrobat. The key resource was the 1900 article in “The Capitol” publication that in turn quoted from a biography of Albert Geyer that earlier had appeared in the Quincy (IL) Review.
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