living curiousities.

Stories. Who doesn't like a good one? Legends, myths, folklore, tales. My hometown of St.Thomas, I've learned has many. Think of St.T, and think of two things: trains, and Jumbo. Jumbo was an elephant who existed.

"A guy went into a restaurant in St Thomas, Ontario on September 15, 1885. He passed a sign that said that anyone who can order a sandwich that the restaurant cannot supply will get $1000. He sits down, thinking this could be the easiest money he has ever made, and without even looking at the menu, he asks the waiter for an "Elephant Ear on Rye Sandwich". The waiter returns ten minutes later with a check for $1000 and hands it to the guy. The guy says, with a smirk, "Out of Elephant Ears?" "No," replies the waiter, "we are out of rye bread." Courtesy of Bruce Ricketts

September 15, 1885 marked the day Jumbo, the "World's Largest Elephant" was struck by an unscheduled express train after a final performance with the smallest elephant, Tom Thumb. Legend has it that Jumbo saved Tom Thumb's life by scooping him up with his trunk and throwing him over the escarpment. Sacrificing himself. Dying with nobility.

Born in Africa in 1861, by 2 years of age, he was exported to France and then to the London Zoo in 1865. His name came from the Swahili word, jumbe, which means "chief". To this day, 'jumbo' is used in English as a synonym to the words "large and enormous". Heard of the term "Jumbo Jet" and "jumbo hot dogs"? Thank Jumbo the Elephant.

Jumbo was sold by the London Zoo in 1882 to the "The Greatest Show on Earth" - the Barnum & Bailey Circus. From New York City, he became known as "the monster" at 12 feet in height and weighing in at 6 tonnes.

A towering monument of Jumbo stands at the top of the escarpment when entering St.Thomas from the west. And the Elgin Museum recently held a Jumbo exhibit.

Circuses nowadays are nothing like what they used to be. Circuses then thrilled the audience, terrified women and children. The world was a much larger place back then - so many more peculiarities and living curiousities to gawk at. At the museum, I was the one gawking, reading creepy headlines, imagining.

Saw the remains of Jumbo - a tiny chunk of shrivelled ear, and what was found in his stomach. I imagined him picking up peanuts with his giant trunk and these tiny objects with it. His tooth, was engraved and capped. His skin was kept and stuffed for viewing at a museum.























































Menagerie tents, human clown elephants, hindoo and quiche dwarfs, dog-faced Russian boys, and horses doing everything but talking? Not bad amusement for a day. Animal and human rights these days have certainly tamed circuses down a few notches.
Although the circuses of yesterday are long gone, we have the legends to pass on. And who doesn't love a good legend?