| Jumbo the Circus Elephant | |
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 | |
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Real Name |
Jumbo |
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Born |
December 25, 1860 |
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Died |
September 15, 1885 |
Origin[]
Jumbo was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan.His mother was killed by poacher and the 2 poachers captured the infant Jumbo and was sold to an Italian animal dealer and transported to Trieste, a and then sold to Gottlieb Christian Kreutzberg's "Menagerie Kreutzberg" in Germany and was later exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and then transferred in 1865 to London Zoo in England.
Despite public protest, Jumbo was sold to P. T. Barnum , who took him to the United States for exhibition in March 1882.In New York, Barnum exhibited Jumbo at Madison Square Garden, earning enough in three weeks from the enormous crowds to recoup the money he spent to buy the animal. In the 31-week season, the circus earned $1.75M, largely due to its star attraction.
On September 15, 1885 in shunting yard St. Thomas, Ontario Canada, Jumbo was unfortunately met his end when jumbo and the other circus animals were being led back into their boxcar until a locomotive moving down the line of track hit Jumbo and struck him down. Jumbo was mortally wounded, dying within minutes at a shunting yard in St. Thomas Canada.
Barnum soon after, had portions of jumbo separated and multiple sites attracting curious spectators, after touring with the circus, Barnum donated the elephant's parts such as his hide (which was stuffed and mounted although it was mostly burned in a fire in 1975 and now the ashes of jumbo and the remaining trunk part is the few things that survived.), his heart separated and has been lost since the 1940s, and as of 2024, Jumbo's skeleton now resides at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Autobiography of Matthew Scott, Jumbo's Keeper; also Jumbo's Biography (1885)
- Barnum and Jumbo's ABC
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- World Famous Heroes #4: 5 Page story about Jumbo the biggest elephant in the world who was bought by P. T. Barnum.
Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Jumbo[]
- Poppo of the Popcorn Theatre #5:In the Poppo the Clown story titled Mind Your Own Show Business features an elephant named Jumbo.
- Tiny Tim #20: Tiny Tim and his sister Dainty Dotty join the circus of Mr. Barnes who has an elephant named Jumbo which he claimed was the smartest in captivity.
- Big Chief Wahoo #1:The Great Gusto, Big Chief Wahoo, and Pigtails go to Coney Island. Pigtails rides on Jumbo the Elephant while Big Chief Wahoo tried some carnival games. After being caught at cheating at the weight guessing game after his hat was removed by Jumbo revealing a heavy statue, the trio ride the elephant to escape the angry carnie.
- Atom the Cat #14: Li'l Lumberjack goes to the zoo and meets Jumbo the Elephant. Some boys try to trick him into giving the elephant red pepper flake, but Li'l Lumberjack gave the animal peanuts instead. The bullies then gave Jumbo pepper flakes only to be hung upside down by his trunk. Li'l Lumberjack offers Jumbo peanuts to save them. The other boys try to give him peanuts as well only to be thrown into the fountain by the elephant.
- Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #7: Sheena is shown on the cover with an elephant and a 16 page story title Jumbo of the Elephants is featured in the issue.
Notes[]
- Dumbo may have been partially inspired by Jumbo. His real name of Jumbo Jr. suggests that his father was Jumbo.
- Comic strip character, Jumbo Elephant, was a member of the Bruin Boys and was named after the real elephant of the same name.