 Jumbo, killed in a railroad accident in 1890, is the principal figure in a museum which Barnum gave to the college in 1883." A rather pompous subnote considering they missed the death date by five years. Buckles  |
Monday, February 21, 2011
"Jumbo Scotty" #7
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6 comments:
It doesn't look like the best taxidermy job either.
Paul Gutheil
Barnum told Ward's to make Jumbo as big as possible, which may explain the tight skin on the legs.
From pictures I have seen, his skeleton was tuskless. Was his real ivory included in the hide portion? I remember Buckles stating he had a piece of the original ivory.
The following is from Tufts Online Magazine:
"The day after Jumbo's death, the process of removing his skin was begun. His remains were shipped to Henry Ward's Natural Science Establishment in Rochester, New York, where the five-month process of dissection, mounting and stuffing began immediately.
"A man named Peters was given the harrowing duty of removing debris from Jumbo's stomach. His finds included a bobby's whistle, a slew of keys, several rivets and a "hatful" of English pennies. The hide, which weighed some 1,538 pounds, was meticulously stretched over a huge, padded wooden frame, and secured with 74,400 nails, until it looked like a living Jumbo. Actually, it looked somewhat bigger than a living Jumbo.
"One of Barnum's requests to the taxidermists had been, "By all means… let him show like a mountain!" Hence, two of Henry Ward's assistants, the 19-year-old Carl Akeley and his colleague William J. Critchley, stretched and overstuffed the hide, giving Jumbo a foot more height in death than he had in life. The duo then repaired Jumbo's smashed skull and mounted his bones as a separate display. The total bill, for labor and materials, was $1,650."
Of course we all recognize the name Carl Akeley above whom I believe went on to become one of the all time great taxidermists. It was my pleasure in my long-ago youth to know an old man named Augustus Rapp, who in his own youth had worked for Akeley at the Milwaukee Public Museum.
I don't believe any tusks are in the skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. If one looks carefully one can see that he did indeed have a real dental problem. Akeley Hall is a wonderful place to see in the Museum. There is a good biography of Mr Akeley out and if I can locate it in my bibliomess I'll pass it on for anyone who may be interested.
Paul Gutheil
Weirdly, Billy Rose contacted Tufts to see if he could borrow the stuffed Jumbo for his show, JUMBO. They turned him down.
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