Mennella and Waldron met after returning from stints in the armed services. They opened a pet shop together in Glen Rock, N.J., and in 1952 bought an infant chimpanzee from Henry Trefflich, an animal dealer based in New York for $600, whom they named J Fred Muggs.
Mennella, an NBC studio page, had taken Muggs to the NBC coffee shop. Muggs was dunking a doughnut in a cup of coffee when he caught the eye of an NBC executive and the rest is history.
The chimp got his name when the pet shop had a "Name The Chimp" contest. A young boy won with the entry "Mr. Muggs." The name "J. Fred" was later added by "The Today Show" to add a bit of uniqueness to his name.
11 comments:
J Fred Muggs on the left with
Dave Garroway as coanchors of
the "Today Show" on NBC long ago
The little 1 might be Kokomo
J. Fred Muggs was a resident of the Glen Rock Pet Shop and was named, by all records in town, by a classmate of mine.
He isn't still alive, is he?
Paul
There was also a female chimp named Phoebe B Beebe who occasionally appeared.
Garroway also had a show called Garroway at Large.
"Bud" Mennella & "Roy" Waldron
were known as the "Muggs Guys"
They were friends of my exwife
Fred lives with Bud's son Gerald
in Citrus Park (they are both 61)
The chimp at right is a perfect specimen of pan troglodytes.
For Paul
Mennella and Waldron met after returning from stints in the armed services. They opened a pet shop together in Glen Rock, N.J., and in 1952 bought an infant chimpanzee from Henry Trefflich, an animal dealer based in New York for $600, whom they named J Fred Muggs.
Mennella, an NBC studio page, had taken Muggs to the NBC coffee shop. Muggs was dunking a doughnut in a cup of coffee when he caught the eye of an NBC executive and the rest is history.
For Paul
The chimp got his name when the pet shop had a "Name The Chimp" contest. A young boy won with the entry "Mr. Muggs." The name "J. Fred" was later added by "The Today Show" to add a bit of uniqueness to his name.
A friend at NBC looked it all up
Dave I just heard that Phoebe is
still with Gerald & J Fred Muggs
enjoying their retirement years
I think Citrus Park is near Tampa
Well, she never writes, she never calls...
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