Monday, August 19, 2013

More On Chimps! #3

11 comments:

Chic Silber said...


J Fred Muggs on the left with

Dave Garroway as coanchors of

the "Today Show" on NBC long ago

Chic Silber said...


The little 1 might be Kokomo

Anonymous said...

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

Ole Whitey said...

There was also a female chimp named Phoebe B Beebe who occasionally appeared.


Garroway also had a show called Garroway at Large.

Chic Silber said...


"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)

Roger Smith said...

The chimp at right is a perfect specimen of pan troglodytes.

Chic Silber said...


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.

Chic Silber said...


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.

Chic Silber said...


A friend at NBC looked it all up

Chic Silber said...


Dave I just heard that Phoebe is

still with Gerald & J Fred Muggs

enjoying their retirement years

I think Citrus Park is near Tampa

Ole Whitey said...

Well, she never writes, she never calls...