Jungleland Flyers

Today I have scans of two vintage flyers from Jungleland (Thousand Oaks) - a fun little animal park that I was lucky to visit when I was a tiny tot.

Let's start with this example, printed in greens and oranges. Come on safari in beautiful, smog-free Thousand Oaks! Not only could you see ordinary wild animals, you could also see movie star animals. You could tell the difference because the celebrity animals wore shades and drank martinis. Talk about living! 

Thanks to the mention of the box office debacle, "Doctor Doolittle", we can date this flyer to around 1967.

Here's the other side... chock full of useful information. Did you know that Jungleland was one of the oldest and most famous tourist attractions in California? I'm a little surprised that the place was open every day of the year; the employees didn't get Christmas off, I guess.

I believe that this flyer is just a bit older than the previous example; it is printed in shades of appropriately jungly green. See Henry the giraffe! I love giraffes because they're so weird. At the bottom of the flyer we see Mabel Stark, the famous tamer of big cats. Apparently she lived a pretty colorful life in her younger days, and survived numerous attacks from various tigers, leopards, and lions.

Monkey Island?! I want to live there! And look, there's Chucko the Clown; he will host your birthday party. Go check out the wild animal shows, the "baby zoo", trained goats and birds - this place had everything!

As much as I miss Jungleland, I remember that even as a small child I did not like seeing the big cats cooped up in small cages. Perhaps it closed at the right time.