Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Jungleland Elephant Show, September 1959

I've been lucky enough to find a few small batches of slides from Jungleland (formerly in Thousand Oaks, California). Today's pair is from a group of about 10 photos, all taken from the same vantage point, and all showing some elegant elephants as they put on a show. If it was a choice between this or an episode of "Glee", I'd choose the elephants.

Ever seen five pachyderms forming a conga line? Well, now you have. You're welcome. Life is all downhill from here. I think we have become so used to seeing these enormous creatures in zoos and on TV that we take them for granted; but they are pretty incredible. I love 'em.


You'd never see a show like this today, with nothing between the elephants and the people except a foot-high ring. Notice the special devices on their heads to prevent them from flying away!


Stay tuned for more Jungleland!
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8 comments:

  1. TokyoMagic!12:11 AM

    Yes, but were the elephant performing ALL ORIGINAL songs that day???

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  2. Vintage Disneyland Tickets7:23 AM

    I was wondering what those things on the elephants heads were for, makes sense now. Those little girls sitting down (in the dirt) don't seem scared in the least.

    Wow, check out Thousand "Oaks" in the background - where's the 101 freeway and Taco Bell??

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  3. Katella Gate9:03 AM

    Can you imagine them doing this set of tricks for an audience of 12? (and that's assuming the guys in the shadows aren't slackers.)

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  4. Connie Moreno9:52 AM

    Elephants are amazing creatures. Like Katella, I was very surprised to see that they performed for such a small crowd. Could this be towards the end of the park's existence? Hmmm....

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  5. Major Pepperidge11:48 AM

    TokyoMagic!, that day was Britney Spears day.

    VDT, I'm sure that girl just thought that elephants were cute, and didn't consider that they could stomp her to mush!

    Katella, I'm guessing that crowds were generally not huge at Jungleland; Connie, the park remained in business for another 10 years after these photos were taken (in other words, it closed in 1969).

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  6. walterworld8:11 PM

    Major, you are the BEST!!

    Please continue forever...

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  7. Major Pepperidge10:11 PM

    Gee, thanks walterworld!

    Do you have any personal memories of Jungleland?

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  8. Jeffrey12:59 PM

    Awesome photos! I'm in the process of writing a book about the history, animals and people of Jungleland.. please come check out our page at http://www.facebook.com/talesfromjungleland and leave your personal stories and photos! Thanks! -Jeffrey

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