Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D123327-9
Date(s)
- 1959-10-10 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
In October of 1959, April, a four year old chimpanzee, posed with laughing 18 month old toddler Jimmy Janne on the famous merry-go-round at the B&I Circus Store. Earl L. Irwin, owner of the B& I, had purchased April from Libby (Mrs. Charles) Janne of Seattle when she was forced to sell the family pet in order to settle the estate of her late mother. Mrs. Janne's mother was a former pet store owner in Burien. The only problem was that April thought she was a child, not an animal, and was devoted to her "baby brother" Jimmy. Mrs. Janne had obtained April when she was 9 1/2 months old. When Jimmy was born, April became his sister, babysitter and constant companion. She changed his diapers and taught him to dress himself and how to handle a cup, spoon and fork. Irwin eventually offered a $100 reward for the best suggestion on how to break the bond between April & Jimmy, while retaining April's sweet and friendly nature. (TNT 10/22/1959, pg. D-1 full page ad by the B&I)
Chimpanzees--Lakewood; B&I Circus Store (Tacoma); Janne, Jimmy; Merry-go-rounds--Tacoma;