Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D163776-6
Date(s)
- 1973-09-05 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
(1919-1980)
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Ivan the Gorilla, pictured here on September 5, 1973, was synonymous with the B&I Circus Store. People came from far and wide to see Ivan and visit the heavily advertised "Biggest Little Store in the World." That was exactly what owner Earl Irwin hoped for when he purchased the infant gorilla from an animal trader in the Congo in 1964. At first, Ivan lived with the Irwins as a family pet. By 1967, his size and strength made him a domestic liability and he was moved permanently to the pictured home at the store. He remained there for 27 years until 1994, when he was first donated to the Woodland Park Zoo and then loaned to the Atlanta Zoo. Ivan died in Atlanta on Monday, August 20, 2012
Gorillas; B&I Circus Store (Tacoma);