We've never heard of this one before -- but according to TLC Enterprise, a manufacturer of tether cars and parts, carnivals (back in the 50's and 60's) used to strap monkeys into little cars and run them around a track.
The following is the description of the car they have listed for sale on their site. "In the 50s & 60s they straped real monkeys in these cars & they went around a track like a slot car. The straps are still in this car, the grill has #2 on it. The rear wheels are missing. The car is 26" long, 7 1/2" wide. Packed in a box it's 18 lbs."
We found this all a little unbelievable, so we spent a little time on Google looking for monkey cars -- and sure enough, there were monkey car races.
While it is our hope that monkey car races are a thing of the past, we did find an event listing for the Western Illinois Fair (2008) for a Monkey Car Show. Go figure.
1 comment:
I saw monkey races back in the mid-60s at the Minnesota State Fair. It was a brutal business, as the monkeys didn't necessarily want to be strapped into the cars, and sometimes they would work their way lose and leap out. The carnies would chase them around and hit them with sticks to force them back into the cars. But it was definitely real and it was definitely crazy.
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