Thanksgiving At The Zoo

Boston Daily Globe November 30, 1923


Animals in Zoo Given Thanksgiving Dinner

Codliver oil and garlic may not sound like the average person’s idea of a real Thanksgiving dinner, but they were two of the most popular dishes at the Franklin Park Zoo yesterday. Deputy Park Commissioner William P. Long, following the custom of some years, ordered a Thanksgiving dinner for the birds and beasts at the Jamaica Plain institution, and last night every one was happy, even Mutt, the hyena.

The codliver oil was for the two Polar bears, Pasha and Fatima, and the big beasts lapped the dishes dry and begged for more. As for the garlic it is Tony’s, the youngest elephant’s idea of white meat and fixin’s. Curiously enough Waddy, the other elephant, will not touch garlic, but ate the regular dinner of hay, bread and carrots with relish.

The other inmates received the “eats” which they love best. There was fruit of various sorts for the monkeys, mutton for the brown, black and grizzly bears, and so on down the long list.