I am guessing the timeline was roughly the mid-1950's. The place was the Old Boston Garden. I was there with my family for a circus, and being around nine years old at the time, my father antagonized me, "I'm going to have it come over here" is what he said to me.
The "IT" he referred to was a live monkey - across the arena - leaping wildly from seat to seat - sometimes landing on the scared-or-delighted attendees. That's all I needed. I have not liked monkeys since that moment.
When I related this story to others, I was usually met with skepticism. That was until the remains of (what I believe) that same monkey was found in 1998.
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| The Boston Garden monkey, photographed while taken out of hiding in 1998. |
If you hit on the above link, you will learn that the demolition crew taking down the old Garden had some fun with the mummified remains of the creature, apparently hiding the grisly find from superiors. Thus, the legend of the "rogue primate" remained just that - a legend.
My question to my readers is - Does anyone out there recall an out-of-control monkey roaming Boston Garden in the 1950's?
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| John Bagan holding up the monkey on top of the Boston Garden |
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The crew of building (Boston Garden) wreckers included John Bagen (fourth from right), Eddie Sullivan (fifth from left), Richard Bagen (third from left), and Roger Beal (far left).
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