Jumbo the Elephant Victorian Trade Cards (Clark's Spool Cotton, c. 1883)
Jumbo and Tom Thumb messing around at Coney Island
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A dressy and cultured Jumbo at the Opera, using his binoculars
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Why is Jumbo wearing a full-body swimsuit at the beach in Coney Island?
Today, we take it for granted that a nice splash in the ocean is a great way to cool off at the beach. But in the 1880s, many doctors warned that swimming - or even standing, as Victorians usually did - in the ocean for an extended period was risky. The theory was that osmosis would cause the vitamins and nutrients in your body to leak out into the ocean. So, instead of going to the beach to swim, people went to escape the pollution of cities. Both the 'ozone' in the air at the beach and the clean water from natural springs were said to have significant health benefits. Resorts like Saratoga Springs and Atlantic City sprung up across the East Coast of the US based on these claims.
Jumbo's Victorian full-body wool swimwear was designed to slow the rate of osmosis by providing a protective cocoon against water rushing by. It also covered Jumbo from head to toe, just as any modest Victorian gentleman should dress. Jumbo's 'broad-rimmed straw hat' was recommended by Dr. Durant in Percy's 1880 Pocket Dictionary of Coney Island. For ladies, however, hats were a more complicated affair; hats which were too tight or oil-skinned had to be avoided, because according to Dr. Durant, 'preventing a free perspiration on the scalp... [is] injurious, since the secretions from the skin are stopped, and the head has to perform more than its share of the work; and also, on account of the increased cerebral circulation, all possible care should be taken to keep that part of the body at its habitual temperature'. Being healthy back then was a complicated thing.
Who's the naughty little elephant that Jumbo is messing around with?
The little fella that Jumbo is scolding is the one and only Tom Thumb, a very small elephant who toured with Jumbo in P.T. Barnum's circus. Barnum used to pair Jumbo with Tom Thumb in a classic sideshow-style giant-and-midget routine. When Jumbo died from injuries after being hit by a train and derailing it in the process, Barnum even spread a rumor that Jumbo had died while purposely stepping into the train's path to save Tom Thumb, who was too small and slow to get off of the tracks in time. This trade card is closer to the truth, however - Jumbo and Tom Thumb weren't exactly best friends. On a good day, they pretty much just ignored each other, more than anything else. Jumbo wasn't afraid to keep Tom Thumb if the latter tried anything too feisty, like going around topless at the beach.
Victorians were so strange. Why would they use Jumbo in an advertisement for thread on a spool?
This complete set of five stock trade cards used by Clark's Spool Thread is a great glimpse into the world of Victorian humor. Victorian trade cards were advertising flyers that were just a little bit smaller than modern-day postcards. They typically carried a popular picture on the front and a company's advertisement on the back.
It's no surprise that the printer chose a Jumbo theme for these cards, which were printed around 1883. Jumbo was so popular in the mid-1880s that even after he died in 1885, Barnum continued to draw large crowds by touring Jumbo's skeleton with his circus. Originally called Mumbo Jumbo, he was a gentle giant, and the largest elephant in captivity. Jumbo is the reason that today the word 'jumbo' means 'extra-large'. Other companies used Jumbo as well; one popular advertisement showed a Jumbo-like elephant being lassoed by their thread to show just how strong it was.
Today, we take it for granted that a nice splash in the ocean is a great way to cool off at the beach. But in the 1880s, many doctors warned that swimming - or even standing, as Victorians usually did - in the ocean for an extended period was risky. The theory was that osmosis would cause the vitamins and nutrients in your body to leak out into the ocean. So, instead of going to the beach to swim, people went to escape the pollution of cities. Both the 'ozone' in the air at the beach and the clean water from natural springs were said to have significant health benefits. Resorts like Saratoga Springs and Atlantic City sprung up across the East Coast of the US based on these claims.
Jumbo's Victorian full-body wool swimwear was designed to slow the rate of osmosis by providing a protective cocoon against water rushing by. It also covered Jumbo from head to toe, just as any modest Victorian gentleman should dress. Jumbo's 'broad-rimmed straw hat' was recommended by Dr. Durant in Percy's 1880 Pocket Dictionary of Coney Island. For ladies, however, hats were a more complicated affair; hats which were too tight or oil-skinned had to be avoided, because according to Dr. Durant, 'preventing a free perspiration on the scalp... [is] injurious, since the secretions from the skin are stopped, and the head has to perform more than its share of the work; and also, on account of the increased cerebral circulation, all possible care should be taken to keep that part of the body at its habitual temperature'. Being healthy back then was a complicated thing.
Who's the naughty little elephant that Jumbo is messing around with?
The little fella that Jumbo is scolding is the one and only Tom Thumb, a very small elephant who toured with Jumbo in P.T. Barnum's circus. Barnum used to pair Jumbo with Tom Thumb in a classic sideshow-style giant-and-midget routine. When Jumbo died from injuries after being hit by a train and derailing it in the process, Barnum even spread a rumor that Jumbo had died while purposely stepping into the train's path to save Tom Thumb, who was too small and slow to get off of the tracks in time. This trade card is closer to the truth, however - Jumbo and Tom Thumb weren't exactly best friends. On a good day, they pretty much just ignored each other, more than anything else. Jumbo wasn't afraid to keep Tom Thumb if the latter tried anything too feisty, like going around topless at the beach.
Victorians were so strange. Why would they use Jumbo in an advertisement for thread on a spool?
This complete set of five stock trade cards used by Clark's Spool Thread is a great glimpse into the world of Victorian humor. Victorian trade cards were advertising flyers that were just a little bit smaller than modern-day postcards. They typically carried a popular picture on the front and a company's advertisement on the back.
It's no surprise that the printer chose a Jumbo theme for these cards, which were printed around 1883. Jumbo was so popular in the mid-1880s that even after he died in 1885, Barnum continued to draw large crowds by touring Jumbo's skeleton with his circus. Originally called Mumbo Jumbo, he was a gentle giant, and the largest elephant in captivity. Jumbo is the reason that today the word 'jumbo' means 'extra-large'. Other companies used Jumbo as well; one popular advertisement showed a Jumbo-like elephant being lassoed by their thread to show just how strong it was.
Jumbo clearing immigration at Castle Garden in New York, fresh off the boat from London
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Jumbo ordering shots by the barrel
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Jumbo triumphing over Oscar Wilde
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