Recently I was researching what I felt would be my next CC article when I fell into a couple of rabbit holes. These resulted in stuff too good not to make into their own post. Stuff that makes me think about how different the world has grown, and at the same time how some stuff that we now take for granted and never expect existed in the past was in fact there and appreciated by the masses. They say that history flows like a river. I say that traffic is a better analogy…ever present, but frustratingly operating at its own organic pace and logic.
So let’s get started.
As some of us contemplate the end of summer, maybe we’re thinking of squeezing in one more family road trip around Labor Day. With such a trip comes the inevitable frustration from traffic or worse yet, bad drivers. Well, should you encounter any bad drivers, I offer you this to consider.
It seems that it’s hard to find any automotive topic not covered by one CC article or another, but a search for “monkey speedway” draws a big fat “No Results” on our search engine (Right there to the right of this post under the banner…See? Maybe that’s useful information too.). How could that be? Well regardless, that situation is now corrected.
A search of non-CC-specific web pages does indeed pull up info on this early-to-mid 20th Century phenomenon. Apparently it wasn’t a one-off attraction, but rather a somewhat common feature of carnival midways. It seems that the Monkey Speedway was something of a carnival constant from close to the turn of the century through the 1950s. It’s hard to say what exactly inspired the advent of the Monkey Speedway attraction, but a search of newspaper ads from the times casts some light on the history of the attraction.
Shreveport Journal – October 31, 1916
Here are the race results from the 1916 Louisiana State Fair in Shreveport. Lots of interesting stuff, some of which we’ll come back to in a bit, but for now notice the wrap announcement at the bottom.
Yes, 1916 fair visitors could choose between the Monkey Speedway or a viewing of D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film (a film and cultural icon that is highly problematic to our modern sensibilities). In Louisiana in 1916, that was probably a very hard choice to make and likely many folks chose to view both. We’re still living with the tensions and problems that Birth of a Nation inflamed. I’ll posit that we might have been better off if more people had chosen the Monkey Speedway and then just went home before viewing Griffith’s film. That’s what 106 years of hindsight gets you.
Jumping ahead a few years to 1924, an article in the Wichita Falls (TX) Times describes the Monkey Speedway attraction at that year’s Texas-Oklahoma Fair.
Wichita Falls Times, September 29, 1924
A fascinating, and “weird” story indeed. I mean, replacing his motorcycle attraction with monkeys as drivers is a somewhat novel response to the whole “the show must go on” thing. Then again, who am I to say…I’m no carney.
The 1924 article does provide some insight into how the Speedway actually worked, and that is through electrically operated cars. There are some references in the literature (Yes, that would be the MONKEY SPEEDWAY literature. I know of these things. I didn’t get a graduate degree in history for nothing!) to some of the vehicles being gasoline powered, but I would guess that putting monkeys in gasoline-powered vehicles that are not attached to control lines just might have been a failed technology. It makes much more sense that the little fellers would be riding in something that works essentially like a large slot car. In some of the old photos (such as the first one herein and this one below) you can just make out the electrical pickups.
Bee and Harry Fee and their Monkey Speedway show.
“Barney Oatmeal”
You can also see how the cars are in fact on rails and the monkeys are therefore pretty much just along for the ride.
Sandusky Register, June 4, 1941
This clip from 1941 supports the electric car theory. I think that the 45 mph speed may be somewhat optimistic. I also think that fortune telling is a bit far-fetched. After all, everyone knows that chickens are the best fortune tellers.
It seems clear that at the height of carnival midway shows – basically the decades surrounding WWII – the Monkey Speedway was a common attraction. The decline seems to have come with the overall collapse of sideshows by the 1960s and 70s and an increasing public sensitivity to forcing animals to engage in activities – oh, like driving – that is not in their nature. Then again, shows where animals only do what is in their nature are generally either very boring or deeply disturbing to children and the general public. This is the world we live in, for better or worse. Hence, fewer monkeys in the show…much like fewer elephants in circuses in our time.
What I find particularly fascinating when thinking about the Monkey Speedway is how hard it is to find nowadays even the cars. I’ve yet to find more than two pictures of ex-Monkey Speedway cars.
This one is featured on a page that discusses some of the Speedway history. There are more excellent photos of the simian racers on that page, by the way…so definitely click on the link. This seems to be the photo that turns up in just about all searches for Monkey Speedway cars. You can see that the flanged wheels of this example look just like those in my previous pictures. Unfortunately, there’s no mention or indication of how this car is/was powered.
This car, which appeared on one of those antique picking/valuing TV shows, seems almost identical in construction to the one above. It’s hard to make out in the photo, but this has an electric motor mounted just forward of the rear axle. It’s also decorated with a slogan that I’m thinking of painting on my own car.
This travel down the Monkey Speedway rabbit hole has introduced me to a place I now know that I need to visit in Gibsonton, FL. ROAD TRIP!!! Gibsonton is the historic winter home of the traveling showmen’s (aka carneys) profession. In addition to an annual carnival operators trade show, Gibsonton is home to the International Independent Showmen’s Museum.
This place looks like a blast and holds a large collection of carnival and sideshow memorabilia. Seems like the perfect destination for a Monkey Speedway research expedition.
One other thing that the Showmen’s museum archives might hold is more information about human racers and some of the fair-oriented racing circuits that were popular in the early decades of the last century; which brings us back to the “other interesting stuff” comment I made above in relation to the 1916 article about the Louisiana State Fair.
Hummm. A “woman driver of fame” in 1916? One who was obviously on some kind of show/racing (kind of the same thing in 1916) circuit that carried her from IL to LA and who knows where else? Why didn’t I know about this? Well, it turns out that info on Ora Holben is pretty scant, but it seems like that shouldn’t be the case. So, let me toss out what I’ve learned about the “half mile dirt track woman champion of the world” from over 100 years ago. Maybe other CC readers will know more and we can populate the Googles (that’s a thing, right?) with enough info to satisfy other monkey hole divers in the future.
Ottawa (IL) Herald, October 10, 1916
The mention that Ora “owns and operates” her own garage is fascinating to me. A bit of digging in the Springfield, IL city register finds Ora listed as a “stenographer” (aka secretary or administrative assistant in our modern parlance) for a local advertising company in 1915. Maybe she operated the garage as a side gig. Maybe it was just a bit of media hype for her career on the dirt track racing circuit.
More information on Ora is found in a single article on a site devoted to Sangamon County IL history. Here it’s mentioned that she ultimately married and went by the name Ora DeLaugauldt. This article talks about her activities as one of Springfield’s “Good Will Girls”, and in particular the car caravans that this group organized (seemingly under Ora’s oversight) to promote Springfield businesses to the neighboring area. Given what we know about her work in advertising and her interest in cars, this seems like a natural match.
Ora is thought to be the third person from the left.
I want to know more about Ora’s racing career. There must be some good stories, hopefully not entirely lost, about what it was like to be a female itinerant dirt track racer 106 years ago. Unfortunately the trail on Ora’s racing career goes cold after that mention of her being on the same bill as the Monkey Speedway. What we do know is that she lived until 1964 (reaching the age of 77) and during the later 1920s, as Ora DeLaugauldt, she’s listed in city directories as being a secretary for some place called the American Magnetstone Corporation…a company that made stucco and which went bankrupt at the start of the Great Depression. There seems to be nothing else to say about her racing career.
Maybe researching Ora Holben DeLaugauldt can be your end of summer, prior to starting the new school year, project. I think we’d all benefit from knowing more about her.
As you hit the road for perhaps one last trip of the summer, look out for the crazy drivers and rabbit holes, and appreciate all that has come before you as well as that which will come after. And just know “that which will come after” does not include a repopularization of the Monkey Speedway.
Yeah guys, I wouldn’t be happy about the freakin’ scary clown either.
That last bit is at least something you can almost certainly count upon.
Regarding the racing career of Miss (as she would have been known back then) Ora Holben: While definitely a novelty at the time, I have no doubt there was more than a bit of ‘tut-tutting’ amongst the ‘more respectable’ elements of society regarding her activities. Keep in mind, that article is still four years before women got the right to vote, and the activities of the suffragette movement was far from being a successful endeavor at that point. If anything, America’s entry into WWI would have made their activities more suspect on a national security level.
No doubt, marriage definitely put an end to Miss Holben’s activities, as no self-respecting husband would have put up with her behaving in such a manner. If anything, she was still being a bit of a radical continuing to work after marriage to Mr. DeLaugauldt. Most married women in that era were expected to give up any and all career aspirations in favor of the respectable track of barefoot, pregnant, and slaving over a hot stove.
Wow – you speak about my hometown like it is filled with ignorant bumpkins. I cannot write about Ora because I’m not going to assume, but you got things pretty wrong by assuming bad intent and sexism. You have zero proof.
We’re talking about modern women in 1920. This generation was raised wearing make-up, short hair, unisex fashions, having jobs, and getting respect. They were raised watching Hollywood movies, listening to the radio, and dancing the latest dances. They often played piano. They knew jazz. They drove cars. They shopped from catalogues and knew the latest fashions.
That includes ladies raised in Springfield Illinois. Ora married and is now buried just south of here in Pana. Pana is also a modern rural town with modern life. Many small Illinois cities were the homes of wealthy educated people. CW Post of Post Cereal fame is from this area. His wife ended up building Mar-a-Lago. She was no bumpkin.
People weren’t as bad as you think they were.
Well, I for one don’t think overall that people are bad. But they are products of their times (as are we all); and it’s both interesting and useful to go back and see what those times were. Doing so helps uncover all sorts of things…some expected, some not expected, some just really different, and some a mashup of all of that. That’s the basic point of this post 🙂
Without going too far into commentary on social mores from 100 years ago, I have to say that I agree with both Syke and VanillaDude about how there were likely quite a few barriers that Ora had to surmount to access a racing career. AND I also wanted to note that at the same time her being a woman dirt track racer probably wasn’t something that was all that unheard of. Certainly, being able to read about her in the newspapers of the time, along with all of the other racing results, means that there was some kind of expectation that there would be women racers, and that people would be interested in knowing about them. Furthermore, as the clips note, she was one of several women racers at that very fair, and she held the record for racing other women on that track. So, she wasn’t a one-off phenomena.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that she was unusual for her time…a time that Syke correctly notes was before women could vote, but as I will note, was nearly the political peak for the US women’s suffrage movement. Perhaps Ora was something of a role model for other women and girls who aspired for something that was not common in their time. Maybe she cared about that, maybe she didn’t. We don’t know. But nevertheless, It seems that Ora stood – figuratively at least – at something of a social/cultural crossroads…rising from the past and pushing toward a future where some of the things that she did would become increasingly common.
It would be interesting to know more about Ora and her career.
VD I think/hope you’re missing out on the sarcasm in Syke’s commentary…
I’m not seeing the sarcasm. He’s made essentially the same comment/observation a number of times here. There’s truth to it, but it’s also a bit too simplistic and stereotyped. There were a number of women who had broken out of the mold at the time, and doing things like racing and driving motorcycles and traveling the globe.
Here’s just one set of examples: early women globe trotters:
https://www.onthegotours.com/blog/2017/03/worlds-greatest-female-travellers/
There were exceptional women doing exceptional things throughout history. Not all of them got married and settled down to being the subservient housewife as Syke suggests.
Women racing cars was not that uncommon, and some were highly talented and competitive.
If the world was what he describes, Ora wouldn’t be a topic of discussion. She is proof that he is wrong.
Now – the monkeys!
Being raised in Chicago and ending up in Central Illinois means that I absolutely go crazy around farm animals of all kinds. I never saw them until I was already in university. The opportunity to spend time with them, with people who tend to them, care and nurse them are highlights to both my wife, (also a Chicagoan), and I.
The Illinois State Fair is in our hometown. It was just held last week. If there was a Monkey Speedway – it would be a mobbed site. I’m thinking that it could perhaps have been the infrastructure and maintenance of the cars and speedway that cut this phenomena short. You noted that there are few of the cars surviving. That, to me, indicates that the equipment costs could have been a factor.
As to monkeys, there are always monkeys at the Illinois State Fair. You can meet more than one and get your photo taken with them. They are usually near the Dairy Building, with the must-see BUTTER COW. There is always people visiting the monkeys.
So I don’t think it was the issue of animal abuse that curtailed the Monkey Speedway. Perhaps it was the equipment and costs of the materials?
So I don’t think it was the issue of animal abuse that curtailed the Monkey Speedway.
You do know that these monkeys were strapped/tied into these noisy, fast, rattling, bumpy cars against all of their instincts and preferences? It was absolutely a blatant case of animal abuse, and I remember reading about it in the 70s that it was shut down for precisely that reason.
You really think these monkeys were having fun?
I never read about that. Yeah – that would be a problem.
The decline seems to have come with the overall collapse of sideshows by the 1960s and 70s and an increasing public sensitivity to forcing animals to engage in activities – oh, like driving – that is not in their nature.
That’s a bit of an understatement. And no, the monkeys were not “driving”, they were tied down into the cars and had zero control over them, as no monkey would ever subject themselves to this freely or willingly. And then the cars drove by themselves, on a bumpy, rattling track at fairly high speeds.
I remember reading an article or two in 70s about these monkey speedways and how the animals were treated, and how they were obviously NOT enjoying the experience.
I’m not exactly a PETA member, but I have been very uncomfortable about how humans exploit and abuse animals for their entertainment for a long time, and I think it’s important to recognize that this particular chapter was undoubtedly a blatant case of animal abuse, and should be treated as such and not seen as a trivial and harmless amusement of the past.
I’m sorry, but I find this rather sickening. Just look at that picture of the four monkeys strapped in their cars and their patronizing owner/keeper/abuser patting them on its head with that delightful smile. Yes, I know it was a long time ago, but I remember seeing these (and other similar animal abuse) and it brings back lots of bad memories.
FWIW, I stopped going to zoos some time back.
Yep. That pretty much sums up my personal feeling about it as well. I’m certainly not bemoaning the demise of the Monkey Speedway. What was acceptable in 1941 is not acceptable in 2022 for very good reasons. In my opinion about this at least.
In the bigger picture, what fascinates me is how attitudes change over time and why something that might be abhorred nowadays was thought of differently in the past. That general principle applies to lots of things of course, but it’s the watching of the change that interests me. And in this case, I find it particularly interesting that of the two “attractions” discussed here (one being the Monkey Speedway, the other being the novelty of women racing drivers), we can see how one of these things died off for good reasons, and the other in fact became commonplace for good reasons as well.
There may actually be something to that thing about the arc bending in a positive way…eventually.
Yep. That pretty much sums up my personal feeling about it as well. I’m certainly not bemoaning the demise of the Monkey Speedway. What was acceptable in 1941 is not acceptable in 2022 for very good reasons. In my opinion about this at least.
In the bigger picture, what fascinates me is how attitudes change over time and why something that might be abhorred nowadays was thought of differently in the past. That general principle applies to lots of things of course, but it’s the watching of the change that interests me. Here we have two “attractions” that occurred at the same time (one the Monkey Speedway and the other the “novel” idea of watching women racers) and we now know that one died off for very good reasons and the other in fact has become common place…also for very good reasons.
That’s because one is about the restraint of freedom and the other is about exercising freedom. The expression and expansion of freedom is key to progress.
Yes, and my intent was to wrap up that last response with a nod toward the quote about the arc of the moral universe bending toward justice.
The moral universe has changed. Let’s take a step back to the 1920’s in this country. The United States was a much more religious country back then meaning the main stream Christian religions and not the uber extreme seen nowadays. Church, priests, and pastors held sway in America’s small towns.
That brings us to the Bible which they loved to use and quote. I went to 12 years of Catholic schools where priests failed to sway me and always ended up in discussions where I could catch them in their said use. For many it seems the Old Bible is more important than the New Bible. To me they are just fictional stories written by various authors over the centuries. Nonetheless, if you pay attention to the Old Bible, Genesis 1:26 to be exact you read this: “Then God said, ‘Let them [humans] have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth’” (Genesis 1:26 NRSV). Would God really use the word creeps?
Now there are also references to the well being of animals and treating them well in Genesis 9:9 regarding Noah, in Jonah 3:7-9, and Exodus 23:12. In the New Bible there are references to respect for animals. Think St. Francis of Assisi. Yet the Second Vatican Council documents says man is the only creature God has willed for it’s own sake. There is also animals are destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity. So while there maybe some moral constraints there is nothing regarding any kind of animal rights.
That very first quote above about man’s dominion reminds me of past religious business men who felt that all resources on earth are there for their use and profit. Ergo destroy mountains, destroy rivers, and use animals for all and everything be it food, hides only, feathers only, blubber only, or entertainment only. Fortunately most of humanity has moved on from that although there are those who still destroy nature for gain and claim the right to do so.
Many years back, when I went to the fair most years, there were “pig races”. I never attended them. I believe they ran down chutes, and didn’t drive little cars. But the entire concept just seemed weird. Racing doesn’t seem to be something pigs would want to do, unless they were kept hungry and there was food waiting for them at the finish line. I don’t even want to think about using sticks (steep ramps so they tumble, electric jolts?) instead of, perhaps literally, carrots to motivate them.
I used to work at the Zoo. There was then, and there certainly is now, a conundrum about what is real-world best for the animals, whether freedom, or confinement with their food and waste needs taken care of for them. Zookeepers are certainly aware of the multiple competing theories and rationalizations, and they understand that there is no “right” answer, only ones that don’t seem too very wrong. As habitat destruction, hunting, and poaching decimate wild herds, some sort of zoo or animal park seems necessary. I think the “we are saving animals” arguments of the zoos (and especially zoological water parks) can be a bit overwrought, but there is a nugget of truth in there. The real world always seems to be suboptimal trade offs. It’s how reality rolls.
There’s another alternative: natural setting preserves. Zoos are for our entertainment, as well as to keep the large zoo-industrial complex going. The folks that make a living from working at zoos have a vested interest to keep them going. And they’re tourist attractions, so cities like them.
Agreed on the wide-open animal parks and more complex ecosystems for the animals to live in. Unfortunately, in yet another conundrum, the animals in cages, in zoos in the middle of cities, vastly outdraw the wild animal parks in outlying locations. Part of it is simply many potential local guests, and visitors from other places on vacation, close by the zoos, who can be drawn to come out and buy a ticket. The animals-in-cages subsidize the animals confined but living in better environments. On the face of it, the situation is presented as some combination of necessary evil and a money-grubbing rationalization.
Then there is the matter of “animal shows” versus leaving them alone, another extremely contentious issue, especially so in zoological water parks, where directed or commanded behaviors are extremely unnatural (no matter what the keepers like to state in the shows) and can easily destroy the ordinary functioning of the animal. Water park animals frequently are unable to freely act, socialize with peers, or mate normally. Older animals often swim aimlessly in set patterns, all day, every day, as if their normal brain functions are completely fried.
There are no more monkey races, AFAIK, but institutionalized animal abuse is freely conducted in the name of “public education” and “saving the animals”. IMO, domesticated dogs and cats have adapted to coexisting with humans, but the rest of the animal world has not, and is exploited, to a greater or lesser degree, by their captivity and dependence on humans. All the care and genuine efforts of the zookeepers do not change that equation, as I saw it first hand for years.
Don’t even get me started on circuses…
Or on private wild animal collections…
I have a bit of a moral dilemma with zoos as well, I don’t think the quality of life can be great for these animals despite their longer than average lifespan through the safety of captivity of the park, but for those reasons you mentioned regarding habitat destruction, hunting and whatnot, I do feel there is a necessary preservation aspect that zoos serve, it’s kind of damned if you do damned if you don’t. While there is an exploitative element to them it’s not quite on the level of strapping monkeys to go karts or having bears ride unicycles. I think until there is a push globally to preserve natural habitats zoos will be a necessary evil, but hopefully one that has the net positive to hopefully inspire visitors to push for preservation. That’s what going to the zoo on field trips did for me, a class lecture on saving the rainforests wasn’t nearly as impactful on me as it was seeing the animals from it in real life.
What a great pair of topics here. As someone else who’s prone to getting lost down rabbit holes, I love these histories.
First, the monkeys. For some reason, I’ve always found monkeys to be creepy (for example, when I go to zoos, I usually avoid the primate house). So while the monkey speedway is quite a historical time-capsule, I don’t see much appeal. Maybe I would have if I’d been around in 1920.
As for Ora Holben, I’d love to uncover more information on her. She seems to have left little in the way of a historical trail, and much of that is confusing. Looks like she had been married in the early 1900s to a man named Lyman Holben. They show up as married in both the 1910 and 1920 US Censuses (he’s employed as a railway inspector). Confusingly, it appears that her maiden name was also Holben (from the 1900 Census, and also from records about her sister Gertrude). In 1930, she appears in the Census under the name of Ora DeLaugauldt and is listed as Divorced; later she’s listed as Widowed, under the same name. Looking through several historical records, she seems like the only person anywhere by the name DeLaugauldt (which is the name on her grave, so it seems accurate). Many unanswered questions, but I’m sure they veil a fascinating story. I’d love to know if others can dig up additional information.
Interesting about how Ora shows up in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 census data. I usually go to census data, but this time decided to crawl out of the rabbit hole after spending way too much time in the newspaper archives. And yes, I found the gravestone which shows that she kept the DeLaugauldt name.
The newspapers would be the place to look assuming she kept a public life after that bit about being dirt track champion. I’m assuming that she moved on to other activities (such as organizing the Good Will Girls events) and never went back to motorsports. Still, there would have been stories to tell.
Moving on from auto racing is normal as one gets older, especially back then. Sticking around for a while, one would have seen a lot of first-hand death and destruction, back in the day. I am sure it would have made it easy for one to have walked away, should he or she have had a mind to, and had other things to pursue.
Well, I must say I’ve never heard of either monkey speedways or Birth of a Nation.
Interesting how views on things change, and that people of the past were no more evil or stupid than us (or any less so) but everyone is influenced by their environment.
In summary: this used to happen, now it doesn’t, good riddance.
Regular-size slot cars are about the same age. Lionel was selling them in 1915.
Very appropriate putting a picture of rt 93 south of Boston leading into a story about monkeys driving. You’d swear that there were monkeys navigating that road.
I would have to say the Capuchin monkey in many ways might be smarter than the average driver. Don’t diss the Cap!
Let’s not forget the clowns here…….
They’re meh to me but I know many and have seen many more folks who go bonkers when they see any clown .
I don’t mean ‘Pennywise’, I mean that person who dons grease paint and “entertains” young children, making balloon animals and so on .
Animal cruelty is bad but that doesn’t mean we should stop eating them or wearing leather shooes .
-Nate
Well, count me among the folks who aren’t thrilled about clowns.
Never have been.
My but didn’t this start some wide ranging discussions!
I think the consensus is a pox on the monkey racing, and I agree. But I had no idea it had ever been a thing.
As for Ora Holben, she appears to be a member of that intrepid club of women who went out and did stuff women were not supposed to do. I’m thinking of Amelia Erhardt or Madame C J Walker, who started a hair products company in Indianapolis and became the first self-made female millionaire in the US by the time she died in 1919. Miss Holben would have been a fascinating person to meet – it is a shame her early racing successes are not better documented.
Absolutely, JP, re. Ora.
Full disclosure, I should say that I’m related by marriage to these two women…who (also) in 1916 did stuff that women were not supposed to do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Buren_sisters
There’s a movie about them if one cares to watch. But yes, the past really does hold some unexpected stuff.