Archive of: Animals

Glen Dotson is seen here in late January 1941 with his new pet pigeon “Sparky.” Glen’s previous pigeon had been killed by an automobile. After reading about Glen’s loss, Lewis Hodge of Bloomington gave the Towanda boy a new pigeon, Sparky, who was said to be well-trained and fond of music.

Chester Boolman, 820 W. Washington St., shows his 21-month-old son Melvin a 15-pound catfish he caught below the Kappa Bridge on the Mackinaw River. This photograph was probably taken July 1 or 2, 1940.

Seen here are 5 of the 30 some entries for the children’s dog show, held July 31, 1940, in Lexington. They’re at Lexington Park, with the view looking east. That’s 105 E. Main St. behind them. The house is still there.

We’re not entirely sure, but this photo might show the five winners and their owners (left to right): “Nicky” and Dickie Payne; “Brownie” and Arlyss Printz; “Skipper” and Phyllis Ann Framer; “Mack” and Jimmy Travers; and “Bob” and Jane Oliver.

We’ve all heard the expression “bull in a china shop,” but how about one in a barbershop?

William Knuth, a laid off boilermaker and hobbyist beekeeper, was called to the Darling Poultry and Fish Market, 218 S. Center St., to corral some swarming bees. He located the queen, brushed her into the box, and the others followed.

Gretchen Stanberry, a senior in the school of music at MacMurray Women’s College in Jacksonville, was the guest speaker before the Bloomington Rotary Club in a July 1938 program at the Illinois Hotel. Ms. Stanberry is seen here with her German shepherd seeing eye dog Queenie.

In late June 1951, the McLean County 4-H market lamb show was held at the Producers Stock Yards, located at East LaFayette Street and the Illinois Central Railroad on the south end of Bloomington. Here’s Roger Risser of Danvers (left) showing off his “best pen of three.” That’s Wayne Mohr on the right.

Miller Park’s Ed Denniston welcomes the zoo’s new arrival in early June 1964. This little mule’s parents were a Shetland pony mare and a Sicilian donkey, which were boarded at Davis U. Merwin’s rural home near Downs. Merwin, second-in-command at The Pantagraph, was also president of the Miller Park Zoological Society.

Bloomington Police officer Robert Shepherd (left) books a startled hen on accessory charges. That’s officer John Hauptman keeping the prisoner from flying the coop. She was picked up when officers arrested a man they found trying to stuff her in a paper bag.

That’s “Jake,” a pointer puppy owned by “bird dog man” G.S. Bryant of Springfield and handled here by E.T. Burke of Farmersville. Jake was a guest, one might say, of the Bloomington Pointer and Setter Club, which staged its annual spring trials in early April 1946 on club grounds outside of the Village of Downs.

A.V. Ritchie of Colfax received $225 (or about $2,500 in today’s dollars) for this gilt at a January 22, 1947 Spotted Poland China sale at the Illinois State Normal University farm. Before turning over the day’s top earner he treated her to some pie.

This April 13, 1946, scene shows Bloomington veterinarian Dr. Fred H. Conover giving a warm weather trim to Fancy Pants.

This undated view shows Bloomington Creamery on the 100 block of South East Street. We’re not sure, but that could be creamery manager A.H. Tobias on the left. Today, the shuttered C II East office building is located on this site.

An area resident visited downtown Shirley on horseback, presumably as a way to limit the wear and tear on his auto or tractor tires!

Members of the Bloomington Loyal Order of the Moose staged a rabbit hunt in south-central Illinois, between Pana and Vandalia, in January 1947.

Thelma Thomas and her brother Glenn examine her grand champion gilt at the Illinois State Normal University Farm.

That’s Bob Butler on the white pony towing Eugene Stauffer, third-place soap box derby finisher in the Class B division.

In 1947, Bloomington merchants staged a promotional drawing on the west steps of the McLean County Courthouse Square (now the Museum Square). Nine-year-old Donald Lake, whose family lived north of Lexington, won the top prize, a bay pony named “Flag.”

In 1947, a group of young girls from the Lucy Orme Morgan Home in Bloomington, which took in neglected girls from families unwilling or unable to care for them, were guests at the home of Violet Whitmer. Activities included rides on a pony cart.