Zoo Keys

I’ve been hit by some nostalgia lately and I’ve been thinking a lot about the Detroit Zoo. The painted Elephant tracks, the Penguin house, and the Chimpanzee shows have all crawled back into my head and fill my day dreams. Because of this feeling I’ve suddenly wanted a physical representation of these lost childhood visits; I want a Detroit Zoo Elephant key. It makes no sense, it’s not like it would work with anything anymore. Regardless I keep searching eBay and other places for one.

The Zoo Keys were invented by Bruce Sedley. He was a children’s TV host who would spend his weekend telling stories at a Fairytale park. They recorded him singing songs and telling stories about the exhibits. These recordings were then housed in boxes that could be activated by inserting the correct key. Suddenly this idea spread to zoos across the country. The Detroit zoo key would work at the zoo, the Belle Isle Kid’s Zoo, and the Belle Isle Aquarium.

Bruce Sedley is still selling Zoo Keys, although they’ve changed quite a bit over the years. Now they are all done with magnetic strips and most keys are only good for a year. It’s a better system for the zoos that are using them, but there was something iconic about the old key’s design.

Jungle Love

A love of monkeys is one of those stereotypical geek things.  It is just a given that nerds like monkey references.  Where does it start from?  While I can’t answer for the collective geek conscious I can firmly say where it started for me.  I grew up in Warren, Michigan and when I was very young the Detroit Zoo had a chimpanzee show.  I remember a chimp; I think he was named Jo-Jo.  He rode tricycles, he played cowboy, and he was the star of the show.  I was hooked.

Obviously, something like that wouldn’t fly in the zoos of today.  This was before the days of making sure every animal enclosure looks like their natural environment.  The shows ran from 1932-1982.   Wanting to talk about the old chimpanzee shows got me doing some research about the Detroit Zoo and I found some interesting things to share.  So promise to come back to those primates, but first let me get to some other odd stories I’ve found in my research.

More monkeyshines after the jump.