After a long-awaited arrival, Tufts has finally received its new Jumbo statue. The 11-by-18-foot structure, made entirely of bronze, was lifted by crane and placed outside of Barnum Hall last week, replacing the old Jumbo. In honor of its arrival, here are 10 facts about our mascot that every true Jumbo should know:
1. The original Jumbo was born in Sudan in 1859.
2. Jumbo’s name derives from the Swahili word “jumbe,” which means “chief.”
3. Phineas T. Barnum, one of Tufts’ founding trustees, was an entertainer of the Barnum and Bailey circus, of which Jumbo was a star attraction.
4. In Canada in 1885, a train fatally struck Jumbo. According to legend, he sacrificed his own life to save a baby elephant nearby.
5. Barnum had a taxidermist prepare Jumbo, who was then donated to Tufts to go on display at the Barnum Museum of Natural History. This taxidermy job is known as the world’s largest taxidermy job ever performed.
6. This taxidermy Jumbo was destroyed in an electrical fire in 1975. Its ashes remain in a peanut butter jar in the office of Tufts’ athletic director.
7. From the 1990’s until present, Jumbo was replaced by a papier-mâché and concrete version, which came from a New Hampshire amusement park.
8. The Tufts Jumbos place 18th in the Top 25 College Nicknames.
9. Jumbo is the only college mascot found in Webster’s Dictionary.
10. It was a widely known fact that Jumbo loved gingerbread.
Want to learn more about Jumbo?
http://www.tufts.edu/home/get_to_know_tufts/history/jumbo/
https://twitter.com/TuftsUniversity/status/586206216470323200
Picture Sources:
http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/02/18/jhc.fhr001/F13.expansion.html