When you work in a library, any time a conversation starts with “Is it true that…” you know it is going to be an interesting question. True to form, this particular question was, “Is it true that a whale came to Denton on a train?” Even as I began to gather more information from the customer, I thought to myself, there is no way this could have happened, but after a little research and to my great surprise it was true.
In 1934, the Pacific Whaling Company of Long Beach California brought a whale to Denton as part of a cross-country tour. The finback whale named Colossus was 55 feet long and weighed more than 68 tons. Colossus was transported across the United States in a specially built railroad car which they claimed to be over 100 feet long. When I first read the headlines I envisioned an aquarium type railcar with water and a live whale splashing around. But no, it was Colossus’s body that was preserved and on display. The article said it took 3000 gallons of embalming fluid to preserve the body.
The train car was parked on a side rail at the old passenger depot for three days, February 28 to March 2. The cost was 10 cents to enter the railcar. It was billed as an “educational exhibit” which included not only the embalmed whale but also Penguins (live), an “Octopus family” (not sure if they were living or preserved), an Egyptian mummy (definitely dead) and Professor Rhuls Flea Circus (with “live” fleas performing tricks). Captain Mike Dolan, “veteran whaling commander”, gave lectures while people viewed the “sea monster” along with numerous photographs about how whales were captured.
Exhibiting whales was a common practice during the last part of the 19th and early 20th century. Like the circus and zoos, these “educational exhibitions” gave people the chance to see animals and other creatures that they might otherwise never see. Today we have multiple ways that we can see and learn about the creatures that share our world. Technology has even provided ways to watch animals at zoos, aquariums, and in their natural habitats. The Georgia Aquarium offers webcams to watch a variety of the animals in their care.
Technology has also greatly impacted the way we search for information. Just a decade ago I would not have been able to locate newspaper articles about the whale exhibition’s visit to Denton without a specific date. Access to the old copies of the Denton Record-Chronicle was limited to microfilmed copies, and the only way to locate an article was to read every daily newspaper. Digitization of the newspapers now allows you to search with words or phrases, opening up an entire portal to the past.
The Denton Public Library provides free online access to current and historical newspapers, both local and worldwide. If you are interested in Denton History, we have curated indexes for birth, deaths, anniversaries, and marriages as well as access to the Denton Newspaper Collection on the Portal to Texas History.
Take a look, try searching for your name, or address. You might be surprised what you can find. Now… I found information about a whale on a train… I wonder if I should look for snakes on a plane ….
Laura Douglas
Special Collections
Emily Fowler Central Library
References
“A Whale by the Tail.” Denton Record-Chronicle 26 February 1934: 5. Newspaper. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539054/m1/4/zoom/?q=whale&resolution=4&lat=2878.5&lon=2268.5
Abbott, Sam. “Whales Smelled Out the $$.” The Billboard 28 June 1952: 48. Magazine. <https://books.google.com/books?id=AR4EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA1&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q&f=false>.
“Big Whale Shown in Denton Exhibit.” Denton Record-Chronicle 28 February 1934: 6. Newspaper. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539056/m1/6/zoom/?q=whale&resolution=4&lat=3820.5&lon=2650.5
Gattis, J. L. “Whales on Rails.” The Scrambler: Official publication of the Arkansas-Boston Mountain Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society March 2021: 6-12. Newsletter. https://s3.amazonaws.com/mychurchwebsite/c6957/2103pdf.pdf.
Plening, Fred D. Jr. “Moby Dick on Rails.” Bandwagon 1 March 1987: 14-17. Magazine.<a href="http:// <https://archive.org/details/1987-vol-31-no-2/page/16/mode/2up?q=%22Pacific+whaling+company%22+embalmed>.
“The Thrill of a Lifetime!” Denton Record-Chronicle 27 February 1934: 6. Newspaper. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539055/m1/6/zoom/?q=whale&resolution=4&lat=2878&lon=2266.5
“Whale to Be on Exhibit Here.” Denton Record-Chronicle 27 February 1934: 5. Newspaper. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539055/m1/5/zoom/?q=whale&resolution=4&lat=4398.653284506526&lon=1603.3787730494682
“Whale Will Be On Exhibit Next Week.” Denton Record-Chronicle 24 February 1934 ; 3. Newspaper. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539053/m1/3/zoom/?q=whale&resolution=4&lat=4112.5&lon=2541.5
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