Naturally, when I heard the story about a 68-ton black finback whale named "Colossus" who visited Windsor, Essex co., Ontario in 1936, I had to investigate!
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| The Windsor Star: 12 Apr 1978 |
The Transcontinental Tour of the Captive Whale
Throughout 1936, Canadian newspapers reported the transcontinental tour of captive whale!
Did Your Ancestors See The Whale?
The first thing that I wondered was if my Windsor ancestors rushed down to Brock street CN train station to see the whale?
The exhibition traveled across Canada and although I could not locate any Windsor Star clippings about the exhibition online, but I managed to find information about the tour from other newspapers in other provinces.
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Sat, Jun 13, 1936 · Page 16
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| "California's Whaling Coast" By Dale Vinnedge; Google Book: Screen Shot: |
The whale was "pickled" as some newspapers reported requiring hundreds of barrels of embalming fluid that needed to be replenished regularly.
The Exhibition, billed as "educational", also featured other animals such as penguins, an octopus and other various "marine oddities". Pictured below are penguins "Ike" and Mike" (according to the Calgary Herald"). A columnist reported that the exhibition started with 8 penguins and only one (poor, sad "Lady Bird") made it alive to the prairies.
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Wed, Jun 17, 1936 · Page 14
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The Pacific Whaling Company (PWC)
The Pacific Whaling Company organized this educational tour and the star of the show was a Captain J. Barnett who had been engaged in whaling for 52 of his 72 years and he recalled the dramatic capture of "Colossus"near San Clemente Island .
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Jackson, Mississippi
Sun, Nov 06, 1932 · Page 4
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When 11-year-old Ralph Carter of Saskatoon visited the whale in his city, a reporter provided his experience to the Star Phoenix:
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Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Sat, Aug 08, 1936 · Page 19
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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Fri, Jul 10, 1936 · Page 2
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Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Wed, Jun 03, 1936 · Page 2
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Another attraction offered at the exhibition was a Flea Show featuring the only woman flea trainer in the world, Madame Sirwell.
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Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Thu, Jun 04, 1936 · Page 2
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Whatever Became of Colossus?
The more I searched the archives for the story of Colossus, the more I learned that this story was not quite what it appeared to be on the surface.
I wondered, "How long could an embalmed whale last in the summer time on train car across Canada before the smell became unbearable?" So I searched the newspaper archives for "Colossus + Whale" and here is what I learned:
- The Pacific Whaling Company (PWC) was NOT a whaling company at all. There was an actual "Pacific Whaling Company" that DID whale, but it had folded and the ships were retired in the 1890s and the "company liquidated around 1905 due to the scarcity of whales and the low demand and price for the oil". M.C. Hutton created "The Pacific Whaling Company" which was unregistered exhibition company (connected to the Ocean Products Co)
- The PWC provided exhibition trains from 1929 to 1945 and they were sent from West Coast to East Coast visiting hundreds of cities that were equipped with railroad sidings.
- Colossus had many incarnations over the years but the same photos were used over and over again. The company sent advance men ahead of the trains to get everything ready and arrange for the press (they even provided the written articles for the newspapers). It was billed as an educational event provided by the educational arm of the biological division of the company, but that division never existed.
- Many captains provided the education talks like Capt. Barnett did in Windsor. People ( like "Oil Can Gus" Folger; Barnacle Bill) and some of the captains had actually been whaling captains but not all of them. The captains had a script about their ship (the SS Hawk, SS Hercules, or SS Clemente) and the capture and the crane needed to lift the whale. The PWC also sold postcards.
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| "California's Whaling Coast" By Dale Vinnedge; Google Book: Screen Shot: |
Great Grandfather James Henry Allen Annal
One has to admit, the news of a whale arriving in your city especially in the 1930s would be great cause for excitement and you would not want to miss the chance to see it with your own eyes even if it was built entirely on "fish tales"
My 2nd great-grandfather James Henry Allen Annal (1849–1930) would have certainly found something fishy about this exhibition that visited Windsor in 1936 if he had lived long enough to see it. Read more of his story here: https://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/09/52-ancestors-33-sailor-james-annal-1849.html
I would like to believe that he would have had a hardy laugh about the PWC Exhibition and that he would tell the story about great imposters and then tell some REAL whale stories of his own!
More Clippings and Links
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Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Wed, Jun 17, 1936 · Page 6
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Atlanta, Georgia
Sun, Apr 25, 1943 · Page 39
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Casper, Wyoming
Wed, Aug 04, 1943 · Page 8
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Bristol, Tennessee
Wed, May 05, 1943 · Page 3
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