A Long Beach, Washington Icon since 1967
August 1, 2023
A Tuesday Newsday Classic updated
Happy Birthday to that northwest icon, symbol of blatant commercialism, and resident of Long Beach, Washington… Jake the Alligator Man!
How fun it was, on August 1, 2014, to be at Long Beach and join in the parade for Jake’s 75th birthday, be given free cupcakes, and really celebrate this once in a lifetime event.
Or not. As it turns out the town of Long Beach celebrates Jake’s 75th birthday EVERY year and has been doing so for the past 11 years. So maybe it’s really Jake’s 86th birthday? Call me cynical but I’m starting to think that this is all a ploy for tourists to spend more money on Jake gear and at local motels and restaurants.
I’ve also learned that his birthday is not always on August First but seems to coincide with whichever date the first Saturday in August might fall.
Jake’s murky beginnings are just that, murky. What we do know is that Jake was discovered in 1967 at an antique shop in San Francisco. He was adopted by the owners of Marsh’s Free Museum for a mere $750 dollars and has lived in Long Beach ever since.
I feel pretty certain that I probably saw Jake that first year as my family spent two weeks every summer on the Peninsula. Shopping at Marsh’s during a Long Beach visit was a must do. Although Jake was once relegated to a dusty corner of Marsh’s Free Museum – along with the two-headed calf and the shrunken head – his celebrity is such that he now has a whole display area with a variety of t-shirts, bumper stickers, posters, key chains and glassware dedicated to the Gatorman. And Creepy Dolls like him also.
The Infallible Wikipedia has done a poor job of telling the whole history of Jake. What’s up with that Infallible One?
So I will skip them this week and instead share the article which catapulted Jake into legend status back in 2008 when that paper of international renown and impeccable credentials – the World Weekly News – published an article titled “Manigator Found.”
“MIAMI, Florida — The discovery of a bizarre half-human, half-alligator in the Florida Everglades has flabbergasted scientists who say the creature is alive, at least moderately intelligent and possibly even a distant ancestor of modern man!
That’s the word from paleontologist Dr. Paul Ledbrader, who studied the creature in his laboratory for almost three hours before state wildlife officials seized the 5-foot, 11-inch, 180-pound beast and airlifted it to a research facility just west of Miami.
Nobody at the state wildlife commission is talking. But Dr. Ledbrader says the U.S. Forest Service sent no fewer than five experts to the facility to study the reptile in the hope of determining exactly where it came from — and what it might be.
‘I know what it isn’t — and that’s an ordinary alligator,’ said Dr. Ledbrader.”
To read more of their amazing discovery and the highly credible, and certainly not made up Dr. Ledbrader, click here:
http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/1717/manigator-found/
Be sure to make plans to attend Jake’s 12th annual 75th birthday party in 2018: http://jakethealligatorman.com/
*2020 Update!
Sadly, Jake’s birthday celebration – once again scheduled for Saturday, August 1st – was cancelled. But that did not stop Mr. Gator from donning a birthday hat, a couple feather boas, and celebrating with friends and fans that just might happen to stop by his house. Of course, HE was NOT socially distancing but this friend was. Perhaps next year. Be sure to mark your calendars for August 7, 2021. It’ll be a party.
*2021 Update – Jake’s birthday celebration has been cancelled for this year. Man, poor Jake is not feeling the love these days.
*2023 Update – Well, Jake’s celebration SHOULD be on Saturday, August 5. This internet sleuth searched and searched and there was nothing posted regarding Jake’s birthday. So I traveled to Long Beach and to the source, Marsh’s Free Museum, on July 31st and asked the guy behind the counter. This is what I learned! Covid pretty much ended the party as the person who had organized the event each summer left. Alas, no one has taken up the banner and Jake is now living a much quieter life.
https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/jake-the-alligator-man-long-beach-washington
It is duly noted that the approximate conception dates for 9 of those 10 dates is between December 17th and December 28th… apparently a lot of people commemorate Christmas and New Years with their own personal celebrations.
barbaradevore.com 