Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: August 10th, 2006
The Jungle, Anaheim CA, 1959
A flaming redhead poses in a sensible shirtwaist dress and royal silk satin curly-topped, bell hop hat. Her body language speaks of possession. That ‘58 Chrysler must be hers. The window is down, the vent-wing open and the door is ajar. Behind her the font on the OPEN sign is inspired and worthy today of being developed into a full alphabet. I wonder if she knows the shocking story of what happened at the Jungle just a couple of years before.
Several years ago at a yard sale I picked up an early ’50s map of Anaheim. Carefully unfolding it the tiki graphics in an ad for a place called the Jungle caught my eye. I had never heard of the place. The ad read: THE JUNGLE- Tropical Zoo, Exotic Gift Shop, Head Hunters Beauty Salon and “Home of Jerry, the World’s Most Human Chimpanzee”. Jack Dutton was listed as the owner.
Intrigued and at the time researching for my book, SOUTHERN CALIFONRIA IN THE 50s, immediately I called 411 and asked for Anaheim, California - Jack Dutton. Much to my surprise, fifty years later, there was a listing. I called. I said “Is this the Jack Dutton that owned the Jungle? “Yes it is.” I was even more surprised when he said that he was 90-somthing years old and the manager of a trailer park in Anaheim. To hear the story of the Jungle he invited me to come see him. The next morning at 11am I was standing at the doorstep of his double wide. He was welcoming, feisty and sincere as he told me the story of the Jungle. He got a tear in his eye and said it never fails when he thinks of the Jungle he thinks of Jerry, his beloved-but-ill-fated pet monkey.
He was a ragman. He tells me he made a fortune selling rags after the war. Around 1952 he and his wife Dorothy “adopted” a wild chimpanzee to add to their ever-expanding menagerie of birds and other unusual pets kept at their rural ranch home in nearby Fullerton. They named their “baby boy” chimp Jerry and raised him like they would a child. Within a few months Jerry was toilet trained, ate at the dinner table, dressed himself and even slept in the same bed with the Dutton’s. As Jerry became known around the neighborhood for entertaining at children’s birthday parties other nagging neighbors began to complain about the “wild pet monkey.”
In response Dutton bought a five-acre orange grove in nearby Anaheim. He leveled it built a small zoo. He planted a lush, tropical garden to showcase Jerry and all of his other pets where the public could enjoy them. Jerry shared his new home in the spotlight with snakes, alligators, elephants, bears, ostriches, deer, apes, a lion and hundreds of exotic birds. Crowds enjoyed Jerry’s adorable antics as he played with Sunny the bear or swam with the ducks in the pond. “Jerry amused the guests in the daytime and help me water the plants and feed the other animals a night,” Dutton remembered. He added a restaurant called the Palms, a luau garden, exotic gift shop and a beauty shop called the Head Hunters.
Just a couple of years later in, 1955 when Disneyland opened, things were beginning to get out of hand at the Jungle. Late-night pranksters taunted the animals and evil thieves stole the flamingos. A series of lawsuits forced Dutton to sell his “dangerous” animals. He told me his wife ran off with their lawyer. Even Jerry wasn’t safe. Having grown accustomed to his human-like freedom in the Jungle, the “humanized” chimp needed constant supervision. He went berserk every time he was put in his cage. When he could no longer find “baby-sitters” to care for Jerry around the clock Dutton reluctantly offered his beloved pet chimp to zoos. He said nobody would take him. When Jerry became more and more impossible, Dutton with a tear in his eye told me of the dark day he walked Jerry over to a nearby orange grove and gave him a shovel. “I had him dig a deep hole,” Dutton said, “when he was finished, I told him to jump inside. Then a policeman friend of mine shot him in the head.”
Jack Dutton, among other things, went on to become the mayor of Anaheim. Not long after I talked with him he passed away. He told me “Never humanize a chimp.”
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
August 2006
Sets this Slide belongs to:
Los Angeles
57 Comments on “The Jungle, Anaheim CA, 1959”
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August 10th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Holy sh*t that was a depressing story.
August 10th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
oh wow what an amazing but tragic story….i could never go through something like that with a part of my family.
August 11th, 2006 at 12:03 am
Charles, thank you for that heartwarming yet nauseating story of chimpacide! It is true though..never humanize a chimp. or a manatee.
August 11th, 2006 at 3:11 am
Much to Aunt Hanna’s Surprise,she can now get Mangos and Marajuana at a one stop shop!Too bad she can’t remember where her car is(or her purse)! Heres’ to modern convienence.She will have to hurry hiome before the boys get into the Lipstick again!!!
August 11th, 2006 at 5:43 am
What a horrible ending. I liked it up until the end. Yikes.
August 11th, 2006 at 5:45 am
Loved the story. I lived in Garden Grove in the 50’s and 60’s and had never heard of The Jungle Nursery.
Keep up the good work.
Donna
August 11th, 2006 at 7:08 am
Wow, only THAT hair color you could find in the 50’s! Thanks Charles.
August 11th, 2006 at 7:54 am
Nice picture (though I don’t know that I’ve ever been to Califonria before — is it on the West Coast?), but the story of Jerry the chimp was the saddest thing I’ve ever read from you! That might have just ruined my whole weekend. Poor Jerry!
August 11th, 2006 at 8:26 am
I must say Charles, your stories become more and more compelling. Yes, Anaheim really was quite the intriguing place in the 50s and even into the 60s. How fortunate you are to have met and conversed with Jack Dutton. And how great is it that you continue to chronicle our greatest natural resource–our retired population who have all those fascinating (some bittersweet) stories locked away in their minds, soon to be lost forever! THANK YOU, CHARLES!!!
August 11th, 2006 at 8:51 am
is this what guns and roses where talkin’ about??
August 11th, 2006 at 9:01 am
As kids, my parents would take us over to the jungle. While my sister, cousins, and I would be entertained by the wild animals, my parents could enjoy themselves in the bar. As a long-time Anaheim resident,
we would see Jack Dutton cruising the streets in his convertible, top
down, with monkey-pal riding shotgun!
August 11th, 2006 at 9:14 am
Wow. No spirit soaring this week. That story should have come with an animal cruelty warning.
August 11th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Charles, thanks for sharing this story. You are such a wonderful writer - normally I look forward to a laugh with the weekly slide, but this time I found myself getting all teary-eyed. Poor Jerry and Poor Jack!
August 11th, 2006 at 9:52 am
What a story! I live in the Anaheim Colony, have for over 20 years, and am constantly being blown away by stories such as these. Keep ‘em comin’!
August 11th, 2006 at 10:27 am
Grim. Wow…that was a tough little story to read first thing on a Friday morning. I was shocked when I read that he actually knocked off the chimp. Man, that’s pretty brutal. Let’s hope the next slide-of-the-week returns to whimsy…maybe something cool from the old Pacific Ocean Park in Venice?
August 11th, 2006 at 10:28 am
Oh my gosh! Jack Dutton sounded like a really stand-up guy until he went gangsta on his chimp and made the poor, unsuspecting guy dig his OWN grave!! I can’t believe he didn’t at least dig the hole himself! Oh, the HORROR!!!! I do have to compliment you, Charles, though on your quest for the true stories of California (Califonria)….very cool that you just call people up and then find them in their trailers the next day. Bravo!
P.S. I don’t know why, but I’m always curious about what outfit you wore to your interviews….I just love your style!
P.P.S.S. Fred, your manatee comment had me crying with laughter.
August 11th, 2006 at 10:54 am
Oh Charles, I don’t think your story of the chimp is depressing. It’s just true-to-life. I so appreciate that you took your research one step further and actually called Mr. Dutton. You are truly a curious and wonderful ‘hist-o-tainer.”
My spirits soar, just thinking about your diligence!!
Thank you, Darling!
August 11th, 2006 at 11:29 am
Charles, how could you do that to us on a Friday? I guess it’s not fair to expect you only show us the pretty realities of the past. I’m sitting at work with tears in my eyes. OMG - the chimp dug his own death bed? That’s HORRIBLE!!
August 11th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
What a great (and sad) story! No toast at the end of this one that’s for sure. Thanks!
August 11th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
Jesus dear. Here I was enjoying the slide as always, enjoying the
story - and then that! Good Lord. Poor Jerry, and poor Mr. Dutton having to do that. Ah well… one of the many amazing stories out of SoCal. Just heard on CNN that Mike Douglas died today. We’re getting older dear….
August 11th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Oh, how sad about poor Jerry the Chimp! How awful for the poor man and how terrible for you to have to hear about it! I hope the old guy is doing okay now.
LOVE your slides, look forward to them every Friday. Keep up the good
work.
August 11th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
OMG that story was crazy the poor man and the poor chimp. You go to his trailer expecting him to tell you all these cool stories about the jungle and he tells you this traumatic tale!! How awful for you too!!!
August 11th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
I can’t believe they made that chimp dig his own grave. It should have been a barbecue pit instead. Luau anyone?
August 11th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
I work at a nursing home. amazing the storys the elderly
folks have to tell. if only spoken too. One of them, made customes for the Jackson 5, another, holocust survivor.
Very sweet, Mr. Dutton got to tell his story, before passing.
As sad at it was.
August 11th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
“Never humanize a chimp.”
Was a fantastic story! And great advice.
Thanks for that J
August 11th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Mr. Sad-Story Charles!
Follow my train of thought here: the tragic chimp story made me think about the Sandra Dee/Bobby Darin movie, If A Man Answers. Keep following: I thought about this movie because Sandra Dee’s mother gives her a dog training book and tells her that training a man to behave is like training a dog. Stay with me: I then thought about Gidget and how she hatches that elaborate plan to go after Cliff Robertson (The Big Kahuna) when she should be noticing that James Darren (Moondoggie) is crazy for her. And her parents panic when they find out she’s in the love shack with the open-shirted Big Kahuna. And Gidget gets set up on that blind date … I digress. Thus, the connection between today’s posting and the slide is … Jerry perhaps made the same mistakes in pursuing “humanhood” that a teen girl might make when pursuing a boy. It feels like a stretch, but trust me.
I headed straight to my “teen” shelf, and pulled out an old favorite: _Betty Cornell’s All About Boys_ (1958). I thought we could look at Betty’s recommendations for how to ensnare the boy of your dreams. This means, as Betty suggests, “being natural”… if by natural one means suppressing your feelings and tamping down your individuality (oh Jerry! Monkeys in pants are darling but I guess ultimately dangerous). Let’s look at Betty’s “time-tested techniques” to find out exactly where Jerry went wrong. Did he engineer his own horrible fate? From “How to Make Yourself His Type”:
Let’s say that one of your girl friends invited the crowd over to hear some new records. When you get there you’re introduced to a boy you’ve never met before and … you make up your mind that this is the man of your dreams. (Jerry translation: let’s say you’re taken in by a family who’d like you to eat dinner at the dining room table. You decide that eating at the dining room table sounds neat and you make up your mind to do the best job of it as possible).
If you want that dream to turn into reality, here are some of the things you won’t do:
1. You won’t make your interest in him too obvious. Men love a bit of discreet flattery, but there’s a big difference between flattery and out-and-out pursuit. (Is this where Jerry went wrong? Too much pleasing? Too many nighty-nights and kids parties?)
2. You won’t become the noisiest member present in a frantic attempt to attract his attention. If you do, you’ll attract his attention, all right, but it won’t be the kind you want. (Oh boy. Jerry. I see where you might’ve gone wrong with all that cage -rejecting naughtiness.)
3. You won’t […] resort to cattiness or what my older brother used to call “girl talk.” Girl talk is strictly for girls; it never impressed any fellow. (This one is a given. Jerry should’ve kept the chimp chatter to a minimum.)
4. You won’t, of course, be overdressed or over made-up. After all, you don’t want him to be reminded of the latest movie queen every time he looks at you. (The pants, Jerry. You should’ve taken off those pants.)
Sounds hard, I know, to avoid all these pitfall when you want so much to make an impression and aren’t quite sure of how to go about doing it […] Try to relax and behave as you would on any other occasion with the gang.
So there you have it. Relaxing, behaving naturally … here’s where our boy went wrong. Too much trying to please! He was too cute in his little monkey pants! Jerry’s story is truly a great Californian tragedy. If only Jack could’ve thought of a better solution! But at least he used a jaunty font on his store signs. We can hang onto to that bit of knowledge in the dark nights of the soul when our thoughts turn to Jerry.
xoxo! (being jaunty to stave off the sadness)
Miss Sharon
August 11th, 2006 at 4:03 pm
Charles, you’ve done it again. Your such and original! Nobody else, after all this time, would have found out about this tragic story. I feel like just weeping. I can’t understand why more couldn’t have been done. I guess it was the times. The world is so weird right now but I do think we are more sensitive about the world of animals. If it hadn’t been the 50’s I think Jerry would have found a home, probably pretty easily, too. Thanks to you Jerry can now be remembered.
August 11th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Perhaps Jack and his beloved Jerry are together again on some far star…. If my animals can’t join me in heaven, I’m not going either.
August 11th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Great, now I’m going to have a hard time getting Jerry out of my head. Poor little monkey!
August 11th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
The policeman that shot Jerry also baby sat with him on occasion. He was a motorcycle officer and I was one of his partners. We would go to the Jungle and if Jerry was around he would hop up on the gas tank , take off my glove and look and chatter over a scar on my left hand.
The Palms was a popular restuarant and many people ennjoyed it over the years.
August 11th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
Cool story, but now I find myself wondering if Jack Duttons wife REALLY ran off with the lawyers? Or did he take her out to that orange grove and make her dig a hole?
August 12th, 2006 at 9:29 am
God, this story haunted me. Dug his own grave? It’s like something out of a Scorcese movie.
August 12th, 2006 at 1:51 pm
Haunting, wonderful and soo California kitsch. Best one yet (that I’ve seen).
August 12th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
Wow. It’s the true stories that are the weirdest AND the spookiest.-
August 13th, 2006 at 11:14 am
There was a show on Discovery or one of those channels that featured a chimp that was strangely human. I could have sworn his name was Jerry. It was such a sad story but so intriguing. If they play it again, check it out.
August 13th, 2006 at 11:32 am
The story about Jerry the Chimpanzee who had to be put down was extremely sad. I can understand Mr. Dutton’s pain. He did what he had to do out of deep love for Jerry and I,for one,do not-not ever- judge him. His sorrow has been his to bear since the awful moment of decision. I wish only Beauty,Love,Mercy and Magic to abound and may he and Jerry both rest in peace.
August 13th, 2006 at 11:34 am
Oh my god, this was an amazing and heartbreaking tale. I was riveted.
August 14th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
As the late, great Bob Hope said, “It’s all in the timing.” Your timing Charles, seemed to be perfect in this case of meeting Jack Dutton and interviewing him. Since he has passed on I can imagine he was glad to get the sad story of Jerry’s demise off his chest before that occurred. As others have said ‘history can be stranger than fiction’ in many instances. But, it’s the truth~~and we live with it. Be well and thrive. Jim D.
August 14th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
If James Ellroy wrote an episode of “Daktari”…
August 14th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Wow Charles, I won’t be able to get to sleep tonight and now I will never help anyone ever dig a hole!
August 15th, 2006 at 12:37 am
Don’t humanize a monkey? Oh great, there goes my life’s dream.
August 15th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
“Don’t humanize a monkey?” How do I explain my wife and Planet of the Apes movie?
August 16th, 2006 at 7:55 am
Dear Charles,
thank you very much for your images and your love for the 50″s. Your considerations on the slides is full of generosity as generous is your sharing with us your thoughts. I am always very sad when I remember of things, non important, that gave full meaning to a certain period of History and will be lost forever. Even the lipstick in the boy’s mouths assumes great importance and, for me who was young during the 50’s, the Jerry&Dutton story is in fact a historical event. Thanks again.
August 16th, 2006 at 9:56 am
Charles - that was such a warm, heartfelt story. I like the part where he shot the monkey… oh, and when the man died… that was good, too.
August 16th, 2006 at 11:17 am
:(
August 16th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
Hi Charles
The current slide shows an address of 1105 S. Spadra which is the Jungle Nursery in Fullerton. This is not the same as Dutton’s Jungle and Palms restaurant which was located at Orangethorpe and Raymond Ave. in Anaheim. According to the 1959 Anaheim city directory the Jungle Zoological Gardens (JC & Mrs. DC Dutton) was at 1010 E Orangethorpe in Anaheim. In the same directory they have the Jungle Nursery at 1105 S. Harbor (R Bogart) in Fullerton.
In addition to make it even more confusing in a full page ad for the Dutton’s Jungle there is a Jungle Nursery at the same address as the restaurant. I also checked with my volunteer here in the Launer Local History Room of the Fullerton Public Library Dr. Greening who has lived in Fullerton since 1951 and he assures me that they were two different places.
As a little aside Dr. Greening was a neighbor to Dr Baughman a pediatrician in Fullerton who was called to the Dutton’s home (they still did house calls) to treat an infant and when he arrived it was the Dutton’s monkey.
A yellow pages add for the Jungle Palms Restaurant from 1955 describes the restaurant: “An exciting new pleasure of dining amidst the tropical splendor of a very realistic jungle. Interior planting of lush tropical foliage with palm trees bursting through the roof, captures the essence of old world topics. Supreme cut of New York steak tumbled (?) to rich chestnut hue, and filet mignon, skewered bacon bound, timed to perfection, constitute a part of the exceptional food served in this restful setting, and is enhanced by the serenity that can be yours when dining deep in the jungle. This feeling of being away from the great metropolitan area makes dining in THE PALMS a most unique experience.”
August 17th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
My friend Helen emailed me this story–said it made her “stop.” Why? Is she saying I’m like the chimp who will never really be a man and should be put down after I’m made to dig my own shallow grave? Or is she like the man who could never really tame the chimp? Did she just think it a cute article I’d enjoy? Did she send it because the photo looks like her mom? Why am I asking you people? Do you know Helen?
August 18th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
My recollection is that Duttons’s place was on Orangethorpe, a sort of poor man’s Trader Vic’s or Don the Beachcomber. I don’t recall the chimp, but my younger brother has clear memories, When I forwarded your story to him he responded as follows:
August 26th, 2006 at 6:23 am
I’ve been to several of your shows (I even sent my parents to one!) and subscribe to your weekly online slide. I subscribe to get a smile, a bit of history and I always enjoy your colorful commentary. But I was very disturbed by the story you told about the chimp. It really upset me for days. If you’re going to print such disturbing tales, please have a warning upfront: Something like: WARNING, if you don’t like depressing tales, stop reading!!
Otherwise, I have always enjoyed your work.
August 27th, 2006 at 8:56 am
Charles, I always love your little stories that accompany your vintage photos, but this story about Jerry the Chimp is one of the worse stories I’ve ever heard. It’s the type of story that will pop up in my memory the rest of my life. I wish you had never told it. Some things are better left unsaid.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:20 pm
Great piece of memorabilia! I had a memory as a young child, maybe 3-6 years old, of being taken to a tropical-themed restaurant having a live great ape caged outside. I recalled it as a gorilla, but was very young at the time. I remember my parents and grandparents standing in a line near the door of the restaurant, waiting to get in, and being let go alone to see the ape in a thick rope-sided cage. All of the adults seemed to be feigning complete indifference to the ape, which was the main attraction as far as I was concerned. As I got close to the cage, the ape went berserk, screaming, thumping, leaping onto the rope sides of the cage, and baring his big teeth. I loved animals, but this scared the daylights out of me, and created a indelible memory of the experience.
For some time I have tried to research where this may have occurred, mostly believeing it might have been in Los Angeles. Attached to the memory is a feeling that people were a little scandalized by the whole thing, like there was talk of animal cruelty associated with using an animal as a blatant advertising tool in this way. The cage was large enough to contain the ape, but certainly nothing big enough to be actually lived in happily.
Now I wonder if this was the Palms Restaurant and Jerry. My family had just moved to Anaheim before Disneyland was built, right next to orchards that became the theme park, so it seems likely.
As horrible as Jerry’s end was, it was quick, and that was one unhappy ape in the cage that I saw. Without a wildlife rescue place for Jerry to go, what else could Jack Dutton have done in face of the legal actions being brought against him? Jerry’s end was kind compared to that of thousands of animals euthanized every year at shelters, no loving owners around, and feedlot animals that certainly must have wind of their fate approaching the slaughterhouse. Dutton did not shirk his responsibility, and saw to it that Jerry was unaware of his end with a sharpshooter firing the single final shot. Jerry probably never knew what hit him.
January 17th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I remember the Jungle very well. There was a 76 gas station on that corner and my folks always went there for gas and my folks would go and have drinks in the bar. My 2 sisters and I would go and check out the animals and listen to the Mynah birds say all the cuz words that people had taught them. It was really sad when it closed because it was free and fun to walk around on a hot summer evening.
February 10th, 2007 at 9:21 am
i sure remember the Jungle….i have photos of my grandfather(WB “Danny” Danenhauer,proprieter of Dannys Texaco,across from the Fullerton Fox,in the fifties,) holding Jerry,like they were best friends….my ex wife and i spent our Honeymoon in the motel there,in 1982…..i didnt know the fate of Jerry,and im not too altogether sure im glad to have found out…..poor Jerry.
February 19th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Well, that story is a topper! It’s sounds like a gangster type execution. Dig your own grave and blam! Sad, but also a lesson in human nature and our inhumanity to animals. Good story!
December 25th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I remember the zoo very well! We went there a few times when I was small as we lived about 2 miles from it. It was on the corner of Orangethorpe & Raymond, next to the old Laura Scudders potato chip plant. The last time I was there I was about 16 (this was around 1970) and just before it closed forever. There was a little chimp there that the zookeeper let me hold (could it have been Jerry’s grandchild??) and a big, sad gorilla that had a head wound. He was so miserable and angry in his tiny cage. So depressing!!. This horrifying 50’s story of poor Jerry and his “dad” Jack Dutton shows everything was not exactly picture-perfect in suburbia! What a place, and what a story. The seedy underbelly of Jungle Palms!
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:44 am
Man,what a touching story,I’m a native Californian and this is the first I’d heard of the Jungle.Poor Jerry,god rest his little soul.Even sadder that Dutton was forced into a position,to even attempt something like that!I’ll have to ask my folks if this place rings a bell w/them.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:21 am
I swear I am not a nut case, but I tend to have sense things when I am in certain places and I have always had a problem driving through the intersection there near where the Dutton Jungle was. I get a forboding, sad feeling and I usually tear up. I never knew why… Maybe I now I do.