From a modern perspective, U.S. Patent No. 1,926,420 is a bizarre patent. The drawing on the front of the patent (Fig. 1) prominently shows a monkey wearing silks jockeying a Greyhound. The '420 patent, which issued on September 12, 1933, is entitled "Combined Racing Greyhound Harness and Rider Supporting Means". Without any contextual background, the '420 patent appears to be the product of an inventor with an eccentric mind, an inventor out of touch with the norms of society. A brief sojourn back to the late 1920's and 1930's, however, reveals that the patent reflects the zeitgeist of a very brief period of our history.
Beginning in Australia in the late 1920's, small monkeys, typically capuchin monkeys, were trained to jockey Greyhounds in races. The practice was introduced into the U.S. in the 1930's by the marrried couple, Loretta and Charlie David. The Davids had an entourage of 12 monkeys and Greyhounds who toured Greyhound tracks throughout the U.S., putting on races with the monkeys riding the Greyhounds. These races were extremely popular, at least in part due to the exuberance exhibited by the little simian jockeys. The monkeys were so eager to win, they would whip their dogs with their tails and on occasion leap from their mounts to attack a passing jockey. To prevent this from happening, the monkeys were secured to their dogs by straps or other mechanisms, such as the invention of the '420 patent, which was a pair of pants (for the monkey) secured to a harness (for the dog).
The inventor of the '420 patent was no eccentric; he was Rennie Renfro, a famous hollywood animal trainer. Renfro is best known for training the dogs in a series of short films produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1929-1931 called the "All Barkie Dogville Comedies", which became known as the "Barkies". In these films, the only actors were dogs dressed as humans. The films were shot with silent film and dubbed over with human speech to make it appear the dogs were speaking to each other. One of the stars of the Barkies was Renfro's dog, Buster, who was a highly intelligent mutt. Purportedly, Buster was so smart he could read and obey simple written commands.
Beginning in Australia in the late 1920's, small monkeys, typically capuchin monkeys, were trained to jockey Greyhounds in races. The practice was introduced into the U.S. in the 1930's by the marrried couple, Loretta and Charlie David. The Davids had an entourage of 12 monkeys and Greyhounds who toured Greyhound tracks throughout the U.S., putting on races with the monkeys riding the Greyhounds. These races were extremely popular, at least in part due to the exuberance exhibited by the little simian jockeys. The monkeys were so eager to win, they would whip their dogs with their tails and on occasion leap from their mounts to attack a passing jockey. To prevent this from happening, the monkeys were secured to their dogs by straps or other mechanisms, such as the invention of the '420 patent, which was a pair of pants (for the monkey) secured to a harness (for the dog).
The inventor of the '420 patent was no eccentric; he was Rennie Renfro, a famous hollywood animal trainer. Renfro is best known for training the dogs in a series of short films produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1929-1931 called the "All Barkie Dogville Comedies", which became known as the "Barkies". In these films, the only actors were dogs dressed as humans. The films were shot with silent film and dubbed over with human speech to make it appear the dogs were speaking to each other. One of the stars of the Barkies was Renfro's dog, Buster, who was a highly intelligent mutt. Purportedly, Buster was so smart he could read and obey simple written commands.