I knew this video was gonna make me mad because of animal mistreatment, but the fact LA used to have good public transportation damn near pushed me over the edge.
You apologised for mentioning how these trades affected African people, when I feel very strongly it was something worth mentioning. These trades do not exist in a vacuum, and it's honestly refreshing to see someone address the direct imacts of these trades. As white people, it's been far too log for these things to be treated lightly. I'm just so happy to see someone be direct about things which must have obviously caused an issue
I’m definitely asking my great grandma if she ever went to the los angles ostrich farm or gator farm. She’s 93 now, and lived in her house in Reseda from 1946 until this year, a whole 75 years. She has so many stories. One of her neighbors across the street had a pet orangutan for years, and it didn’t end well. (Fun fact: orangutans get very possessive and jealous and don’t do well with dogs, cats, and basically any other pets getting attention because they are not domesticated animals!).
KAZ. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP WEARING THESE SNAZZY SHIRTS AND NOT TELL US WHERE THEY ARE FROM? Also thank you for making my unintentionally early morning bearable (currently 6:20am in NZ)
I just remembered I got BITTEN BY AN EMU when I was a toddler so I'm absolutely with you on the "ostriches/emus are terrifying" wagon. amazing video as always 💕
I'm so happy you mentioned the negative racial connotations of these zoos!! Your descriptions of these places reminded me alot of the human zoos that existed around the same time. It was just interesting to see that even animal zoos were not except from the exploitation of "exoticism" that was used to promote human zoos
My sister used to work at this petting zoo in Connecticut that had emus, at some point the emus escaped. Since they can run pretty fast, they ended up in various parts of CT. My sister had to track them down and bring them back to the farm. I don't exactly know how it happened, but Al Roker ended up calling her the "crazy emu lady" on the news. This happened before I was born so I never saw any of this myself, but my parents claim they have a recording of it somewhere.
I'm glad to hear about people caring for animal wellfare back in the days! Fun fact for people who are interested in fashion without cruelty: There's a couple of companies collabing with shelters who offers ostrich feathers that aren't plucked nor clipped, but that just fall naturally from the ostrich when they shed. It's particularly useful for vegan/animal-conscious performers (burlesque, drags, cosplayers, etc.) who still want a big wow factor in their costumes without going against their ethical standards! Feathers are already expensive, I don't think it would make such a big difference for cruelty-free options on that kind of investment...
7:01 A period horror/thriller film, about rampaging ostriches on a tramp steam could be great. Like a cross between "Snake on a Plane" and the Velociraptor scenes in "Jurassic Park".
I remember when all of a sudden Ostrich meat became a thing here in the Netherlands. It was shortlived though, after a couple of years the meat was almost never promoted again. Weird fact is that they have red meat instead of the expected white ( expected by me that is) like chicken. I heard that people thought it was tasteless. Anyway i rather watch them.
Great video! As a kitten rescuer, these exotic animal farms disgust me. I’m glad these aren’t as socially acceptable anymore. Wildlife rescues are much better 💕
I barely ever leave a comment on stuff but I just want to say I am really enjoying your channel and the broad range of topics covered. I discovered your channel via the programmatic L.A. architecture vid so I really digged this profile of yet another weird (and occasionally disturbing) chapter of Angeleno history. Thanks
I live in South africa and I've been around lions and ostriches in their natural habitat many many times, and can safely say ostriches are scarier than lions💀 Edit: some people here use ostriches instead of gaurd dogs ( like at scrap yards, not at their houses)
Keep talking about racism because it’s ingrained in our culture, society, institutions etc. Plus I had a teacher who said his moms family dogs name was also the n-word. It’s insane and should be talked about.
When I was 7 or 8, I was told that a terrier who lived in the back yard of a house bordering my school was called "Sambo". And this was in 1980s Toronto.
The Prime Minister of my province still won't say the words "systemic racism" nor admit it's a real problem he has to tackle. So yes, the conversation has to keep going. It's not a thing of the past only, it's still present and we have to acknowledge racism when we see it.
I grew up in a town with a teaching zoo. At night if you're in the neighborhood you can hear the lion making very loud noises when it's in heat. The incident where an escaped tiger roamed the suburbs for a couple of weeks was NOT because of the zoo. It was because a couple of idiots collected a ton of exotic cats, had no licensing, no appropriate enclosures or space, and one (two but that was a separate incident) inevitably escaped. They didn't tell anyone, and by the time the tiger was found, it was very close to an elementary school. The tranquilizers were taking too long to knock it out, and the poor animal had to be killed. Pretty sure the people responsible are still in jail. Just a weird childhood memory of being afraid of going out alone because a tiger might get me in suburban California.
In highschool I had a classmate that went on a martial arts trip to Thailand and either when he was there or soon after he got back he posted a profile picture of him laying next to and hugging a drugged out tiger. Shit was honestly kinda fucked. I felt super bad for that poor tiger
I just told my mom about the subject and she mentioned the alligator farm. My mom was born and raised in Los Angeles and grew up in Lincoln Heights in the 40s through mid 60s. My dad grew up in West Hollywood in an apt on Sunset. They are LA history to me.
Hey as a LA native, you should look up Old Griffith Park Zoo, the massive zoo of horrors that you can still see in old episodes of tv shows from the 60’s, and if you visit during Halloween they decorate the entire thing as a hottie attraction. Great history in LA’s backyard
We went to one of those shitty tiger “zoos” in South Carolina in around 2008. I was like, maybe 13 at the oldest and did not know how mistreated those tigers are. If I had known any better I would have insisted we not go. It was something my sister wanted to do. In my defense, I wanted to do Magiquest (which we actually managed to fit into our time, luckily!).
Kaz you look amazing. The eyeshadow is stunning. Loving watching you grow as a channel, sharing these videos everywhere. This video made me research those “exotic zoos”… I ended up getting lost down the rabbit hole of Oz’s Emu War. Seriously. Loved this! Much love from Oz🤗
HI I just wanted to say I finally got round to reading Cunning Fire (all in one sitting) and it's been a great ride!! I'm off to buy Elehiya now to get more of that sweet sweet content until the next update.
Love that i found and i’ve been really falling down the rabbit hole that is your channel and then in the first 30 seconds you reference two videos i JUST watched because the algorithm finally figured out i might like your content and yes, i do very mucj
I'm actually old enough to have gone to Lion country Safari near Irvine at least twice when I was little. That was incredibly dangerous, I know at least one person died there. I also vaguely remember the Japanese village deer Park in Buena Park.
I went to, and remember both places as well. The deer park became Enchanted Village my mother told me. LCS was my favorite place when I was about 7-8 years old, along with Marineland in RPV. I’m nostalgic for those days, but not for the animal abuse. Glad those days are over.
Making my way through your back catalogue of videos and I am just consistently amazed at the interesting topics you find that I had never even considered looking into. Even if your videos weren't top notch in every other respect (they are), the subject matter alone would warrant a sub!
The Pan-American expo of 1901 had a zoo containing indigenous people from Africa and native American peoples for the expo visitors to gawk at while touring the various displays and tents. You should do a video on the Pan-Am expo of 1901, it was around the time of the assassination of Pres. William McKinley, was one of the biggest electric light displays at the time, and Buffalo Bill Wild West show, which is worth a video of its own. There's a lot to unpack in it and I feel it is right up your alley. Love your vids!
As a piece of trivia and since its of the right era. Charlie Chaplin became famous in the 1910s and it prompted a rampaging horde of Chaplin knock off acts in the movies which included Billie Ritchie although Billie claimed since they both worked together for Fred Karno the Chaplin pinched the tramp act from him. One of the various side effects of having an ostrich farm is going to be Ostrich racing, either with them pulling buggies or the riders on the ostrich. Part of Billies movie act was riding Ostriches from 1915 onwards till it all went wrong in 1919. Unfortunately for Billie Ritchie not all Ostriches are star struck although Billie did end up Ostrich struck, kicked and generally battered, although he may have had underlying injuries and cancer as well but it casued sufficient injuries that Billie Ritchie went down in history as the only Hollywood star to be killed by an Ostrich.
I grew up in South Pasadena, it’s so crazy that my small town is in a RUclips video. As you can imagine growing up there made it rather unimpressive to me lol
This may sound strange, but it’s really refreshing to hear you speak so proudly of being Jewish. I’m a Jewish comic-loving, history nerdlette, so I definitely feel… represented lol. I was raised reform and definitely religious, but it’s changed as I’ve gotten older. It feels like a part of my identity that I only feel comfortable saying outright if I feel I can trust whoever it is I’m telling, even though my name is very obviously Jewish. I’m getting my masters in social work right now, and so I listen, read, talk etc about identity A LOT but only feel comfortable talking about uncomfortable feelings I get about that part of my identity. Like the emotions that come up when I see stuff like ‘Jewish space lasers’ and ‘Jews will not replace us’ in the news, and how actually conspiracy theories maybe aren’t so fun and lighthearted for Jewish people because y’know… the whole millennia of mass subjugation and murder based upon those idea thing isn’t really something I find mildly amusing but 🤷♀️. idk why I just unloaded that, but it’s just really really reassuring to hear you speak about it so confidently, especially when you disclosed your grandfathers experience of surviving shoah. Those fears seem so far away, but that part of our history is in living memory. Thank you for sharing that, it’s not easy. On a lighter note… I ALSO went to a school with no majors, where my final project was an illustrated childrens book based on ‘cautionary tales’. Essentially the antichrist is born as a well-to-do catholic school girl that ends up getting eaten by her parents 👧 👹 don’t worry, it IS for kids and sounds way scarier than it is, I promise! Anyhoo, I’m subscribed, I’m obsessed, can’t wait to see more videos!
I went to school near the site of the alligator farm and did a report on it last year, it's insane to me that it ever existed there considering how different the neighborhood is now.
In my hometown in oc we have a reptile zoo still. People would have birthday parties there and I remember thinking it was so cool. The water monitor lizard named Frank who plays Mr. Kipling from the Disney channel show Jessie lives there, which is really funny to me. They just let him wander around in the building.
Fun fact, I work in Oklahoma and I go into a minor fender bender because I couldn't find a road because of the number signs for tiger "rescues" around the area.
RIP to Murphy and Gouch. Two real heroes of the channel. Also, speaking of Murphy, would you ever be interested in doing a deep dive on Murphy Ranch in Rustic Canyon, aka LA's secret N*zi apocalypse compound? That story haunts me in the wee hours because it's so damn weird.
@@RowanWarren78 It's very much shrouded in myth, but what little fact is widely available is absolutely bonkers. And I think the history of American fascism is sadly relevant these days.
this video is so cool, loved watching as someone from pasadena!! i had no idea about the south pas ostriches and the P-LA electric railway-MY LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
the feral peafowl that call my town home are likely descended from Lucky Baldwin's LA Victorian mansion and the birds he originally brought over from India, which he sold to other ranch owners in the area, eventually spreading to neighborhoods across the state. crazy to hear how common that was with FAR more exotic creatures. cool video!!
This was both hilarious and really sinister. You were right to mention racism and exploitation too. Also I wonder if the ostrich was called Murphy because of the Irish stereotype that we love potatoes lol. Poor little thing, rest in peace. Though what a way to go. Happy Hanukah to you and to all other Jewish people who celebrate!
I was born downtown LA in 1953 and, sometime before 1960, my parents took my brother and I to the 'gator farm in Buena Park. I wwaanntt to say we also went to one near San Juan Capistrano, but I could be misremembering. What little I remember was how low the enclosures were and, yes, there was ONE guy who had gotten out and was wandering around; "knowing" they were slow creatures (?!), we just walked around him. I also met my first snapping turtle; that almost ended badly. Thank you for this fascinating look back! Yikes.
I heard the story that people would buy baby alligators and when they got too big they were flushed down toilets. Supposedly, they survived of sewage and grow to full size and were the terror of sewer workers.
12:13 wait, a gimlet as in the tool or the drink? both are wild to me, like the tool gimlet is frickin sharp but also the idea that someone was waltzing around a ostrich farm with a frickin cocktail is even more wild
9:26 i missed the first part of the sentence + thought you were listing visitors of the farm + said the actual george washington and cleopatra were alive at the same time. was psychically + spiritually thrown across the room
i can't speak for alligators bellowing in b flat, but growing up in the suburbs of LA, my house was a very short drive from a local Gibbon Sanctuary (yes, like the monkeys), and you could hear them shrieking in the mornings if you listened carefully, so the random animal sounds haven't completely vanished! Thank you for another wonderful video, and for answering several questions i didn't know i needed answered
i'm sitting here at 1 am thinking about what it would be like if was forced to hear the bellowing of a modern dinosaur in steady B flat all night. literally wild
There was a place I think called The Monkey House in North Hollywood. I remember reading about it and the story was that the monkeys kept escaping into the neighborhood. It eventually was shut down in the 60s or 70s.
This is the first video of yours I’ve seen and I’m so impressed. You’re so lovely at story telling and I love the credits at the end!! It felt like a documentary. :) so cool
Galveston, Texas is my hometown. We actually had a killer whale here in the seventies, his name was Mamuk, they had him in a very small enclosure. This was decades before Blackfish the movie.
I've kept up at night by the sound of mating cats, mating humans and something I believe to have been mating foxes, but mating ostriches? That would be a new one
I camped in LA one time while passing through. We were close to a movie animal enclosure of some kind, and heard lions roaring (and doing...other stuff) all night long.
As a teacher, I absolutely ADORE the phrase "come learn with me." If you're a teacher, and you think you know EVERYTHING about ANY subject, you're doing it wrong. Education is about the journey, not the result. If I could type a standing ovation for that, I would.
If I remember correctly in the 1982 international exposition of Seville, ostrich meat was presented as the meat of the future, and California ostrich as an example of a developed ostrich industry. It was until 2008 or so with the financial crisis that I stopped seeing ostrich filets in Spanish supermarkets. They were not bad tbh
the alligator place just sounds like a day at any Florida Fair tbh. I genuinely remember seeing shows where an "alligator wrestler" pretending to have an Australian accent would bring a few gators to my local fair and "wrestle" them while teaching the crowd about them. They would never leave out the fact that an alligator's mouth is nearly impossible to pry open. but is so easy to hold shut that you could simply use electrical tape to hold their mouths closed... even a child could do it. Cue the end of the show where parents were told they could get a photo op of their children sitting on the back of a gator while holding it's mouth closed. I never got one of these photos because frankly native south Floridians don't find Gators all that impressive when you see them in your back yard on the reg.
Cawston Ostrich Farm used my third great grandmother, Anna, as advertising in one of their pamphlets. Apparently the South Pasadena Public Library still has it in their collections. "You can ride the ostriches as Anna Held did, if you like." Truly, the advertising of all time~
we went to an ostrich farm on a school trip when i was like 14 and i spent all my savings on a taxidermied baby ostrich. it's my pride and joy. you could also ride the ostriches. bronco style. i was too terrified of them though. ah cursed memories
I knew this video was gonna make me mad because of animal mistreatment, but the fact LA used to have good public transportation damn near pushed me over the edge.
If I'm not mistaken LA once had the most electric street cars in the country.
As an Irish person now I really need to know, was the Ostrich named Murphy before or after all the potatoes?
Murphys law. If you can die by potato overdose, you will.
My man’s asking the real questions now
that is the question
I can easily say I have never thought of putting my baby into an alligator cage.
What about other people's babies . . . ?
They thought it was safe and the baby won’t get hurt because the animal was in a cage
@@theresacherco3503 That only makes sense of the cage is between the animal and the baby.
Give it time. Eventually your baby will be a mouthy teen and I bet you may second guess that notion.
@@skullykittie9889 lol
RIP Murphy, a potato-eating King.
You apologised for mentioning how these trades affected African people, when I feel very strongly it was something worth mentioning. These trades do not exist in a vacuum, and it's honestly refreshing to see someone address the direct imacts of these trades. As white people, it's been far too log for these things to be treated lightly. I'm just so happy to see someone be direct about things which must have obviously caused an issue
I’m definitely asking my great grandma if she ever went to the los angles ostrich farm or gator farm. She’s 93 now, and lived in her house in Reseda from 1946 until this year, a whole 75 years. She has so many stories. One of her neighbors across the street had a pet orangutan for years, and it didn’t end well. (Fun fact: orangutans get very possessive and jealous and don’t do well with dogs, cats, and basically any other pets getting attention because they are not domesticated animals!).
I’m going to read between the lines and assume the monkey killed the people’s cat or dog maybe?
@@samsalamander8147 or the person 👀
Wait what happened
update??? did she go!!!
Update?
KAZ. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP WEARING THESE SNAZZY SHIRTS AND NOT TELL US WHERE THEY ARE FROM?
Also thank you for making my unintentionally early morning bearable (currently 6:20am in NZ)
This one is from Carmico!!
I just remembered I got BITTEN BY AN EMU when I was a toddler so I'm absolutely with you on the "ostriches/emus are terrifying" wagon. amazing video as always 💕
And geese! They are mean as Hell! LoL 😆
Bruh me too I got bit by one up by solvang when I was 5 and IV hated them ever since
As someone who was also bitten by an emu in toddlerhood, fuck them birds
The Emu War was serious business
@@RowanWarren78 With geese, you don’t even have the protection of an enclosure
I'm so happy you mentioned the negative racial connotations of these zoos!! Your descriptions of these places reminded me alot of the human zoos that existed around the same time. It was just interesting to see that even animal zoos were not except from the exploitation of "exoticism" that was used to promote human zoos
My sister used to work at this petting zoo in Connecticut that had emus, at some point the emus escaped. Since they can run pretty fast, they ended up in various parts of CT. My sister had to track them down and bring them back to the farm. I don't exactly know how it happened, but Al Roker ended up calling her the "crazy emu lady" on the news. This happened before I was born so I never saw any of this myself, but my parents claim they have a recording of it somewhere.
i love that
I'm glad to hear about people caring for animal wellfare back in the days!
Fun fact for people who are interested in fashion without cruelty: There's a couple of companies collabing with shelters who offers ostrich feathers that aren't plucked nor clipped, but that just fall naturally from the ostrich when they shed. It's particularly useful for vegan/animal-conscious performers (burlesque, drags, cosplayers, etc.) who still want a big wow factor in their costumes without going against their ethical standards! Feathers are already expensive, I don't think it would make such a big difference for cruelty-free options on that kind of investment...
RIP the fallen heroes: Gouch and Murphy 🖤
imma start some ostrich shipping discourse
7:01 A period horror/thriller film, about rampaging ostriches on a tramp steam could be great. Like a cross between "Snake on a Plane" and the Velociraptor scenes in "Jurassic Park".
I remember when all of a sudden Ostrich meat became a thing here in the Netherlands. It was shortlived though, after a couple of years the meat was almost never promoted again. Weird fact is that they have red meat instead of the expected white ( expected by me that is) like chicken. I heard that people thought it was tasteless. Anyway i rather watch them.
The taste is mostly "generic lean red meat". It's hard to market that in a way that justifies the higher price, so it never caught on.
I really love ostrich jerky
Great video! As a kitten rescuer, these exotic animal farms disgust me. I’m glad these aren’t as socially acceptable anymore. Wildlife rescues are much better 💕
I barely ever leave a comment on stuff but I just want to say I am really enjoying your channel and the broad range of topics covered. I discovered your channel via the programmatic L.A. architecture vid so I really digged this profile of yet another weird (and occasionally disturbing) chapter of Angeleno history. Thanks
Joe Says: YES!!! Kaz is AWESOME! I have seen Several of her videos and now I am a Huge Fan! 😃
I live in South africa and I've been around lions and ostriches in their natural habitat many many times, and can safely say ostriches are scarier than lions💀
Edit: some people here use ostriches instead of gaurd dogs ( like at scrap yards, not at their houses)
Thank god there was no tumblr back in the ostrich shipping days
Keep talking about racism because it’s ingrained in our culture, society, institutions etc. Plus I had a teacher who said his moms family dogs name was also the n-word. It’s insane and should be talked about.
And there’s the famous example of HP Lovecraft’s cat
Yeah calling it a Lion the N-word is so terrible And that’s also terrible
It's a huge part of our history AND present. It must be talked about or else you are being negligent.
When I was 7 or 8, I was told that a terrier who lived in the back yard of a house bordering my school was called "Sambo". And this was in 1980s Toronto.
The Prime Minister of my province still won't say the words "systemic racism" nor admit it's a real problem he has to tackle. So yes, the conversation has to keep going. It's not a thing of the past only, it's still present and we have to acknowledge racism when we see it.
I grew up in a town with a teaching zoo. At night if you're in the neighborhood you can hear the lion making very loud noises when it's in heat.
The incident where an escaped tiger roamed the suburbs for a couple of weeks was NOT because of the zoo. It was because a couple of idiots collected a ton of exotic cats, had no licensing, no appropriate enclosures or space, and one (two but that was a separate incident) inevitably escaped. They didn't tell anyone, and by the time the tiger was found, it was very close to an elementary school. The tranquilizers were taking too long to knock it out, and the poor animal had to be killed. Pretty sure the people responsible are still in jail. Just a weird childhood memory of being afraid of going out alone because a tiger might get me in suburban California.
As a South African thank you so much for looking up pronunciations before making the video lol
In highschool I had a classmate that went on a martial arts trip to Thailand and either when he was there or soon after he got back he posted a profile picture of him laying next to and hugging a drugged out tiger. Shit was honestly kinda fucked. I felt super bad for that poor tiger
I just told my mom about the subject and she mentioned the alligator farm. My mom was born and raised in Los Angeles and grew up in Lincoln Heights in the 40s through mid 60s. My dad grew up in West Hollywood in an apt on Sunset. They are LA history to me.
Right when I turned on the notifs (I wws subcribed longer but I just forgot to turn the notifs on) I get a notification from you that's cool lol
Hey as a LA native, you should look up Old Griffith Park Zoo, the massive zoo of horrors that you can still see in old episodes of tv shows from the 60’s, and if you visit during Halloween they decorate the entire thing as a hottie attraction. Great history in LA’s backyard
Great, unorthodox content we didn’t know we want until you posted, as usual! 😍 Keep up the great work! 💗
Oh my gosh. You need to look at Cassowaries. They are absolutely the most terrifying bird
We went to one of those shitty tiger “zoos” in South Carolina in around 2008. I was like, maybe 13 at the oldest and did not know how mistreated those tigers are. If I had known any better I would have insisted we not go. It was something my sister wanted to do. In my defense, I wanted to do Magiquest (which we actually managed to fit into our time, luckily!).
I think I know the one you're talking about! Was it the one in myrtle beach?
Kaz you look amazing. The eyeshadow is stunning. Loving watching you grow as a channel, sharing these videos everywhere. This video made me research those “exotic zoos”… I ended up getting lost down the rabbit hole of Oz’s Emu War. Seriously. Loved this! Much love from Oz🤗
Honestly I'm never going to stop thinking about Murphy the ostrich. Absolute legend behavior, never gone from our hearts.
HI I just wanted to say I finally got round to reading Cunning Fire (all in one sitting) and it's been a great ride!! I'm off to buy Elehiya now to get more of that sweet sweet content until the next update.
Love that i found and i’ve been really falling down the rabbit hole that is your channel and then in the first 30 seconds you reference two videos i JUST watched because the algorithm finally figured out i might like your content and yes, i do very mucj
not fixing my typos oop🥴
You're honestly my favorite RUclipsr at this point
I'm actually old enough to have gone to Lion country Safari near Irvine at least twice when I was little. That was incredibly dangerous, I know at least one person died there. I also vaguely remember the Japanese village deer Park in Buena Park.
I went to, and remember both places as well. The deer park became Enchanted Village my mother told me. LCS was my favorite place when I was about 7-8 years old, along with Marineland in RPV. I’m nostalgic for those days, but not for the animal abuse. Glad those days are over.
Making my way through your back catalogue of videos and I am just consistently amazed at the interesting topics you find that I had never even considered looking into. Even if your videos weren't top notch in every other respect (they are), the subject matter alone would warrant a sub!
The thumbnail for this vid is absolute perfection 😆😆
i always love how unique your research topics are
The Pan-American expo of 1901 had a zoo containing indigenous people from Africa and native American peoples for the expo visitors to gawk at while touring the various displays and tents. You should do a video on the Pan-Am expo of 1901, it was around the time of the assassination of Pres. William McKinley, was one of the biggest electric light displays at the time, and Buffalo Bill Wild West show, which is worth a video of its own. There's a lot to unpack in it and I feel it is right up your alley. Love your vids!
As a piece of trivia and since its of the right era.
Charlie Chaplin became famous in the 1910s and it prompted a rampaging horde of Chaplin knock off acts in the movies which included Billie Ritchie although Billie claimed since they both worked together for Fred Karno the Chaplin pinched the tramp act from him.
One of the various side effects of having an ostrich farm is going to be Ostrich racing, either with them pulling buggies or the riders on the ostrich.
Part of Billies movie act was riding Ostriches from 1915 onwards till it all went wrong in 1919.
Unfortunately for Billie Ritchie not all Ostriches are star struck although Billie did end up Ostrich struck, kicked and generally battered, although he may have had underlying injuries and cancer as well but it casued sufficient injuries that Billie Ritchie went down in history as the only Hollywood star to be killed by an Ostrich.
I grew up in South Pasadena, it’s so crazy that my small town is in a RUclips video. As you can imagine growing up there made it rather unimpressive to me lol
This may sound strange, but it’s really refreshing to hear you speak so proudly of being Jewish. I’m a Jewish comic-loving, history nerdlette, so I definitely feel… represented lol. I was raised reform and definitely religious, but it’s changed as I’ve gotten older. It feels like a part of my identity that I only feel comfortable saying outright if I feel I can trust whoever it is I’m telling, even though my name is very obviously Jewish. I’m getting my masters in social work right now, and so I listen, read, talk etc about identity A LOT but only feel comfortable talking about uncomfortable feelings I get about that part of my identity. Like the emotions that come up when I see stuff like ‘Jewish space lasers’ and ‘Jews will not replace us’ in the news, and how actually conspiracy theories maybe aren’t so fun and lighthearted for Jewish people because y’know… the whole millennia of mass subjugation and murder based upon those idea thing isn’t really something I find mildly amusing but 🤷♀️. idk why I just unloaded that, but it’s just really really reassuring to hear you speak about it so confidently, especially when you disclosed your grandfathers experience of surviving shoah. Those fears seem so far away, but that part of our history is in living memory. Thank you for sharing that, it’s not easy.
On a lighter note… I ALSO went to a school with no majors, where my final project was an illustrated childrens book based on ‘cautionary tales’. Essentially the antichrist is born as a well-to-do catholic school girl that ends up getting eaten by her parents 👧 👹 don’t worry, it IS for kids and sounds way scarier than it is, I promise! Anyhoo, I’m subscribed, I’m obsessed, can’t wait to see more videos!
"Rest in peace soldier" really got me 😂
Fs in the chat for Gouch!
For serious though, you come up with the most fascinating topics - another brilliant video :)
the picture of the gator going down the slide took me out
Johnny Cash was almost killed by an ostrich
I went to school near the site of the alligator farm and did a report on it last year, it's insane to me that it ever existed there considering how different the neighborhood is now.
What a timing Kaz! I just opended netflix and saw season 2 of tiger king
In my hometown in oc we have a reptile zoo still. People would have birthday parties there and I remember thinking it was so cool. The water monitor lizard named Frank who plays Mr. Kipling from the Disney channel show Jessie lives there, which is really funny to me. They just let him wander around in the building.
Fun fact, I work in Oklahoma and I go into a minor fender bender because I couldn't find a road because of the number signs for tiger "rescues" around the area.
I know its a bit off topic but, do we know HOW many potatoes did it take to kill an ostrich??
No clue but given how voracious ostriches are it had to be a LOT 💀
I love the thought that goes into your credits scenes.
Sad about the couch but happy that tutter gets his own stage
I saw your video in my subscriptions and screamed. Then I saw your shirt had frogs on it and I screamed LOL made my day
I love how devoted you are to thorough research
RIP to Murphy and Gouch. Two real heroes of the channel.
Also, speaking of Murphy, would you ever be interested in doing a deep dive on Murphy Ranch in Rustic Canyon, aka LA's secret N*zi apocalypse compound? That story haunts me in the wee hours because it's so damn weird.
I've never heard about that, freaky!
@@RowanWarren78 It's very much shrouded in myth, but what little fact is widely available is absolutely bonkers. And I think the history of American fascism is sadly relevant these days.
this video is so cool, loved watching as someone from pasadena!! i had no idea about the south pas ostriches and the P-LA electric railway-MY LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
The gator section terrifies me. I hated everything about that so much.
the feral peafowl that call my town home are likely descended from Lucky Baldwin's LA Victorian mansion and the birds he originally brought over from India, which he sold to other ranch owners in the area, eventually spreading to neighborhoods across the state. crazy to hear how common that was with FAR more exotic creatures. cool video!!
That.. was a journey and a half. Thank you as usual, Kaz!
i love all your videos so much, and thank you for putting subtitles on them
This was both hilarious and really sinister. You were right to mention racism and exploitation too. Also I wonder if the ostrich was called Murphy because of the Irish stereotype that we love potatoes lol. Poor little thing, rest in peace. Though what a way to go. Happy Hanukah to you and to all other Jewish people who celebrate!
I just found your channel and now i’m so early!!! very happy, i love your videos so far :)
i love your froggy shirt! and great video as always
I love how effortlessly funny your videos are! And super entertaining!
I was born downtown LA in 1953 and, sometime before 1960, my parents took my brother and I to the 'gator farm in Buena Park. I wwaanntt to say we also went to one near San Juan Capistrano, but I could be misremembering. What little I remember was how low the enclosures were and, yes, there was ONE guy who had gotten out and was wandering around; "knowing" they were slow creatures (?!), we just walked around him. I also met my first snapping turtle; that almost ended badly. Thank you for this fascinating look back! Yikes.
I heard the story that people would buy baby alligators and when they got too big they were flushed down toilets. Supposedly, they survived of sewage and grow to full size and were the terror of sewer workers.
12:13 wait, a gimlet as in the tool or the drink? both are wild to me, like the tool gimlet is frickin sharp but also the idea that someone was waltzing around a ostrich farm with a frickin cocktail is even more wild
9:26 i missed the first part of the sentence + thought you were listing visitors of the farm + said the actual george washington and cleopatra were alive at the same time. was psychically + spiritually thrown across the room
The gator farm just reminded me of Gatorland in Florida - main thing I remember from it is watching alligators vibe and feeding Gators sausage chunks
i can't speak for alligators bellowing in b flat, but growing up in the suburbs of LA, my house was a very short drive from a local Gibbon Sanctuary (yes, like the monkeys), and you could hear them shrieking in the mornings if you listened carefully, so the random animal sounds haven't completely vanished! Thank you for another wonderful video, and for answering several questions i didn't know i needed answered
i'm sitting here at 1 am thinking about what it would be like if was forced to hear the bellowing of a modern dinosaur in steady B flat all night. literally wild
There was a place I think called The Monkey House in North Hollywood. I remember reading about it and the story was that the monkeys kept escaping into the neighborhood.
It eventually was shut down in the 60s or 70s.
post the link to the ostridge wedding i need ideass
This is the first video of yours I’ve seen and I’m so impressed. You’re so lovely at story telling and I love the credits at the end!! It felt like a documentary. :) so cool
I love Murphy the Ostrich. Absolute icon.
Galveston, Texas is my hometown. We actually had a killer whale here in the seventies, his name was Mamuk, they had him in a very small enclosure. This was decades before Blackfish the movie.
Just absolutely gutted at hearing that Pasadena used to have a good public transport system
I have watched all of your videos in less than a week, your content is so good! Your vibe is great aswell, from how you dress to how you speak.
I grew up on an ostrich farm in Canada, they were... not fun to ride. Really mean.
I've kept up at night by the sound of mating cats, mating humans and something I believe to have been mating foxes, but mating ostriches? That would be a new one
I camped in LA one time while passing through. We were close to a movie animal enclosure of some kind, and heard lions roaring (and doing...other stuff) all night long.
'reportedly in B-flat' those perfect pitch freaks striked again
As a teacher, I absolutely ADORE the phrase "come learn with me." If you're a teacher, and you think you know EVERYTHING about ANY subject, you're doing it wrong. Education is about the journey, not the result. If I could type a standing ovation for that, I would.
personally rocking with the home stuck type beat ong
When I was at the state fair once, an ostrich ate a paper cup out of my hand and bit me in process. So, you can add paper cups to the list, too.
If I remember correctly in the 1982 international exposition of Seville, ostrich meat was presented as the meat of the future, and California ostrich as an example of a developed ostrich industry. It was until 2008 or so with the financial crisis that I stopped seeing ostrich filets in Spanish supermarkets. They were not bad tbh
Rest in peace Murphy, the potato hungry ostrich. What an icon
Came across your Chanel. 🙌🏻 Love it !
Kaz, you are the best. I really like your content, thank you!
the alligator place just sounds like a day at any Florida Fair tbh. I genuinely remember seeing shows where an "alligator wrestler" pretending to have an Australian accent would bring a few gators to my local fair and "wrestle" them while teaching the crowd about them. They would never leave out the fact that an alligator's mouth is nearly impossible to pry open. but is so easy to hold shut that you could simply use electrical tape to hold their mouths closed... even a child could do it. Cue the end of the show where parents were told they could get a photo op of their children sitting on the back of a gator while holding it's mouth closed. I never got one of these photos because frankly native south Floridians don't find Gators all that impressive when you see them in your back yard on the reg.
saw this on my feed and RAN to watch. always excited for a new kaz video!!
Would love a Chicken Run type style but with ostriches
Please put tiny hat on Tutter
Oh as soon as I find one absolutely :]
My fav LA historian!!
I'm surprised you didn't discuss Lion Country in Irvine... I love your LA history videos!!
Love the Carmico button up ❤️
Cawston Ostrich Farm used my third great grandmother, Anna, as advertising in one of their pamphlets. Apparently the South Pasadena Public Library still has it in their collections.
"You can ride the ostriches as Anna Held did, if you like." Truly, the advertising of all time~
we went to an ostrich farm on a school trip when i was like 14 and i spent all my savings on a taxidermied baby ostrich. it's my pride and joy. you could also ride the ostriches. bronco style. i was too terrified of them though. ah cursed memories
You could give the best tour of southern California. My list of things to see gets longer with every video!