Jungleland (Images of America) - Softcover

Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0738574449 ISBN 13: 9780738574448

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

In 1926, animal attendant Louis Goebel bought five lots at $10 apiece as a home for his seven African lions along old Ventura Boulevard in a remote, sparsely populated portion of Ventura County just over the Los Angeles County line―where the city of Thousand Oaks eventually grew. Not surprisingly, the big predators became a roadside attraction. By 1929, Goebel added exotic birds and other animals. Premier woman tiger trainer Mabel Stark arrived as Goebel’s Lion Farm accrued regional fame, and Capt. Frank Phillips trained Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s famous Leo the Lion after the name changed to World Jungle Compound. The park maintained Hollywood ties, renting animals and hosting scenes for dozens of movies and television shows. Jungleland became the zoo’s lasting moniker after name and ownership changes. The enthusiastic opening of Disneyland in 1955 on the other side of Los Angeles inspired big plans for the Ventura County attraction, including a monorail. These plans fizzled, however, and Goebel resumed ownership in 1961. The park closed eight years later, and 1,800 animals were sold at auction. After four decades, the distinctive Conejo Valley lion roars were silenced.

About this title

About the Author:

Author Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt, the descendant of Ventura County pioneers, has written a dozen books on local history. He gathered these vintage images from public and private sources.

Review:

Title: Jungleland Celebrated in New Book

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Date: 7/4/2011
New from Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series is San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department. In over 200 vintage photographs, local author Gary L. Hoving has amassed a collection of antique law enforcement badges, artifacts, and photographs of days gone by. He has also inherited the extensive collection of Undersheriff Albert Call, all of which is generously shared in these pages.
Since 1850, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department has proudly served the community as the chief law enforcement agency. The office of sheriff was originally created by the California Constitution to meet the public safety needs of each county. From horseback to gigabit, the sheriff and his deputies have responded to the needs of the citizens by providing the highest quality of protection. While the manner in which service is delivered has changed significantly since 1850, the quality of protection has remained high throughout history and is chronicled in this unique portrayal.
Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or www.arcadiapublishing.com.
Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States. Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places. Have we done a book on your town? Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.
###

Title: Where lions once roamed

Author: Anna Bitong

Publisher: Camarillo Acorn

Date: 8/4/2011
The howls, growls and roars emanating from Jungleland have long been silenced, but memories of the storied animal park still reverberate for some Conejo Valley residents.
“What I remember about it was the smell,” said Jeff Maulhardt, who recently released the pictorial book “Jungleland” about the Thousand Oaks attraction that he visited as a child. “It smelled like a zoo. . . . But it was alive. It felt very alive.”
The man who gave it life was Louis Goebel, a New Yorker who moved to Los Angeles in 1919. After working with animals on film sets in L.A., he came up with a plan to rent lions to moviemakers.
In 1926, Goebel arrived in Thousand Oaks with six lions purchased from a shut-down zoo owned by Universal Studios.
By 1929, his animal brood had grown, and the entrepreneur opened Goebel’s Lion Farm on five lots he bought for $50 along what is now Thousand Oaks Boulevard.
Ownership changed and the menagerie expanded over the years, and in 1955 the theme park was renamed Jungleland.
For four decades, about 1,800 elephants, tigers, hippos, giraffes, camels, llamas, chimpanzees and other exotic animals roamed the once wide-open space now occupied by the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.
When they weren’t entertaining the public, the animals were featured in hundreds of movies, including “Tarzan,” “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and “Dr. Doolittle.”
Maulhardt said he found unexpected twists while researching the project, including tales of wild beasts on the loose in Thousand Oaks.
“The amount of animals that escaped temporarily from the compound was surprising. Nowadays if an animal escaped there’d be a lawsuit and they’d close the place down,” said Maulhardt, who teaches middle school and runs an insurance business in Oxnard.
The most renowned escape happened in 1963, when a black panther named Dynamite broke free in the suburbs of T.O.
“They had to close down the schools. . . .” Maulhardt said. “They offered a $10,000 reward to capture the animal.”
No one was injured during the ordeal, but a lion attack at the park three years later was among a series of events that led to Jungleland’s demise.
In November 1966 actress Jayne Mansfield was at the park with her three children when a lion pounced on Zoltan, her 6-year-old son. He underwent three surgeries and eventually recovered. Mansfield sued the park for $1.6 million.
The scandal faded but the park struggled to grow in the shadow of nearby theme parks Disneyland, Universal Studios and Knott’s Berry Farm.
Maulhardt said the modern parks set a standard that Jungleland failed to reach.
“They did make some improvements. They added a monorail and tried to add a few more attractions, but to catch up with Disneyland it would take a bankroll of a big corporation,” Maulhardt said.
In 1969, Jungleland’s owners, Roy Kabat and Thurston “Tex” Scarborough, auctioned off the animals and closed the gates.
Kabat’s daughter, Robin Kabat Dickson, agreed that the Mansfield accident, competition from other theme parks and depleted finances contributed to the closure.
“It was sad seeing that part of history cease to exist and sad it couldn’t keep growing,” she said.
Dickson moved to the Jungleland compound in 1957 when she was 10 years old and stayed for about two years. She made the most of her unusual living situation.
“It was phenomenal. . . . I learned an incredible amount from living with the (animal) trainers.”
Dickson’s favorite memories are working with elephants and joining them onstage in some of the shows. She also loved collecting ticket money from parkgoers.
“I worked in the ticket booth. As a 10-year-old kid, that’s really cool,” said Dickson.
Now a grandmother, the onetime circus performer hopes people will remember Jungleland.
“I’m so glad a book has been written. I hope it stays part of California history,” Dickson said.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0738574449
• ISBN 13: 9780738574448
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128