‘JUMBOMANIA’: St. Thomas exhibit chronicles life, death and legacy of world’s most famous elephant

The 140th anniversary of Jumbo the Elephant’s death in St. Thomas is being commemorated by a new exhibit. CTV London’s Brent Lale brings the story.

The Jumbo statue in St. Thomas is the city’s most famous tourist attraction.

Now, just a few kilometres south, an exhibit is on display telling the whole story of the world’s most famous elephant.

“I think a lot of people know the ending and they know what happened and the tragedy that occurred here,” said Madeleine Howard, curator of the Elgin Heritage Centre and co-creator of JUMBOMANIA.

“There’s so much more that we wanted to be able to share with visitors.”

In 2024, guest exhibition coordinator Dariusz Korbeil reached out to the museum and pitched the idea of an exhibition for the 140th anniversary of the death of Jumbo.

Months later, visitors can take a free tour through the life of the African elephant who went from Paris, France to England where he became a beloved pet at the Zoological Gardens for 17 years.

“His stardom really exploded, and Jumbomania really took hold when P.T. Barnum came onto the scene and offered to buy Jumbo from the zoo,” said Howard.

“That sparked a national outcry. P.T. Barnum wanted to bring Jumbo to America to travel with his circus and the British public were not having that. They wrote letters and stories and a real craze swept all of England.”

Jumbo became so famous that his name and likeness started appearing everywhere.

“His name started, really showing up on different objects, different pieces of memorabilia, from shoelaces to matches to cigar boxes to pop bottles,” said Howard.

“His name just started to appear on everything. He really became such an icon at that time period and really catapulted his image and likeness and name into the English language as we know him today.”

There are many interesting pieces in the exhibit from toys, memorabilia, photographs and news articles.

“One of my favorite artifacts that we have is this letter from P.T. Barnum to Abraham Bartlett, who is the superintendent at the London Zoological Gardens actually discussing the sale of Jumbo,” said Howard.

They also have a bowl given to Bartlett from Barnum after Jumbo was sold.

The journey takes you through his life which includes his three years with Barnum before his tragic death.

“September 15th, 1885, they were wrapping up the show in Saint Thomas, and Jumbo was being walked back to his train car along with another elephant, Tom Thumb, when an unscheduled freight train, unfortunately, was coming down the tracks at the same time, and Jumbo was struck and killed.”

A news article from 1885 is on display at the Heritage Centre which previews Jumbo’s scheduled appearance.

Forty years ago, St. Thomas erected as statue overlooking the west entrance to the city.

The most historical and important item is literally a piece of Jumbo.

‘This is a slice of Jumbo’s tusk,” said Howard.

“This piece is really important for us because it is such a unique piece. Only five of these slices were ever prepared.”

About 90 per cent of the memorabilia is either on loan or once belonged to St. Thomas historian and former mayor Steve Peters. Now with the help of Howard and Korbeil, it’s available for the public to see.

“’Jumbomania’ is to be able to celebrate and share his life as well as his legacy,” said Howard.

“And to highlight the enduring influence that Jumbo has had 140 years later.”

The exhibit is free to attend and runs until March 2026.