August 24, 2012
Birmingham’s Smoking Dinosaurs
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In 1938, dinosaurs roamed the streets of Birmingham, England. Sort of. The three monsters–tottering constructions of plywood and car parts–trundled along in a parade meant to celebrate the transformation of the town from its prehistoric origins to a major industrial center. Best of all, io9 has found some footage of the grotesque dinosaurs in action. The clip is short, but you can see the trio of Egbert, Ogbert and Little Sidney taunt the accompanying guard of a hundred anachronistic cavemen. By the time of the “Stone Age,” the non-avian dinosaurs were long gone–humans never met such creatures. All the same, I have to admire the ingenuity of the people who constructed the parade dinosaurs. As io9′s Cyriaque Lamar suggested, organizing a formation of smoke-bellowing dinosaurs “is how every anniversary should be commemorated, regardless of the occasion.”
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“The Fearsome days of the Stone Age and Bronze Age, when Monsters Roamed the Neighbourhood” – apparently the Bronze Age monsters were the white-bearded blue-robed guys about to do something nefarious with the captive maiden.
I wonder where the cavemen and dinosaurs meme really started? The Alley Oop comic strip was syndicated in 1932. I wonder if Hollywood or some other popular medium got the notion out before then.