Lately I've been collecting pictures of people and snakes, an idea I had a few years ago for my "snake room." A room I once had with my snakes in it before I was terribly bitten in the eye one night, and decided to downsize the collection. Now I have only a few Ball Pythons . Most of the pictures are original wire prints used in newspapers throughout Midwest America, with text or notes jotted on the back...
Pat Oliver holds pet boa constrictor.
April 7th, 1965
Prof. Charles C. Morill of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine Examines a Fox Snake sent to him by officials at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Zoo People fear some of their snakes are ill with disease which they are spreading to other snakes. So they have sent four of them to Prof. Morill who will observe them in his research lab before killing them and performing an autopsy.
Champaign, Illinois Sept 3rd, 1954
August is the month the Hopi Indians hold their annual snake dances and ritual prayers for rain. In that month the Indians handle the deadly rattle-snakes without apparent harm. During the rest of the year, Hopi Indians avoid the snakes as much as anyone else. This picture shows the authentic regalia of a snake priest ready for the rain dance. The painted wearer is not an Indian but a Presscott, Arizona, business man who belongs to the "Smokis" a group pledged to keep alive the culture and customs of the American Indians.
Aug 28th, 1946
Another present that will amuse a cobra is a flute and a fez to lull the cobra into a trance. Bernie Hoffman of the "Animal Kingdom" makes with the entertainment.
December 7th, 1967
- Chicago Sun-Times, they must have been misinformed, the snake is a boa constrictor not a cobra.
Rock singer Linda Ronstadt shows off her living bracelets, two pythons wrapped around her wrists by snake charmer during a visit to a cultural show.
Monrovia, Liberia April 9th, 1979
Jake the Snake, all 8 feet, 10 inches of him, spent most of Sunday inside the dashboard of Jack Penrod's van. Penrod, left and Chris Harvey, right, spent more than two hours poking and pulling at Jake, Chris's pet boa constrictor, before the sneaky critter came out. Chris, who has had Jake since he was 18 inches long, said Jake likes hot places, and once before discovered how cozy a dashboard can be.
Jul 20th, 1981 Detroit Free Press
Unknown Origins
May 14th, 1941
the Bushmaster, C. Leigh Stevenson. Panama
Jun 3rd, 1930
Ralph and Madlyn Ward w/ rattlesnake
Sept. 1959 Tulsa, OK
-Madlyn is my mom, Ralph my grandfather
Ralph Ward and his Python
Tulsa, OK unknown date
