"Here the monkey sits, dressed in a pair of little red bloomers." (Image by Rob.)

Monkeys had free run of metropolitan areas in the late 19th-century. How else can you explain a newspaper report about a Philadelphia monkey who drank out of fire hydrants and took bicycle rides? This story from the Philadelphia Record was so vital to the continued freedom of our democracy that it was picked up by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and run in the January 24, 1897 issue. An excerpt:

“Not content with having a dog, cat, white rats, rabbits, turtles and other pets, Aleck Munchweiler, a downtown boy, purchased a monkey about two weeks ago. Because of the little animal’s penchant for drinking water from a hydrant, he has been named Spigots. Spigots has developed a mania for cycling. His master has arranged a little seat on the front of the wheel and here the monkey sits, dressed in a pair of little red bloomers.

The queer pair were out on their wheel the other day and attracted much attention. Spigots enjoyed himself hugely, and looked with disdain on the dogs that barked as he rode by. All went well until the wheelmen got as far as Broad and Wharton streets, and there Spigots attempted to stand up in his seat, getting frightened at two vicious looking canines, which were springing up at him. The result was that he fell and had his right foot run over. Aleck took him to a nearby drug store and had the wounded part bandaged with care. Spigots now presents a queer sight, sitting on the front step, with his arm in a sling, and at the sight of a wheel runs into the house crying piteously.”