EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published in 2015 on Richland Source.
If you step in to the urban environment of downtown Mansfield today looking for wild animals you don’t have to hunt far to find lions, giraffes, bears, even ostriches … on the Carrousel.
If you had made that same search a hundred years ago there was no merry-go-round to provide exotic fauna, yet there was abundant evidence of wildlife downtown: on the broadsides, placards and signboards advertising various products made in Mansfield.
In 1915 Mansfield was known for — and easily identified by — a goat, a rooster, two dogs, some hunting horses, an eagle, and a pair of bunnies. This photo essay assembles a bestiary of those critters that once represented our town to the wide world of American consumers.
Some of the images in this article come from the collections of Mark Hertzler and Phil Stoodt.
