Seriously, though, what was up with all the monkeys?
I recently finished reading up on Jonestown (and believe me, when I got to the end of the book, I cried), and one thing really stuck out for me.
Among the victims was a chimpanzee named Mr. Muggs.
WHY WAS THERE A CHIMPANZEE NAMED MR. MUGGS?
Also, I watched a documentary about the Peoples Temple, and this lady was casually like, “yup, my mom’s spider monkey died and she saw Jim Jones was selling spider monkeys from his ad in the paper and that’ how we met him.”
Seriously, good people who were around in the ’60s and ’70s, I beg of you, please, tell me: what was the deal with all the monkeys? Why were they in such high demand? Why were they so easy to obtain? WHY WERE THEY NAMED MR. MUGGS???
Spider-monkeys are desirable, apparently
So my new interest, now that I’ve read, like, ALL the books on Depression-era criminals and sideshow freaks, is cults!
And my favorite fact (so far!) about Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple is that, for a while, to make ends meet, he sold Spider Monkeys door to door.
He sold Spider Monkeys door to door!!!!
Because apparently, in the 1950s, the demand for Spider Monkeys was so large that you could just knock on someone’s door and be like “Hi, I’m Jim Jones, would you like a spider monkey?” And they would be like “Hell yes!”
Hollywood Hates Me 