One of RG Mitchell's original range of wooden animal rides, the first Jerry was released in 1962. As with all of RG Mitchell's rides in those early days, he was rather plain in design, manufactured in the typical "Muffin the Mule string puppet" style with flat pieces of wood nailed together.
Westward Ho!, late 1960s. This particular unit is clearly named "Dandy". I don't know if he was given a custom name by Mitchell or if his owners in Westward Ho! had renamed him at some point. The latter seems more likely as Mitchell always sold his animals under very specific names with no mention of an option to personalise them. However, the signwriting on the base is very much in the Mitchell style. I do know the same arcade had a Mitchell "Sandy the Donkey" at the same time so they probably thought "Sandy and Dandy" sounded good together! Note that poor old Jerry/Dandy had lost a leg even at this early stage. This may explain why not many of Mitchell's wooden rides have survived to the present day. They don't seem to have been half as durable as, for instance, Edwin Hall's wooden animals. (Despite the fact that they were obviously loosely based upon them!)
The original wooden Jerry would only last three years before being replaced with an updated fibreglass version in 1965.
Ahh yes, the fibreglass version of Jerry, a ride I hold very dear to my heart. Jerry the Giraffe was the ride who started my obsession with kiddie rides way back in 1993. He stood outside the post office across the road from us and Mum would often push me there in my push chair and let me have a ride as a reward for being good and eating my dinner! Then she decided to test her new camera by taking a photograph of me astride "Gilbert" (well, that's what I called him at the time!), and the rest, as they say, is history.
Anyway, I digress. Jerry was one of RG Mitchell's most popular animal rides for over 35 years, still in production at the turn of the 21st century. Over the years, he underwent several makeovers and not only in his paintwork.
Yes, apparently our Jerry is keen on facelifts too, and he had at least three different looks over the years! I'm not 100% sure of the sequence of things, but one face made him look like an "older" giraffe (in my opinion), while another version is very slender and youthful-looking with a long face and skinny legs.
To make things even more confusing, Ride-a-Matic made a giraffe named "Jenny" in 1967 who looked strikingly similar to the "old-faced" Jerry, and I had wondered if old-faced Jerry was the original version and RAM were attempting to cash in on his success. However, my first glimpse at what the original Mitchell Jerry may have looked like is a drawing in a newspaper advert dated May 1971.
Coin Concessions Advert - The Coin Slot, May 1971
As you can see, this advert depicts the long, slender version.
"Slender Jerry" - Skegness Pleasure Beach, June 2014
My gut instinct says that "Old" Jerry was probably the original fibreglass version, quickly (pre-1971) replaced by "Slender" Jerry. Then "Slender" Jerry, in turn, was even more quickly replaced by the third and final, and possibly most popular, version, the one I call the "Smiley, Chubby Jerry"! Having said that, I recall quite a lot of "Old" Jerry Giraffes suddenly making an appearance in the late 1990s, freshly painted in the same style as the more frequently seen "Chubby" version. I'm unsure if these were newly manufactured or just being refurbished by Mitchell and being sited/sold after hanging around in storage for a few years.
Of course, take that "timeline" with a pinch of salt as it is mostly guesswork. If anyone has old photos of Jerry that might help to build up a more accurate timeline, I'd love to hear from you!
Westward Ho!, late 1960s. This particular unit is clearly named "Dandy". I don't know if he was given a custom name by Mitchell or if his owners in Westward Ho! had renamed him at some point. The latter seems more likely as Mitchell always sold his animals under very specific names with no mention of an option to personalise them. However, the signwriting on the base is very much in the Mitchell style. I do know the same arcade had a Mitchell "Sandy the Donkey" at the same time so they probably thought "Sandy and Dandy" sounded good together! Note that poor old Jerry/Dandy had lost a leg even at this early stage. This may explain why not many of Mitchell's wooden rides have survived to the present day. They don't seem to have been half as durable as, for instance, Edwin Hall's wooden animals. (Despite the fact that they were obviously loosely based upon them!)
The original wooden Jerry would only last three years before being replaced with an updated fibreglass version in 1965.
Ahh yes, the fibreglass version of Jerry, a ride I hold very dear to my heart. Jerry the Giraffe was the ride who started my obsession with kiddie rides way back in 1993. He stood outside the post office across the road from us and Mum would often push me there in my push chair and let me have a ride as a reward for being good and eating my dinner! Then she decided to test her new camera by taking a photograph of me astride "Gilbert" (well, that's what I called him at the time!), and the rest, as they say, is history.
Anyway, I digress. Jerry was one of RG Mitchell's most popular animal rides for over 35 years, still in production at the turn of the 21st century. Over the years, he underwent several makeovers and not only in his paintwork.
Yes, apparently our Jerry is keen on facelifts too, and he had at least three different looks over the years! I'm not 100% sure of the sequence of things, but one face made him look like an "older" giraffe (in my opinion), while another version is very slender and youthful-looking with a long face and skinny legs.
To make things even more confusing, Ride-a-Matic made a giraffe named "Jenny" in 1967 who looked strikingly similar to the "old-faced" Jerry, and I had wondered if old-faced Jerry was the original version and RAM were attempting to cash in on his success. However, my first glimpse at what the original Mitchell Jerry may have looked like is a drawing in a newspaper advert dated May 1971.
Coin Concessions Advert - The Coin Slot, May 1971
As you can see, this advert depicts the long, slender version.
"Slender Jerry" - Skegness Pleasure Beach, June 2014
My gut instinct says that "Old" Jerry was probably the original fibreglass version, quickly (pre-1971) replaced by "Slender" Jerry. Then "Slender" Jerry, in turn, was even more quickly replaced by the third and final, and possibly most popular, version, the one I call the "Smiley, Chubby Jerry"! Having said that, I recall quite a lot of "Old" Jerry Giraffes suddenly making an appearance in the late 1990s, freshly painted in the same style as the more frequently seen "Chubby" version. I'm unsure if these were newly manufactured or just being refurbished by Mitchell and being sited/sold after hanging around in storage for a few years.
Of course, take that "timeline" with a pinch of salt as it is mostly guesswork. If anyone has old photos of Jerry that might help to build up a more accurate timeline, I'd love to hear from you!
"Chubby Jerry" - 1984 RG Mitchell Leaflet
As far as colours go, earlier Jerry Giraffes seem to have had a more matte "realistic" coat, while the later paintwork of choice seems to have been a glossy bright yellow with red spots. Jerry has always worn a blue saddle, to the best of my knowledge.
"Chubby Jerry" - Early 1990s RG Mitchell Leaflet
Another interesting thing to note is Jerry is the only RG Mitchell ride I've ever seen with a "picture" on the side of his base. If you look at the video of "Slender Jerry" at Skegness Pleasure Beach above, you'll see what I mean. He has a name plate with "Jerry" written on a jungle scene. I also saw this on the base of an "Old Jerry" at Marwell Zoo many moons ago, so this must have been an official Mitchell design, probably dating from the early 1970s.
Quadrant News, Romford, March 2020
According to RG Mitchell advertising material, "Chubby Jerry" measured 45" x 24" x 52" and weighed 137lbs.
"Chubby Jerry" - 2000 RG Mitchell Catalogue
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