The day Old Rip was removed from the Courthouse
I was working in Caton’s Variety Store, which was located directly in front of the courthouse and straight across from the cornerstone. I was standing in the doorway watching the opening ceremony. There were loads of people there to witness the opening of the cornerstone. I couldn’t see nor hear, but pretty soon I got the gist that the frog was alive with people cheering and all the carrying on. When he was first removed he was flat as a pancake, and then He was first taken to
upon exposure to air he puffed up too many times his own size. Madden’s Drug Store, where he was later kept in the window for all to see. He was such a popular attraction that he was rotated around to the various town businesses displayed in the front windows. His second spot was Tooms and Richardson’s, another drug store. His third destination was Caton’s Variety, my place of employment. One of my responsibilities, then, was to feed Old Rip. I remember feeding him red ants, a great delicacy for horned toads I was told. As people would gather outside the front window, I would invite them in to sign ‘the book’, a book with the signatures of those who came to see Old Rip. I remember that there was even a couple from Europe who even came and signed. After that Old Rip was taken and shown all around the country, even to Washington to meet President Coolidge.
