25 February, 2017

“They weren’t Dinosaurs until 1841!”

 Wow, you’re not gonna believe this one.  I watched a documentary last night that totally surprised the hell outta me as far as what I thought I knew about the prehistoric creatures we call dinosaurs!!  I had to title this installment according to this most recently discovered (by me at least) fact. (smile)

In 1993 when the first Jurassic Park film hit theaters (there are 4 Jurassic films now), we were all fascinated seeing those gigantic creatures in the most realistic fashion the “masters of cinema” (if you will) had ever presented!!  Dinosaurs had recaptured the imagination(s) of the public, as the Jurassic Park films spawned shows like “Walking with Dinosaurs”, and made dinosaur toys once again very popular with kids all over.

Yeah….the Jurassic Park movies, made it very cool to be able to identify the animals in those films by their specific names, Tyrannosaurus, Pterodactyl, Velociraptor and so on. (ha,ha,ha)

What you don’t know is that my interest in these incredible prehistoric beasts predates those movies by many, many years!!

When I was 10 years old, I was such a big “dinosaur fan” that I determined to learn all that I could learn about them.  I had announced to my mom that I was going to be either an Archeologist (because of my interest in ancient civilization[s]), or I was going to be a Paleontologist, and study dinosaurs!!

 

I think mom knew I was serious when she found me in the backyard digging for my first archeological discovery.  She asked me what I was doing, and I told her that I was going to find my first dinosaur because they had found bones in the La Brea Tar Pits (on Wilshire Blvd.) in L.A.!!  I figured that surely a few dinosaurs made it to my neighborhood, and I was gonna find them….no problem!! (ha,ha,ha)  Talk about “a toast to a childhood memory”!! (sigh)

I was so-o-o-o disappointed when she very “encouragingly, but firmly” said, “Honey that’s cute….but that’s not how it works!!” (sigh)  I was a member of the Junior Audubon Society, and had a small collection of dinosaur fragments from them that I could study, and at that point in time, there was not a question on any of the prehistoric animals that I could not answer.  I was pretty good back then. (smile)

Through the years, my interest in both of those subjects is still quite strong.  However, it manifests itself these days in just watching the occasional documentary. (smile)  Anyway….to go back to the title of this installment, I was absolutely stunned to learn that prior to 1841 the term “Dinosaur” did not exist!!  These animals were referred to as “Dragons” by a significant number of cultures throughout world history!!

Many countries had their own “culturally specific” names for these giant lizards, in China it was “Loong”, in Hungary it was “Sarkany”, in India it was “Neak” and in Germany it was “Lindworm”, just to name a few. Because it would have been crazy to try to keep up with so many specific names, scientists simply used the term “Dragon” to describe their fossil findings.

Well….at some point in 1841, British Biologist / Paleontologist, Sir Richard Owen coined the term “Dinosauria” and introduced it to the world.  The term is the combination of the original Greek words deinos (terrible, powerful, wondrous) and sauros (lizard).  The term gained popularity, (I imagine because it was viewed as a welcome solution to the previous identification challenges faced by the scientific community), and it is how we have come to know these beasts today!!

My little prehistoric diorama triggers a really nice memory of a very pleasant Thanksgiving Holiday trip Rita and I took to San Francisco, CA.  What a great city, and what a great time we had!!  I remember doing all the tourist stuff there….hanging out on Fisherman’s Wharf….hitting Ghirardelli Square (which by the way is where I encountered the larger dinosaur seen here), and enjoying a traditional Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner in an Italian Restaurant for goodness sake. (ha,ha,ha)  I wish I could remember the name of that place now.  Man….what a great trip that was.

So one afternoon, we’re walking around in Ghirardelli Square, and we happened to see a shop called “The Glass Sculptor”.  Right away we both knew I was going to be totally ready to see everything this place had to offer.  Wow….it was awesome, they had items that were so unusual that I found myself wishing I had unlimited funds at my disposal.

Typically I don’t reveal to you the prices of the pieces I’ve collected, but I will tell you that at $187.00 the large Dino was one of the most expensive pieces I had purchased that was not one of my Italian Plexiglas Sailboats!!  I saw the Dinosaur, and decided that it was going to be the piece that I would add to my collection that would be the memento of our San Francisco adventure, so with that as my rationalization, I shelled out the funds. (smile)

They had a ton of pieces that blew me away, and I asked for one of their catalogs because I had every intention of ordering items from them in the future.  I learned much later that my lingering bad habit of procrastination would cost me some of the most unique pieces of crystal that I would ever come across!!

A couple of years later, I learned that the shop was no longer there, and my efforts to locate it have been in vain.  I still have the catalog, and from time to time I look at it just to see the photos of those items that I may never find again. (sigh)

The baby dinosaur, and the Pterodactyl were both pieces I found at different times, and I cannot remember exactly where each one came from.  I’m pretty certain though that they were in different antique malls.  The Mikasa Egg, was easy to find because in just about every mall or shop I go into, there are versions of them available.  I thought it was pretty unique to create the illusion of Momma and Baby “awaiting the arrival” of the newest member of their little family while a Pterodactyl neighbor looked on too!! (smile)

This scene is one of my very favorites.  It allows me to think about my childhood ambitions, and although I realize now that I (most probably) would never have found a dinosaur in my back yard, I feel just as accomplished as the Paleontologists who made their finds on Wilshire Blvd.  I can forever tell the story of finding my “deinos sauros” in Ghirardelli Square, in San Francisco, on a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday weekend!! (smile)