Happy birthday to the hamster!
By Gina Spadafori
June 27, 2008
Very rarely does a media release come in offering information that’s original and interesting. So hats off to the folks at Hagen, who did some research, had some fun and offered up this classic, with information that I bet few pet-lovers know:
This year, the pet hamster turns 70. That’s past Social Security age, and almost as old as John McCain, but it’s not old enough to slow down this adorable little critter, which has seen its popularity as a pet jump 41 percent since 2001. It’s only fitting that during this special year, Rolf C. Hagen, Inc., maker of the Habitrail, the world’s most famous pocket pet product, has come out with some exciting new hamster products.
We know the exact age of the pet hamster, because unlike dogs, cats and every other companion animal, which became domesticated over a long period of time after gradually shedding their wild ways, the Syrian hamster (which is what the vast majority of pet hamsters are) came into our homes directly from the laboratory.
In fact, up until the 1970s virtually every Syrian hamster sold as a pet in this country was a direct descendent of a single breeding pair from a lab at a Jerusalem school.. Saul Alder, a researcher at Hebrew University (he translated Darwin’s Origin Of Species into Hebrew), is indirectly responsible for giving us the pet hamster. He obtained the first colony of captive bred Syrian hamsters to use in his medical research in the early ‘30s. Prior to that time the Syrian hamster was an obscure wild animal.
In July 1938 a dozen of Adler’s hamsters were sent to the Public Health Service laboratory in Carville, Louisiana. Not long after that a small number of the descendents of this group made the leap from lab animal to house pet with the help of a gambler-highway engineer from Mobile, Alabama named Albert Marsh. He won a Syrian hamster in a bet and became so taken with the animal that he set up a breeding farm to promote hamsters as pets.
Marsh published a book on hamster care that had at least six printings and tirelessly promoted the little animals across the country following World War II. His timing couldn’t have been better, as the baby boom created a huge demand for small “first pets” for children.
The hamster boom was responsible for the creation of one of the most famous pet products in history. In fact, it may be the only pet product with a brand name that’s become generic — Habitrail.
Do a Google search of “Habitrail,” and you’re bound to find references to the word being used describe any modern tubular structure from subway passages to walkways in parking structures and shopping districts. The word “Habitrail” has become to architecture what Xerox has to copying printed documents, or iPod has to MP3 personal music device.
The Habitrail was introduced to the world by the MetalFrame Company, which was acquired by Mattel in 1969. Apparently Barbie and Ken weren’t keen on keeping hamsters, and the rights to manufacture the Habitrail were purchased by Rolf C. Hagen, Inc. of Montreal, the world’s largest privately owned pet product manufacturer.
Here’s a link to more on the company’s new Habitrails.
Thank you for sharing Gina! What a fun release.
Comment by Jason — June 27, 2008 @ 10:57 am
I had no idea - voted blog post of the day :)
Comment by Laura — June 27, 2008 @ 11:11 am
They are just the cutest!
I had one, years ago, that would escape from it’s cage at times (we didn’t have Habitrails in those days!).
My Persian cat would always find him. She would sit quietly by the sofa, peering towards the back of it.
She was a big help to us in finding our little “escape artist.”
Comment by Marcy — June 27, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
I can recall having a pet mouse but not a hamster (although I did bug my Mom endlessly for any animal that would even loosely fall under the category of PET). I went for years - into adulthood - to Woolworth’s or any such stores to look at the critters. But I find now that the only ones that really appeal to me are Guinea Pigs. They are on my pet wish list!
Comment by slt — June 27, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
I never wanted a hamster, but I always begged for a blue parakeet when we were at Woolworth’s. My grandmother had one, named Petey, and I wanted one just like him.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 27, 2008 @ 2:35 pm
My two sons dearly loved and were very gentle with their tame, long-haired hamsters (one named Tshaikovsky and the other Einstein). We kept the hamsters in separate Habitrails in a busy area of our house where they got a great deal of attention. They were the cutest little guys and fascinating to watch. One day the kids were playing with them having them engaged in (pretend) human activities as they often did—-posed sitting inside toy airplanes, racing cars, school buses, dump trucks, police cars, fire engines, Lego towers, motorcycle sidecars and Playmobile castles. I got out my 35mm camera and took macro shots of all of these hamsters poses. Years later we’d get a giggle out of the expressions on our guests’ faces when they got to those pages in our family album showing what appeared to be people-sized hairy hamsters! Great memories!
Comment by Nadine L. — June 27, 2008 @ 3:34 pm
ahhhh…Woolworth’s!
That’s where I fell in love with aquarium fishkeeping.
I can remember one day in particular when I was a kid…
My mom and I went by taxi cab. I bought a Plecostomus, which has sharp, rigid fins. As we were waiting for the taxi to pick us up, the Plecostomus ripped a hole in the bag and water was spilling out!
My mom had to run in the store quickly to get another bag, before the taxi got there. It was an interesting ride home, trying to get him in the tank as quickly as possible, before there was no water left in his bag. I’m happy to report, we all made it.
slt, I don’t blame you for wanting a Guinea Pig…I think they are just adorable. If I didn’t have kitties, I might be tempted.
Comment by Marcy — June 27, 2008 @ 7:41 pm
Anyone else feel like a real soda fountain cherry or vanilla coke after reading all the Woolworth’s mentions ?
Comment by Leslie k — June 28, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
Grilled cheese sammy … mmmmmmm.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 28, 2008 @ 5:18 pm