Monkey Day

Monkey Day
Monkey Day
Also called International Monkey Day
Day of the Monkey
Observed by People worldwide, including:
 Canada
 Germany
 Mexico
 Puerto Rico
 United Kingdom
 United States
Date December 14
Celebrations Costume parties, Art shows, Zoo visits, Webcomic marathons


Monkey Day is a holiday celebrated internationally on December 14.[1][2][3] Hallmark Cards describes it as the "one day when monkey business is actually encouraged."[4] The holiday was started in 2000 by Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin, then artists of the popular comic Fetus-X, and first celebrated by Lansing residents and art students at Michigan State University.[5] Since then, Monkey Day has been celebrated internationally, across countries like the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.[6][7][8]

Traditional celebrations

The holiday is primarily celebrated with costume parties intended to help draw attention to issues related to simians, including medical research, animal rights, and evolution.[9] Often there are competitions to see who has the best costumes, who can act like a monkey the longest, or speed knitting of monkey dolls.[10][7] The holiday cuts across religious boundaries and provides opportunities to share monkey stories and contemplate our simian relatives.[11][12] Other Monkey Day activities include going on shopping sprees for Paul Frank "Julius the Monkey" fashions, eating Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream, and spending the day at the zoo.[13]

In 2005, Peter Jackson's King Kong was released on the fifth anniversary of Monkey Day.[6]

In 2008, the official Monkey Day celebration was a silent art auction to benefit Chimps Inc., which included paintings from chimps Jackson and Kimie, residents of the Chimps Inc. primate sanctuary.[14][15] The Biddle Gallery in Detroit also celebrated Monkey Day in 2008 with an annual Monkey Day art sale that included a free banana with each purchase[16][17].

There has been an annual Monkey Day Web Comic Marathon since 2004 with comics including Rob Balder's PartiallyClips, David Malki's Wondermark, Eric Millikin's Fetus-X, and Sorrow's own Feral Calf.[18][19] Sorrow also maintains a comprehensive "Monkeys in the News" blog with stories on topics like monkey attacks, monkey smuggling, and monkey science.[20]

External links

References

  1. ^ Weeks, Linton (June 17, 2011). "Time To Mark National Theme Day Appreciation Day". NPR
  2. ^ Koo, Zena (Dec. 14, 2010). "Today's Pictures: Monkeys!". Slate
  3. ^ Turner, Paul (2009-12-14). "Marmot Nation is gearing up for a huge 2010". Spokesman Review: pg 1C. 
  4. ^ "Monkey Day". Hallmark Cards Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  5. ^ Klein, Sarah (December 10, 2003). "Monkeying around with the holidays". Detroit Metro Times
  6. ^ a b McKenzie, Charlie (December 8, 2005). "Holiday monkey business". Hour
  7. ^ a b Kessler, Gregor (2006-12-08). "Wir haben mehr als genug theologische Feiertage". Financial Times Deutschland: pg 6. http://ftd.de/premium/beilagen/we/139699.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
  8. ^ Laverne, Lauren (December 14, 2009). "BBC Radio with Lauren Laverne". BBC Radio
  9. ^ "A TOAST TO BUBBLES". Los Angeles CityBeat (131). 2005-12-08. Archived from the original on 2007-04-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070415031643/http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2980&IssueNum=131. Retrieved 2007-08-18. 
  10. ^ GateHouse News Service (Dec, 14, 2010). "Morning Minutes for Tuesday, December 14". Herkimer Telegram
  11. ^ Cayton-Holland, Adam (December 14, 2006). "Monkey See, Monkey Doo: Finally, a holiday worth celebrating.". Westword
  12. ^ O'Carroll, Eoin (December 14, 2010). "The top 10 monkeys.". The Christian Science Monitor
  13. ^ Brenner, Lisa (December 14, 2010). "Party Like Rhesus Witherspoon: Today Is Monkey Day!.". LAist
  14. ^ "Out On The Town" ([dead link]). City Pulse 8 (17): 36. 2008-12-10. http://npaper-wehaa.com/citypulse/8070CYaz2dP2KQ4U/#?article=115120. 
  15. ^ "Mountain High". Missoula Independent 19 (50): Pg 37. 2008-12-11. 
  16. ^ Rubin, Neal (2008-12-11). "Gallery owner gets artists to monkey around". Detroit News. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/OPINION03/812110324. 
  17. ^ O'Neil, Megan (2008-12-10). "Night and Day". Detroit Metro Times. http://www.metrotimes.com/news/story.asp?id=13517. 
  18. ^ Sorrow, Casey (December 16, 2005). "The End of Monkey WebComics 2005". Monkey Day Comics
  19. ^ Sorrow, Casey (December 14, 2006). "2006 Comics... It begins...". Monkey Day Comics
  20. ^ Hollifield, Scott (2008-12-25). "Monkey Stories: They're thieves, gangsters and snitches". Winston-Salem Journal: Pg 3D. 


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