Birmingham’s Smoking Dinosaurs

In 1938, dinosaurs roamed the streets of Birmingham, England. Sort of. The three monsters–tottering constructions of plywood and car parts–trundled along in a parade meant to celebrate the transformation of the town from its prehistoric origins to a major industrial center. Best of all, io9 has found some footage of the grotesque dinosaurs in action. The clip is short, but you can see the trio of Egbert, Ogbert and Little Sidney taunt the accompanying guard of a hundred anachronistic cavemen. By the time of the “Stone Age,” the non-avian dinosaurs were long gone–humans never met such creatures. All the same, I have to admire the ingenuity of the people who constructed the parade dinosaurs. As io9′s Cyriaque Lamar suggested, organizing a formation of smoke-bellowing dinosaurs “is how every anniversary should be commemorated, regardless of the occasion.”

Pageant of Birmingham - 1938

Watch on

Riley Black | | READ MORE

Riley Black is the author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs and many other books. She is a science correspondent for Smithsonian magazine covering fossils and natural history, and she writes about the prehistoric past for a variety of publications.