Raise Giant Frogs
During the 1930s and 40s, there was good money to be made by raising giant frogs, as evidenced by the number of ads promoting this income opportunity.
The plan was to buy the booklet "A Future in Frogs." Start growing the giant frogs. Sell them to the American Frog Canning Co. Then count all your money!
The booklet "A Future in Frogs" seems to have entirely disappeared. I can't find any copies used or in libraries. The world has lost a literary classic.
Modern Mechanix - Jan 1936
Los Angeles Times - June 21, 1936
Chicago Tribune - Dec 4, 1940
The plan was to buy the booklet "A Future in Frogs." Start growing the giant frogs. Sell them to the American Frog Canning Co. Then count all your money!
The booklet "A Future in Frogs" seems to have entirely disappeared. I can't find any copies used or in libraries. The world has lost a literary classic.
Modern Mechanix - Jan 1936
Los Angeles Times - June 21, 1936
Chicago Tribune - Dec 4, 1940
Comments
To be intentionally extremely non-PC ... The only giant frogs I have seen are French-Canadians who moved to 'Merica and enjoyed too much of our fast food.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 10/26/13 at 09:44 AM
You just had to croak that one out, didn't you?
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/26/13 at 10:28 AM
I knew a guy who spent his weekends one summer using a backhoe to transform a couple acres of marsh into a prime frog-raising operation. (You couldn't do that today -- it would make the heads of ecofreaks explode.) It was something like two miles of shoreline for them.
Every so often, he'd go out and catch a couple of dozen, clean them, and sell the legs to a local market. Not a lot of money, but it'd buy a couple cases of beer, and the meat other than the legs is also good to eat, so he saved on a little on groceries.
One year, someone tracked him down and offered him an outrageous price for as many as he could deliver. It was something to do with a disruption of the normal supply chain for frogs for medical research.
He stripped that marsh of everything that jumped! It paid for a new car, but the place was never the same after that because a different species of frog, much smaller, took over.
Every so often, he'd go out and catch a couple of dozen, clean them, and sell the legs to a local market. Not a lot of money, but it'd buy a couple cases of beer, and the meat other than the legs is also good to eat, so he saved on a little on groceries.
One year, someone tracked him down and offered him an outrageous price for as many as he could deliver. It was something to do with a disruption of the normal supply chain for frogs for medical research.
He stripped that marsh of everything that jumped! It paid for a new car, but the place was never the same after that because a different species of frog, much smaller, took over.
Posted by Phideaux on 10/26/13 at 05:58 PM
Oh, and the booklet is available --
http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/author/american-frog-canning-company/page-1/
("Preloved" condition)
http://www.wxicof.com/Books/reptile/frogs1.htm
(Fifth item down -- "Frog Raising by: Butterfield, Jan The complete facsimile edition of the 1937 instructiomn manual from the American Frog Canning Company.")
http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/author/american-frog-canning-company/page-1/
("Preloved" condition)
http://www.wxicof.com/Books/reptile/frogs1.htm
(Fifth item down -- "Frog Raising by: Butterfield, Jan The complete facsimile edition of the 1937 instructiomn manual from the American Frog Canning Company.")
Posted by Phideaux on 10/26/13 at 06:10 PM
Don't like frogs. Hate frog legs!
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/26/13 at 07:22 PM
A much larger book describes this operation in much more detail: Frog Raising for Pleaasure and Profit by Albert Broel (1950). It includes recipes for frog legs. Another good read is "The Frogs Of Spring Are Springing For Their Lives" in the April 1 1963 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Posted by Lamourie on 10/26/13 at 10:39 PM
Phildeaux -- excellent find! I should have know it might have other titles.
Posted by Alex on 10/27/13 at 12:04 AM
Raise giant frogs... the Australians tried that, and it didn't go well.
Posted by Richard Bos on 10/27/13 at 08:07 AM
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Category: Animals | Advertising | 1930s