Some people love goats. In general, they are a rather easy animal to maintain. The downside is that some of them have bigger personalities than brains.
Doll Hair
A Chicago newspaper report published in 1913 claimed that most of the hair on the heads of children’s dolls was obtained from the Angora goat. [1]
Battleship Mascot
The mascot for the battleship Utah was a live goat back in 1912. Whenever the sailors had time off to come ashore, a few of the men were assigned as goat chaperones. These chaperones would take the goat with them for a night on the town and pamper him like a well loved pet. [2]
Goat Milk for Babies
In 1909, California began importing Swiss goats. They wanted the goats’ milk for infants, saying that goats’ milk was the best substitute for human mother’s milk. [3]
Poor Man’s Cow
In the early 1900s, American’s called goats “the poor man’s cow” because they were cheap to buy and cheap to maintain. [4]
The Runaway Goat
Late one night in 1912, Jim Grady of Chicago was taking care of his goat when it escaped the barn. Not wanting to lose the goat, Jim ran down the street after it in his bare feet.
In the darkness, a park patrolman saw the strange scene and, thinking that the goat was a wild animal, he took out his gun and let out a shot. However, instead of shooting the goat, he shot off poor Jim’s toe. [5]
