Albert the Bull

We all know who Albert the Bull is don't we? He's the big cow standing at the south end of town with his butt in the face of all those summer swimmers enjoying pool, right? And we're all aware that he was named after banker Albert Kruse who founded the T-Bone days festivities that celebrated Audubon's cattle industry. Al knew that the folks in Audubon could throw the bull**** as well as anyone else and he wanted to make sure that the rest of the mid-west knew it.

So he lined up a bunch of cattle cars, loaded them with some fat, corn fed, moo moos and shipped them off to Chicago to become grilling material. That in itself was a great promotional idea. But Al knew how to make it even more of a successful event. He added another cattle car and filled it up with a bunch of cigar smoking, card playing, booze drinking local boys and sent them along to the Windy City to chaperon the four legged critters. It was this stroke of genius that led to the infamous saying, "What happens on the T-Bone train, stays on the T-Bone train".

The wives and girlfriends who stayed behind to defend the Audubon home front welcomed the boys back in town and wondered how all of them could have contracted the same strange flu strain in such a short time. At least, that was the explanation Al had for all the red eyes, hoarse voices, and lethargic movements demonstrated by the boys as they stumbled off the train. Had they been shipping hogs into Chicago instead of cattle, this could have been the first reported incidence of Swine Flu. Regardless, the trip was deemed a huge success and a major coup for the Audubon beef industry. This despite the fact that the bar tab for the trip consumed the profits of one fourth of the cattle sale.

The impact of T-Bone Days was also felt back in Audubon as several big events took place locally. There was a big parade that consisted of Jimmy Blake riding a fire truck, some boys scouts sitting in a canoe attached to a hay rack, six tractors, two dozen horses, and the high school band. The parade went great and was a crowd favorite. But one of the Wahlert boys who played the tuba suggested that in the future, the band should march ahead of the horses instead of behind. There was also the big T-Bone dinner dance featuring salmon, chicken breast, and pork chops held in the Memorial building. The place really got hopping when Sammy High and his High Jinks band cranked out the tunes. Things were really swinging up until almost 9:30 when most of the men decided it was time to go home and hit the sack. It seems they hadn't quite fully recovered from the "Chicago" flu that they picked up on the train.

I am bringing up this little bit of T-Bone trivia as a way of tweaking your interest into this major part of Audubon history. I am including a link to a fact page about Albert the Bull. You can read all about the big guy and maybe rekindle some special memories that you have. Were you there for the dedication? Have you ever pitched a tent and stayed in the campground? Do you remember the first time you went up and hugged old Albert's jewels? If you can't connect to the website by clicking on the link, try copying and pasting it to your address bar. Otherwise, just google Albert the Bull Audubon Iowa.




http://www.worldslargestthings.com/iowa/albertfactsheet.htm