HIGH POINT CONFIDENTIAL: The jaywalking jackasses: Donkeys flustered city officials during 1978 furniture market
Oct. 6—HIGH POINT — We've all seen our share of jackasses on the road, but a furniture company gave the concept a whole new meaning during a spring furniture market nearly half a century ago.
That was the time representatives of the little-known Bean Station Furniture Factory — based in tiny Bean Station, Tennessee — brought a trio of donkeys to the market to help promote their showroom. Not surprisingly, the donkeys made asses of themselves — pun intended — much to the frustration of city officials, who found the situation nothing to hee-haw about.
But you can't pin this tale on the donkeys.
You see, publicity stunts have long been a part of the market. One year, a furniture company brought a 3-ton Asian elephant to town to hype its new Asian line of home furnishings. A lighting company once hired a number of young people to walk around downtown with lampshades on their heads. Richard Nixon, George W. Bush and Farrah Fawcett look-alikes have mingled with market attendees, as has Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year.
So the idea of three mild-mannered donkeys coming to market seemed tame compared to, say, a wild elephant or a wild Playboy model.
The year was 1978, and Ben Jarnagin, president of the Bean Station Furniture Factory, had the bright idea of using donkeys not only as a promotional gimmick, but also to make a statement about energy conservation.
"The idea came from the fact that there should be a tie-in between furniture and energy conservation," he told a newspaper reporter at the time.
It sounds noble, but confidentially, his message probably got lost in all the controversy spurred by his unorthodox spokesdonkeys — Jenny, Rhodie and John. The animals, draped in garments advertising the furniture company, were led throughout the downtown business district and even into the road, consistently slowing traffic and sometimes even jaywalking.
Furthermore, for the more adventurous furniture buyers, John was available to provide rides to the Bean Station showroom.
The donkeys certainly turned heads and got people talking — which was exactly what Jarnagin had hoped for — but High Point police said the animals posed a traffic hazard, and Fire Chief Hannis Thompson said one of the donkeys even tried to bite a fire hydrant.
City officials were at a loss.
"We have searched the city ordinances, and it seems that there is nothing to prohibit horses and/or donkeys from being in the downtown business district," City Attorney Knox Walker said.
As flustered as he was, Walker couldn't help but chuckle at the downtown donkey dilemma, especially when he learned about the fire hydrant incident.
"Did he bite a tree, too?" Walker asked. "If he did, we've got him — there's a law against that."
The donkey dilemma went viral, being published in dozens of newspapers across the country. One paper, The Arizona Republic, even assigned an artist to draw a cartoon to accompany the article — it depicted a couple of passersby gawking at a donkey as it attempted to bite a fire hydrant.
As far as we can tell from newspaper accounts, the controversy didn't end until the furniture market did. Despite the city's frustration, Jarnagin and his donkeys remained as stubborn as a — well, you know.
jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579
