... After the king had inspected it, Zarafa could be seen every day in the Jardin du Roi. It was a giraffe which was a gift to
Charles X of France from the French Consul General in Egypt. Having been captured in Ethiopia it had been brought to Sannar on a camel, transported down
the Blue Nile from Khartoum to Cairo, from Alexandria over the Mediterranean to Marseilles where it went to Paris on foot. In the last three weeks of
July 1827, 60,000 people came because of it. Children who played in the parks in Paris bought gingerbread which had the shape of a giraffe. Their mother’s
wore their hair à la giraffe, piled so high that they had to sit on the floor of their coaches. Fashionable colours of the day were “giraffe
tummy,” “giraffe in love,” “giraffe in exile.” Gentlemen wore “giraffe hats” and “giraffe shoelaces.” One
magazine published a schematic drawing of how to tie one’s tie à la giraffe.
Everywhere there were signs of Zarafamania - in material designs, wallpapers, dishes and knick-knacks, soaps, furniture and tree and hedge topiary and
its markings and outline with its long neck could be used everywhere. The newly developed harpsichord was re-named the “giraffe piano.” Even the seasonal
colds were named after it and those who had caught it were asked, “How is the giraffe doing?”
Michael Allin |
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