Jumbo Day – Apr. 9, 2027

Expected Jumbo Day Deals

While we await official 2027 promotions, history suggests that zoos and animal parks often highlight their elephant residents with special exhibits or feeding times. Expect retailers to roll out ‘jumbo-sized’ deals on products, from snacks to home goods. Brands like Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey might share historical content, while toy companies such as Build-A-Bear Workshop could feature elephant plushies. Look for themed treats at bakeries and perhaps even special screenings of elephant-centric films from Disney. We will update this page with confirmed live deals as April 9 approaches.

History of Jumbo Day

Jumbo the Elephant was born in Sudan on December 25, 1860. Poaching hunters killed his mother when he was just an infant. Sudanese elephant hunter Taher Sheriff and German big-game hunter Johann Schmidt captured Jumbo and sold him to Lorenzo Casanova, an Italian animal dealer, and explorer, who then transported the animals he had purchased from Sudan to Suez, and then across the Mediterranean Sea to Trieste, in Italy. Gottlieb Christian Kreutzberg’s “Menagerie Kreutzberg”, a 19th-Century traveling animal show in Germany, bought Casanova’s collection of animals.

Thereafter, Jumbo was exported to the zoo Jardin des Plantes in France, Paris. And again, he was transferred to the London Zoo on June 26. Jumbo became a crowd favorite because of his size, and children would ride on his back, including those of Queen Victoria. While in London, he was under the watch of Matthew Scott (who released an 1885 autobiography chronicling his life with Jumbo). Jumbo broke both his tusks, and even after they grew, he ground them down against the stonework of his enclosure. In 1882, the superintendent of the London zoo, Abraham Bartlett, made headlines and sparked widespread controversy when the public caught a whiff of his proposed decision to sell Jumbo to an American businessman and showman for £2,000 (U.S. $10,000).

According to Bartlett, his decision was based on Jumbo’s increasing aggression and potential to wreak public havoc. Jumbo’s sale caused a widespread uproar among Londoners since it was an enormous loss for the British empire. The sale had such an impact that 100,000 pupils wrote to Queen Victoria pleading with her not to sell Jumbo. However, this proved ineffective and Jumbo soon left London with his new owner, P.T. Barnum, an American entertainer and owner of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. On September 15, 1885, Jumbo passed away. His estimated shoulder height was 127 inches at the time of his death, although Barnum claimed it to be about 157 inches.

How Businesses Can Celebrate Jumbo Day