Post #396230 by Blisskitchen on Thu, Jul 24, 2008 10:13 AM

Considering the information posted above, and the fact that I spent a few hours last night contemplating this issue over frozen rum drinks, I have concocted a scenario in my mind that soothes my curiosity. True its totally fabricated, but most religions also revolve around similar stories that some of us need to answer the unanswerable questions.

Sailors were known to trade heavily at the ports at which they landed. One commodity that was a popular trade item at drinking establishments were monkeys. I remember hearing about this in bars in Amsterdam. They were exotic, entertaining and just damn funny to look at. A sailor might have a stop in South America and trade something for a Monkey, move on to the South Pacific and in turn trade that Monkey for a bar tab and an evening with a lovely lady. The bar now has a mascot...a gimmick to draw customers. Then you get a bunch of people together, having drinks and fun....what is the natural thing to do??? Dress the monkey in a funny costume and laugh at it!! Perhaps this monkey was traded by a Turkish or Greek sailor? With alot of spare time on their hands while at sea, why not fashion an outfit for the monkey, naturally a Fez would be appropriate as it was a common hat in those areas, it would be simple to make, and it would be easy to keep in place with a string under the monkeys chin. Much easier to keep in place than say a Tiara or a Turban. Boom....you have a monkey wearing a Fez in a drinking establishment in the South Pacific.

[ Edited by: Blisskitchen 2008-07-24 10:16 ]