The Cellar - June 7th, 2018: Tommy Lion

The Owens had a little Lion
With golden fur you know
And everywhere an Owens went
Tommy Lion was sure to go

He followed one to school one day
Which was against the rule
It made the children laugh and play
But the teacher said it’s cool

http://cellar.org/2017/life.jpg

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LIFE. From the Dec. 3, 1951 photo essay —LION IN CLASS: The Owens had a little cub, it followed them to school. According to LIFE, "By last week, a lion cub had become a well-known figure in Garden City, Kan. educational circles. He had visited four public schools and had paid his respects to the parochial school as well. The students were delighted at his visits and the teachers found that a five-month-old lion was not much more trouble than a 5-year-old human. This image opened the story with the following caption: "A well-behaved visitor, Tommy, in elaborate bow, stretches out on a desk in the second grade at Alta Brown School. Visits to schools began when Mrs. Owens, then enrolling her children in school, jokingly asked the principal if she could enroll a lion. Principal demurred but said he could pay a visit, which he did.
(A.Y.Owen—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

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