Pandora's Cage Front Side with Door Open
Item
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Title
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Pandora's Cage Front Side with Door Open
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Identifier
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RCS_012
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Alternative Identifier
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pic025
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Description
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A large wooden cage with a solid back and bars on the front custom-made for panda transport. It is standing next to a brick building with a tile roof, probably the Dickinson home on "Canadian Row." This image shows the front with zoo-like bars and a wooden slat that can be closed over them. Two children can be seen in the background - one a missionary boy and the other a Chinese boy.
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Commentary
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Pandora was the first panda for which missionaries were responsible for transporting overseas. Before them, Ruth Harkness apparently held Sulin and Mei-Mei in her arms during travel. This would not do, since no single individual would be in charge of Pandora throughout her long trip. In 1939, Pandora's mate Pan had a cage built by Daniel S. Dye, so it's possible Dye made this first one too. In 1941, David Crockett Graham's pair of pandas had similar cages, which were also probably built by Dye. These ones were narrower and had fewer openings in the front.
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Creator
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Roy or Kathleen Spooner
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Date Created
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Between 1938-05-01 and 1938-05-18
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Location
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Chengdu, Sichuan
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Source
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David Spooner
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Provenance
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Roy Cowieson and Kathleen Spooner, David Spooner (Roy's and Kathleen's son). Scanned by Zhang Mingying.
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Publisher
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SIUE
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Record Date
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2026-01-05
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Contributor
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Cory Willmott; Zhang Yingming
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Type
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Still Image
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References
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Albert Best. "That Panda Story: A Letter." West China Missionary News 41 no. 11 (Nov. 1939): 439-441.
Pandora's Cage Back Side with Door Open
Pandora's Cage with Her Inside
Workers Unloading a Panda
RCS_012_Vpic025.jpg