What’s Juicy?
The story of the first monster sighting on Lake Worth in 1947 is from a 1977 news article where Thurman Ranch gives his account of the monster he created from old inner tubes, buttons, and rope. The quote From Lake Worth officer Dutch Carroll is from this Article from the December 26, 1947 Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Lake Worth Casino was a large complex with a dance hall and roller coaster that used to be where the Casino Beach Park is currently.
The ideas for destroying the monster may seem ridiculous but were from this December 1977 article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The story about Thurman’s idea for the monster and the eventual destruction by a drunk man and his girlfriend are from the same article.
The account of the second Lake Worth Monster is from the September 6, 1959 Star-Telegram and everything is told the way it was in the newspaper. It does say they used a small dog and a banana to lure the monkey out. It is remarkable that Dutch Carroll was involved with this monster as well.
The most famous monster on Lake Worth is the Goat Man or the classic Lake Worth Monster. The moon landing was going on at the same time and there is this great newspaper front page with moon landing as the headline and the Lake Worth Monster sculpture below the fold.
The story about three couples parking in the same car at midnight on Greer Island is from the Star-Telegram. It never ceases to amaze me how many people would fit in a car in the 60s (See Jayne Mansfield video). I chose to use the sculpture image because I believe Joe Pack put a lot of effort into creating something that represented all of the eye witness accounts. It does look like the offspring of Falkor and E.T.
The Jack Harris quote is from this Star-Telegram article.
The story about Joe Pack and his sculpture is from the article pictured above. I did make up the bit about the sculpture being the inspiration for Falkor, the luck dragon, but I couldn’t help but see the similarities. The NeverEnding Story was from West Germany, which surprised me.
The photograph of the monster is what you will see if you google images of the Lake Worth Monster. It is not clear at all.
The musical is real and I regret I missed the 2016 revival. You can watch the full 1989 production online here. I haven’t watched the full video, but folk/rock/jazz/blues opera seems to be a fit description.
The part at the end was me trying to imitate telling stories by the campfire. My son didn’t get it, but I told him it was because his daddy never took him camping. Jacksboro Highway was a pretty rough place to be back then but it was probably not near rough enough for the devil himself.
For the record, I do believe in the moon landing. It was just a fitting way to end the video. I imagine if you made a Venn diagram of people who believe in The Lake Worth Monster and people who deny the moon landing, it would look like a lunar eclipse.