It’s the time of year when many fantastical creatures come to mind: red-nosed reindeers, singing and dancing snowmen, elves, green furry Grinches, and jolly old men with long white beards who squeeze through millions of chimneys in a single night. Another famous figure that comes to mind is the Abominable Snowman, or “Yeti.” The Yeti became popularized over the last half-century, probably most classically in the 1960s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” stop-motion television series that starred the Yeti as an antagonist (referred to as “The Bumble Monster”) of Rudolph and his friends. But the Yeti dates back much further than its relationship with Rudolph. It has long been captivating imaginations and driving countless individuals to try and capture the real thing (or at least find some of its footprints).
What these people were most likely chasing after were other, known animals in the Himalayans. Or very embellished stories.
We’ve always been fascinated by things that look human but aren’t quite human. The idea of creatures that are part human and part animal dates back thousands of years, as shown by Egyptian sphinxes, Greek sirens, legends of giants, and many other mythologies. The idea is hardly a new one, yet people continue to be drawn to it. In the 1800s, P. T. Barnum, a famous American showman, understood this well and unashamedly exploited it for profit. He ran a show series called “What is it?” where an actor in a fur-covered outfit would take the stage while the audience would speculate whether it was an ape-human cross or an advanced chimpanzee. Few immediately realized they were only looking at a costume.