Jan. Marks Anniversary of Zoological Franchise in N. Westchester

January is a business anniversary for the Zoological Institute formed in the Elephant Hotel a National Historic Landmark in Somers, NY. It was in January 1835, that more than 100 travelling menagerie owners gathered there to sign the Articles of Association of the Zoological Institute, arguably one of the earliest forms of franchising and the beginnings of the modern day circus.

The capital stock company's stated purpose was "to more generally diffuse and promote the knowledge of natural history and gratify rational curiosity." Organizers set routes and performance schedules, monopolizing the business in the Eastern United States.. With more than one hundred investors, the appraised value of the animals, equipment and real estate was $329,325 (several million dollars in todays value). The institute purchased a performance space in New York at 37 Bowery, which served as winter quarters; equipment and animals were organized into twelve companies, five of which included circuses excercising a virtual monopoly on the travelling menagerie business. These men were also known colloquially as "The Flatfoots" by those who challenged their leadership "because they put their foot down flat against any competitor bringing a show into the eastern territory."

The Zoological Institute disbanded after the financial panic of 1837; its property sold at an auction at the Elephant Hotel in August 1837.