Written By: Lily Rothman
A llama walks into a party, and then what?
These photographs, taken by LIFE photographer Robert W. Kelley in 1959, show a very strange party in progress. A llama, a kangaroo, a monkey, some goats, several dogs and a couple of cats are all getting a bath in what appears to be an urban backyard. Later, in the same place and on what appears to be the same day, they attend a party with the pianist Skitch Henderson. The photographs never ran in the magazine, and nor did the story for which they were taken.
So what’s going on here?
Another LIFE story about a llama, published two years before these pictures were taken, offers a clue. It was a short one-page item about Animal Talent Scouts, a company run by Bernard and Lorrain D’Essen in New York City, who provided animal actors for theater and television—including Linda the Llama. A small photograph of Mrs. D’Essen in her living room shows a similar assortment of creatures: several dogs, a kangaroo and a llama. Among the dogs, the breeds also overlap—a basset hound, a sheepdog, a few greyhounds and what appears to be a saluki. The dark-haired woman in the later photos might be the same woman from the earlier photograph.
Contemporary news reports about the business which supply the information that Lorrain D’Essen worked in advertising, where she realized there was a market for trained animals for commercials also confirm that the D’Essen’s New York City home, at 331 West 18th St., had a yard. Other, wilder animals with the Animal Talent Scouts agency lived in New Jersey.
Here’s another clue: the date on the unpublished photos was May 1, 1959, just a couple of weeks before the release of Lorrain D’Essen’s well-reviewed memoir, Kangaroos in the Kitchen. (The book became a TV movie in 1982.) Was this perhaps a book party?
Though no record exists of that particular get-together, the evidence is overwhelming. These were no ordinary animals. They were—and remain—stars.
The llama smelled a woman’s hair, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The kangaroo and llama party, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A group of animals, including a llama and kangaroo, were curious about bath time, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The kangaroo and llama party, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The kangaroo was about to be bathed.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Two cats looked down at the other animals getting a bath, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A small dog was bathed in a tub, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A llama and goat were bathed in the backyard, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A Basset Hound was bathed in the backyard, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A kangaroo was dried off with a vacuum cleaner as a llama looked on, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A llama was dried off after a bath, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A llama dried off after a bath, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A monkey in the backyard, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Pianist and conductor Skitch Henderson (center) enjoyed the llama’s company during a party, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A Siamese cat and kangaroo at the center of a party, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The backyard llama party as seen from above, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
