By: Carla Eilo
As I was logging photos into our digital catalog this past month, I came across this fantastic photograph!
It wasn’t too hard to find out who the man and the driver of the car were.
Dean Stansfield had included a photograph taken by G.T. Rabineau of the two in his “Images of America” book. Recently, Andy Bull had had written an anecdote about the two riding a bobsled together at Mount Van Hovenberg in “Speed Kings.”
I am talking about J. Paul Stevens and his pet bear, Tobias!
Paul Stevens, was one of four brothers and son to George Stevens, the owner of the famous hotel, Stevens House. Paul Stevens was in the bobsled team that won the silver medal in the 1932 Olympics held in Lake Placid. He also cared for a pet bear, named Tobias. The following are excerpts from newspapers reporting on Stevens and his pets.
Lake Placid News, February 12, 1926
“Placid Too Cold for Black Bear of Movies”
“Twenty members of the “Wilderness Woman” motion picture company arrived in Placid Wednesday morning…Not the least important member of the cast was a black bear cub. His bearship when taken out on location the first day, found the Adirondack cold entirely too much for his health and disposition. He simply refused to act… Thursday morning, “Sonny” as the bear is known, was left behind and one of Paul Stevens’s bear cubs took his place. As we go to press we have no learned how the substitute performed. We hope it maintained the honor of the North Country.”
Lake Placid News, March 20, 1931
“Stevens Bear Comes Out to Greet the Irish”
“Choosing St. Patrick’s Day, divided in sunshine and cloudiness, the bear owned by F. Paul Stevens crawled out of his hole to greet the world for another summer. Whether or not the sun was hidden by a cloud, so that shadows were not evident at just that moment, is not known but the bear is still in the open. He has been denned for three months and nine days.
Mr. Stevens said the bear who weighs 450 pounds, had wintered well and seemed to be nearly as heavy as when he wisely decided to hibernate and escaped the snows and blows of the Adirondack winter. The bear is now seven years old and was captured as a cub by Mr. Stevens in the region back of Whiteface Inn.”
Featured in Newspapers, nationwide February 16, 1932
“Olympic Memories”
One memory reads, “Paul Stevens, greatest showman of the north countree, pouring a bottle of ale down his pet bear’s throat…the bear, Tobias, begging for more.”