Beloved Veterinarian Played Santa for Decades
** Photo Courtesy of reviewatlas.com
Dr. Vird Odell Cudd had as numerous jobs as Forrest Gump, functioning as a circus entertainer, professor, veterinarian, potential constable, benefactor as well as elephant caretaker, but his favorite duty by much was Santa Claus.
When the vivid longtime Monmouth resident died in 1964 at the age of 88, “Doc” Cudd was precious by generations of local kids for wearing a significantly threadbare red fit as well as ding sleigh bells time after time, a tradition he started in 1897 at the age of 22.
Probably it was Cudd’s birth, a week before Christmas in a South Carolina snow storm, that motivated his enthusiasm. It was “the worst snow as well as hurricane ever to hit that state,” he when quipped, “yet the medical professional still had to run 20 miles to capture me.”
Cudd spent his very early years in Tennessee, and as a young guy joined the Ringling Brothers Circus, where for 2 years he drove teams and also carried out as a clown. His experience with equines led him to Oklahoma, where he ended up being a civilian worker of the Army, damaging variety steeds for the cavalry.
The next stop for Cudd was Arkansas, where he satisfied his future spouse, Louisa, and also the pair was wed– properly– on Christmas Eve in 1902. For the following years, Cudd worked as a country mail provider, however his love for pets never ever subsided.
In 1914, Cudd enrolled in a Kansas City veterinary university, after that completed his training at a college in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1919. With a veterinary medical professional’s diploma in hand, he came quickly to Monmouth, having actually been motivated by close friends to situate there, and also left to a flying start, essentially, when he came to be the first vet in the state to travel from ranch to farm in an airplane– an open two-seater, in which he was the guest.
But things turned rocky when unexpectedly Illinois wouldn’t provide him a permit to practice, although he was currently accredited in Missouri as well as Oklahoma. The state refused to acknowledge the universities he participated in and it would certainly take him 5 years to get accredited, throughout which time he was founded guilty twice in Warren County for exercising without a certificate and fined. Farmers enjoyed him as well as also petitioned the state on his part.
Cudd competed Warren County constable twice– in 1930 as well as 1934– however failed to win the Republican election. With a project picture that looked like Western film star Tom Mix, the region may have had a cowboy sheriff riding a steed to the scene of a criminal activity.
While never emulating the movie celebrity, Cudd did have a brush with show business, when in 1934 he took on Nizie, the dwarf elephant used by Monmouth magician Will Nicol in his performance. The ailing pachyderm had established a dietary condition that impacted its joints, so Cudd created a leather harness which permitted him to stand with the aid of a block as well as take on. After Nizie’s death later on that year, Cudd hid the 900-pound elephant in a field on his ranch on North 11th Street.
Cudd likewise obtained fame for adhering to in the steps of millionaire John D. Rockefeller by dispensing shiny cents to people he met– particularly kids– a custom he started in 1904. Each dime was phoned number, as well as Cudd maintained meticulous documents of the number of receivers had actually joined his “Lucky Dime Club.” Previous Monmouth homeowner Charles Courtney still treasures his Cudd Dime No. 14,884, which he got in the early 1950s after encountering the vet at the completely dry cleaning facility run by Cudd’s kid Glenn, situated just southern of the Cudd ranch. Doc Cudd was specifically proud that during World War II, 558 club members brought lucky pennies, keeping in mind “there had not been a nation in which a battle was fought where I really did not have a dollar.”
The Lucky Dime Club went hand-in-hand with Cudd’s Santa persona, as his best love well into seniority was going out into the community and giving gifts. In 1953 at age 78 he was still making his Christmas rounds in the Santa suit, going to Monmouth Hospital and also midtown businesses, as well as even boarding a bus to pass out all-day suckers, chocolate kisses as well as peanut fragile.
“Santa Cudd” also went to the brand-new Formfit plant on the north outskirts of town, dispersing sweet to the factory workers. When one woman mentioned that his beard was getting a little bit faded, he responded, “If you would certainly been playing Santa Claus for 56 years, you ‘d be lucky if you had a beard!”
By 1962, Cudd had actually become bedfast, as well as invested his final days in the Mercer County Home in Aledo. According to his great-granddaughter, Gina Lovdahl, he had the ability to acquire a wheelchair with cents returned by members of his Lucky Dimes Club.
When Doc Cudd died on March 9,1964, the Review Atlas published an obituary with the provocative headline “Santa Claus Is Dead.” But also for the hundreds of Monmouth youngsters he befriended over 45 years in the Maple City, no various other heading would have been adequate.
For Maple City Memories, I’m Jeff Rankin.