January 31st is National Gorilla Suit Day

Get Your Gorilla On

National Gorilla Suit Day comes each and every year on January 31^st and very few people even realize it happens. Gorilla suit enthusiasts who are aware of the holiday come from every walk of life imaginable. They pay homage to the humorous beast costume by digging out their gorilla suits, removing the dust, dirt and grime and hitting the streets for a day long, door to door gorilla suit campaign.

There's not much to it really. There's no fancy gift giving rituals, elaborate celebrations, symbolic reenactments or national shopping days devoted to the suit. That I'm aware of, no one throws large family feasts in honor of the gorilla suit or hosts gatherings in its name although I imagine a gorilla suit barbecue in which all the guests arrive dressed in gorilla suits would be smashing. All that's needed to celebrate National Gorilla Suit day is a gorilla suit and the ability to go door to door.

The origins of National Gorilla Suit Day began with Don Martin; once declared as Mad's Maddest Artist. It got started back in 1964 when Martin collaborated with E. Solomon Rosenblum on a book called Don Martin Bounces Back. The paperback book ended up on the best-selling list of Mad paperback books.

Don Martin Bounces Back! Features a story about a man named Fester Bestertester who tries to explain National Gorilla Suit Day to his buddy Karbunkle and as he's explaining it, he's expressing his disgust with it when three gorilla suit wearing men show up at his front door. Over the course of the story he encounters more than one group of gorilla suit wearing people on his doorstep. Each and every time he greets his visitors they beat the snot out of him until finally he is confronted by members of the Senate Anti-Trust Committee who want him to testify against gorilla suit manufacturers.

This story was such a hit that it spawned what we now know as National Gorilla Suit Day. Even famous people celebrate National Gorilla Suit Day.

In 2006 Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein was spotted leaving Fenway Park wearing a gorilla suit. The public learned later that he had attended the baseball game in a gorilla suit to avoid being detected.