Zulu Cannibal Giants
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Zulu Cannibal Giants 1934–1937 Louisville, Kentucky | |
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The Zulu Cannibal Giants were an African American baseball team (they referred to themselves as a Baseball "Zulu Tribe", based on a concept inspired by the war in Ethiopia) formed in 1934 by Charlie Henry in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Zulu Cannibal Giants gained notoriety for their propensity to turn a baseball game into a comedy performance, much in the same way that the Harlem Globetrotters did with basketball many years later. The Zulu Cannibal Giants decorated their faces and bodies with African tribal paint, went shirtless, wore only grass skirts, used special custom-made baseball bats crafted to supposedly resemble Ethiopian war clubs, and always played barefoot.
Although the team was extremely popular with the public, some black athletes disapproved of the Cannibals because of the stereotype.[1]
At some point in their career they were managed by New York promoter Syd Pollock, who also managed a similar novelty team called the Indianapolis Clowns (also known as the Cincinnati Clowns, and the Ethiopian Clowns).[1]
Popularly regarded as a Negro league team, they technically were not accepted members of the formal league.