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Zebras@Play


About this page…

For three summers during my undergraduate career at the University of Puget Sound, I worked for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries as an analyst and computer support person. For the most part, the databases I used were accessed via batch on some old IBM mainframes (using JCL, for heaven’s sake!). My co-worker, Bill, was a big tea drinker. In fact, he bought Red Rose tea in bulk. In the spirit of modern cereal manufacturers (I guess), Red Rose decided to include a “prize” in their boxes of tea bags. One such prize turned out to be a small (approximately 1 inch tall) ceramic zebra.

Later that day, our co-worker on the other side of the cubicle, Francis, received an interesting delivery in the mail. Well, actually, it had to be delivered to her on a hand-cart. Somehow, she had accidentally printed off several reams of unneeded printouts.

Bill and I enjoyed giving Francis a hard time when such things happened… and she enjoyed razzing us from time to time, too. For some unknown reason, Bill and I decided to give her the Zebra as a reminder of her error. From that point on, the Zebra became a symbol of errors, screw-ups, mistakes, and general flakiness. Needless to say, the Zebra rested atop my monitor often.

Gradually, I became known as The Zebra, and I adopted the phrase Zebras@Play to represent my occasionally stupid mistakes on the computer. Upon my departure from Labor and Industries, I received several cards and gifts, most of which had something to do with zebras. Maybe someday I’ll post some images of my zebra mugs, my zebra key chain, my zebra mask, my zebra… well, maybe someday.

While the original ceramic zebra still resides at L&I (as far as I know), I carry the mighty Zebra spirit with me. Perhaps the Zebra will find a second home here in Cyberspace.

Welcome to the
Zebras@Play website!

The inspiration for this page is this little ceramic zebra that came in a box of Red Rose Tea:
[Red Rose Tea zebra]
click!

Visit my…

Wade Ceramic Zebra Gallery

Visit the web’s best…

Zebra Graphics and
Photos Archive



07-Oct-2005 UPDATE: This Zebras@Play page has been integrated into our blog website.

04-Oct-2005 UPDATE: I’ve upgraded to a “real” photo gallery. Users can now create their own galleries and upload their favorite zebra photos and graphics! Check it out here: Zebra Graphics and Photos Archive.

Jul/Aug-2001 UPDATE: On a whim, I took to the ‘net to see if I could find a ceramic zebra of my own — to replace the one that still resides in Washington. I learned that the figurines are produced by a UK company called Wade Ceramics, and to my surprise, there’s a whole community of collectors out there. That little ceramic zebra is actually part of a huge collection of ceramic figurines. And there are serious collectors out there! For example, check out Brenda’s site: Huggybear’s Wade Whimsies Website. Brenda helped me acquire not one, but four ceramic zebras! Check them out in my new Wade Ceramic Zebra Gallery.

15-Sep-1999 UPDATE: A picture of the Red Rose ceramic zebra is now available thanks to its new owner at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. I’ve posted it up above.

23-Nov-1998 UPDATE: Recently, I was contacted by some old friends at L&I. To my delight, the current owner of the ceramic zebra also contacted me. He was not aware of the history behind the zebra until he saw this website. He has since restored the zebra statue to the prominence it deserves. Hopefully, I’ll have some pictures coming soon!

CAUTION: Zebras@Play

Zebra Information

Other Zebras in Cyberspace

Zebras Businesses and Products


Zebras@Play Guest Book

Leave your zebra comments below! The old Zebras@Play guestbook with comments from 2000-2005 is also available.

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6 Responses to “Zebras@Play”

  1. family website Says:
    May 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    Zebras rock! Fantastic Photos!
    -carson

  2. Georgia Says:
    April 6th, 2007 at 3:20 pm

    I love Zebras and really enjoyed all these great photos.

  3. Zytx Says:
    November 2nd, 2006 at 5:29 pm

    speaking as another zebra fan, I recently (as of the end of August) painted my car into a zebra :) I do have some pictures located here:

    http://zytx.livejournal.com/141344.html

    Enjoy the photos :) Maybe later I’ll get photos of the zebra room..

  4. Diane Says:
    April 17th, 2006 at 5:37 pm

    Hello there zebra lovers I just wanted to share an Acrylic painting I’ve recently finished, it’s an odd landscape for a zebra to inhabit, an exploration in creative license if you will, should you like to view it please email me at dcespiritu at gmail dot com and it would be my pleasure to share it with you!

    Note: Diane’s painting can be viewed on this page of the Zebra Graphics and Photos Archive.

  5. Lynn Youngclaus Says:
    March 31st, 2006 at 4:28 pm

    I also have a very cute Zebra. While my husband was in the hospital I got tired of seeing his glasses laying face down so I went to the gift shop to see if they had any eye glass holders. To my surprise they had a lot of animal ones. The Zebra was the cutest, so I bought him. The glasses sit right over the top of his nose.

  6. Hunter Getzone Says:
    January 18th, 2006 at 6:41 am

    i would love to own a zebra for my husband and would possibly love to breed one to an all white mini hirse if possible to continue there hybreeding i rescue horses so i think they could use a little color in there lives
    thanks a bunch
    hunter