Aryeh Teitelbaum

Aryeh Teitelbaum
Fictional Character
"The Yorkshire Mammoth" POD: c. 11,700 years ago
Type of Appearance:	Direct
Nationality:	England, United Kingdom
Religion:	Judaism
Date of Birth:	Late 19th century
Occupation:	Dentist
Affiliations:	British Army (World War I)

Aryeh Teitelbaum was a dentist in Ripon. His father was a secondhand clothes dealer in Birmingham, but the younger Teitelbaum spoke as if he was to the manor born. He earned a medal for his service during World War I. Veterinarians Wotan and Donner Rengaw, and George Holley were all patients of Teitelbaum. Teitelbaum was not a veterinary dentist, but his skill was such that the vets often consulted him about dental care in animals.

In Spring 1938, Holley consulted Teitelbaum about one of his animal patients, a mammoth named Old Bill. Specifically, Holley requested that Teitelbaum create a prosthetic tusk. While Teitelbaum realized that Old Bill's owner, Wilf Latchett, wouldn't be able to afford such a thing, he decided the opportunity to work on a mammoth tusk was worth it. He sent Holley back to the Latchett farm to get an impression of the remaining stump of the tusk, providing him with sufficient molding compound to take an impression, and was pleased with the casting Holley took, concluding that he couldn't have done a better job himself.

Twelve days later, Teitelbaum provided the "denture" and the original tusk to Holley. With the help of local man Josh Doggett, Teitelbaum had made a concrete tusk reinforced with steel rods. Teitelbaum realized that the original ivory tusk was quite valuable, and would be very helpful to the Latchett family.

This proved accurate. Wilf's wife Kitty took a small piece of the real tusk and carved a mammoth. Wilf sold the rest. Not long before the outbreak of World War II, Latchett paid Teitelbaum five pounds, and gave him the little ivory mammoth carving. Teitelbaum gave two pounds to Josh Doggett. He told Holley about this a week or two after the the war began.