Hoboken, New Jersey is famous for many things…the birth of baseball, Sinatra, On the Waterfront and the Hoboken Monkeyman. Of course, the Hoboken Monkeyman may not be as popular as Frank, but his legend lives online at the Hoboken Monkeyman Megastore.

The legend, which was documented in Hoboken police reports from the early 1980’s, states that a strange monkeyman beast was seen roaming the streets of Hoboken and attacking innocent citizens. A special task force was set up to capture the creature, with no success. Some residents speculate that he is still on the loose.

Sharon Terry, New Jersey native and four-year Hoboken resident who created the Hoboken Monkeyman Megastore, found inspiration in the stories her father would tell her as she was growing up. “My dad absolutely loved Jersey folklore, and would always entertain our imaginations by taking us on offbeat trips to Jersey landmarks like “haunted” churches, and out hunting at night for UFOs.” Terry’s father, George, who was a senior sales executive, would come home with interesting stories from his daily travels. “One of my dad’s accounts was Universal Folding Box on Madison and 13th Street in Hoboken. I remember one day when he came home from work, he told me the story of a monkeyman that was supposedly terrorizing Hoboken. I was intrigued.”

Years later, she found herself sharing the same zip code with the infamous beast. “I bought the Weird New Jersey book, and low and behold there was the Hoboken Monkeyman story. It brought back memories.” Terry, who has a background in marketing and public relations, decided to create a line of Hoboken Monkeyman merchandise to pay homage to the legend, the city of Hoboken and her father. She collaborated with Manhattan-based design firm, themechanism, on the creation of the logo. “We based the design on a photograph of what could actually be the monkeyman. Or it could just be a really hairy guy. It’s a little hard to tell,” she said with a smile.

The response so far has been both exciting and surprising. Terry explained, “I assumed that the majority of the sales would be from New Jersey, but we also have an unusual number of sales coming in from other states and even the UK.”

The Hoboken Monkeyman Megastore features a collection of clothing for babies, kids and adults, house wares, and other various gift items. It can be found at www.cafepress.com/hobokenmonkey.