This film is part of Free
In Simian Society
Elevenses on Monkey Hill: an early record of London Zoo's regular chimps' tea party
Overview
Ah, the time-honoured chimps' tea party: a feature of zoo life from the Victorian age. Or so you might think. In fact, this anthropomorphic ritual originated at London Zoo in 1926, making this one of the first newsreels to capture it on celluloid. Not the last, though: as well as being a huge hit with summer visitors to Regent's Park, the parties were a perennial draw for newsreels in search of an upbeat story - as they usually were.
By the dawn of the 1970s, it was increasingly difficult to refute the charge that the whole spectacle was undignified and unethical, and London Zoo hosted its last in 1972.
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