London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
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Visit To The Zoo 1968
Explore London Zoo in the 60s and see the now closed Mappin Terraces, once home to Polar bears, and a Chimpanzees' tea party.
From the collection of:
Overview
Trips to the zoo are a staple of the home movie genre, with each a unique study of a period's safety/ethical standards. In this amateur reel, it's Pipaluk the polar bear who, housed at the zoo for nearly 20 years before being moved to a Polish zoo in 1985, draws the eye. There's also a chimpanzees' tea party, a tradition that ended in the early 70s and allegedly inspired the PG tips adverts.
This film is from the collection of Bexley Local Studies and Archives, a member of the London's Screen Archives Network.
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