London Circuses in 1951 Were a Little Different From Today

This video of a circus in London from 1951, is part of the British Pathe series, specifically:

London Circus, 1951, the Bertram Mills Christmas show at London Olympia, filmed by British Pathe.

You can watch the complete video on the British Pathe website.

The thing that struck me the most when watching the video is how the animals appear to be treated. I haven’t been to the circus in well over 20 years and for that matter am not even sure they still exist. If they do, I hope they don’t treat animals like they do in this video. While they aren’t visibly mistreated, there is something I find deeply unsettling about having them perform tricks for people.

But maybe that’s just me, how do you feel about circuses?

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