In March 1934 Chapman's Great London Z00-Circus came to Cheltenham. The Circus boasted 28 of the finest acts never before seen in England. They also had lions, tigers, polar bears, comedy black bears, boxing kangaroos and elephants. Could you imagine that being allowed today?! As the advertising parade went through town some of the elephants broke free and headed for the seed merchant and pet shop, Bloodworths. One of the elephants entered the shop and started to have his fill of seed and pet food, another elephant got stuck in the doorway! Little damage was done, some people said it was part of a publicity stunt. Did they do that back then?! Bloodworths Pet Shop is still open in Cheltenham, though elephants are now banned!
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The Circus parade begins to work its way through town. .JPG)
The Ringmaster advertises the Circus..JPG)
One of the Elephants breaks free and heads for the goodies..JPG)
A keeper struggles to remove one of the Elephants..JPG)
The police and locals look on aghast. And here is a photo taken on the day.
Hope you enjoyed this tale! On a different note - I have added word verification to my comment box due to all the 'see hear' 'click here' spam comments I am receiving. I don't really like this but I've got no choice. Hope this doesn't stop you commenting.
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13 comments:
Marley the Marvelous! What a wonderful post. The photo of the actual event is an especially fine touch. I love it.
I don't think that word verification will do it for you. The best way I've found is to be able to read the posts before you publish them. Nobody seems to mind that method.
The murals are fantastic. That medium is a particular favorite of mine.
I enjoyed the tale, oh yes. The murals are beautiful, but that photo... Can you imagine? It must've been such a hilarious mishap to witness!
what a great story and post, Marley! and a much funnier 'end' than if they'd been on a rampage where someone was hurt. The murals are great - i love the 'tail end' most. =)
Hee hee! I know this story well...but it's the first time I've ever seen a picture from that event. Fantastic stuff and great to share it with everyone here at City Daily Photo!
Hi Marley..your post today is very interesting!!! And pretty amazing story I must say.. when could one expect an elephant to come knocking at the door :)
The elephants march so grumbly...now I know why, they're hungry. Excellent forward thinking of your city to keep this history alive in the mosaics. Thank you for this piece of history.
I haven't encountered this problem, yet for word verification. Not a hassle, anything that will help keep the holligans at bay is a good thing.
That's a great story. I loved the mosaics and seeing the real picture too. That was a great post! (I had to add the word verification thing too. That spam was just getting to be too much.)
What a fabulous story and great to see it commemorated in the mosaics.
What a great story! I like the picture commentary "a big shoplifter caught", lol! So, is there a sign at Bloodworths that says elephants are banned?
Oh wow! Amazing mosaic art, all of them.
I loved the mosaics! very cute.
My husband and I had the pleasure of seeing these mosaics in 2012. I was enchanted by them but did not photograph each one. I have had reason to regret that. How I have enjoyed reading your post and seeing the ones I failed to photograph. Furthermore I now have the full story of the elephant kerfluffle and an old picture as well. I thank you.
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