Meet Me in St. Louis by Robert Jackson

Author:Robert Jackson [Jackson, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-06-202838-9
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2004-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

HAGENBECK’S ZOOLOGICAL PARADISE & ANIMAL CIRCUS

Children and adults came face-to-face with many of Carl Hagenbeck’s creatures—big and small—from around the world. One advertisement described the scene as “an immense open air panorama in which wild and domesticated animals roam at large without so much as a mosquito netting between them and the spectators.” Families played with the many domesticated animals and small birds—and the animals didn’t seem to mind at all. There was, however, a nearly invisible fence separating this safe area from “the African Plains,” where wild elephants, lions, tigers, zebras, and giraffes milled around together. And in the far distance, the land sloped upward into high peaks. Mountain goats and polar bears climbed and played in what looked like a white world of ice and snow—another creation of staff and paint, built by workmen for the fair.

In his own three-thousand-seat theater, Hagenbeck presented daily circus performances with trained animals—from seals and birds to lions and tigers. Sometimes he even invited children from the audience to help with the acts. Meanwhile, outside on the Pike’s walkway, children rode camels, elephants, llamas, ostriches, and giant tortoises. Fairgoers would often see two different acts overlapping each other’s space. In one hilarious case, two children rode a giant tortoise—right through the middle of a troupe of daredevil Japanese acrobats! The stunned acrobats were furious that their act had been interrupted, but the large crowd approved with cheers and laughter. The tortoise just kept rambling along as slowly as before, totally unaware of the commotion it had created.

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