Sunday, January 07, 2007

No. 12- Alfons and Doris Arndt 1957 at Blackpool Tower Circus

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Posted by Buckles at 1/07/2007 05:54:00 AM

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is scary to look at. The public has NO IDEA how dangerous these bears are. If I had known that fact I never would have presented the Paramount Bears that ONE time. Gives me the willys just remembering. These bears are so beautiful to watch. No muzzles or leashes. Amazing.

07 January, 2007 08:35
Anonymous said...

This was the first polar bear act I ever saw and was very impressive at the time. The most amazing trick was when Doris carried a polar around her shoulders. Admitidly it was only a young bear, but still quite a feat.

Alfons was Doris's brother. He later worked for Billy Smart with the polar bears, and also presented a group of 5 baby elephants, which they booked out.

The bears belonged to Circus Krone in Germany. I saw them later on in London at Wembley Stadium. Derek Rosaire and Tony (the horse) was on the same programme.

The ring cage shown in this picture was specially made for the act. Prior to this, they had a metal barred cage that came out of the ringfence. You note the spikes on the top of the cage. This was quite common in Europe at this period. They cut them off in the late '60s when Norman Barrett took over as ringmaster at Blackpool Tower Circus. The cage was made out of hollow tube and 12 foot high without the spikes. I had it at the end.

08 January, 2007 10:09
Unknown said...

Few flaws in the info here. Alfons was Doris' husband. He was also the one who carried the polar bear.

04 November, 2015 06:29

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