3-034-571 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Statute Holiday: the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, 1871. 'The first statute holiday of the first Monday in August, under the Bank Holidays Act, was very generally observed...of all the popular places of amusement, the Zoological Society's Gardens attracted the greatest number of holidaymakers...Not a tipsy or ill-conducted person could be seen...the culminating point of interest [at London Zoo was,] of course, the feeding-time of the wild beasts. What a medley of character is here to be seen by anyone who will take up his position, as our Artist has done, near the foot of the steps leading from the terrace at the carriage entrance, and...watch the diverse countenances of that closely-packed crowd! Awe-struck children - some perched on their father's shoulders - see with surprise greediness greater than their own; a few persons look on with the indifference of habitués, or are mindful of their own game, of love or pocket-picking; here and there a smug schoolmaster may be seen "improving the occasion" to his pupils; whilst near him a rowdy nearly frightens a timid lady into fits'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.