Novel Method of Advertising Peace Bonds: The Lion and the Kangaroo (c.1917)
Synopsis
A silent Australasian Gazette newsreel item featuring part of a parade in Melbourne. It shows signs advertising peace bonds erected on the cages of a lion and kangaroo belonging to the Colleano and Sole Brothers Circus.
Curator’s notes
This newsreel item was filmed around 1917, during the First World War. The advertisement for peace bonds depicted in this segment would have attracted the attention of crowds by its clever association with two familiar circus families – Colleano and Sole. Travelling circuses were incredibly popular in Australia, especially in the early decades of the twentieth century. The lion and the kangaroo seen in clip one would have demanded people’s attention, and the large banners draping their cages are certainly hard to miss.
Before the arrival of television, newsreels were the only way that the population could see moving images of the news stories of the time. An integral part of cinema programming, they were commonly issued on a weekly basis and covered both local and international events. The Australasian Gazette newsreel started in 1913 and continued until the advent of the talkie newsreels in the early 1930s.
Being silent, this newsreel uses intertitles to introduce each segment.
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