AA-2026-5A6700
On the image
A polar bear stands upright on its hind legs, nose lifted toward something above the viewing line, performing the exact behavior that 1950s zoo designers had in mind when they built concrete grottos with artificial rock faces and scattered logs — the idea being that if you made the enclosure look vaguely arctic, the bear would act vaguely wild. The enclosure is the standard mid-century zoo aesthetic: poured concrete shaped into cliffs, a shallow pool dressed up as a glacial feature, and a border of ivy planted at the front to suggest that nature was, in some sense, present. Zoo philosophy in this decade operated on the confident assumption that animals needed scenery rather than space, and that a bear rearing up in a painted cave was as good as the real thing for the bear and considerably more convenient for everyone else. A second bear wanders at the edge of the scene, unimpressed by the theatrical rockwork, which suggests at least one of them had figured out the situation.
Visually related — by likeness
Polar Bear Exhibit, American Zoo, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-5A6700. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/polar-bear-exhibit-american-zoo-1950s.
@misc{aaAA20265A6700,
title = {Polar Bear Exhibit, American Zoo, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-5A6700},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/polar-bear-exhibit-american-zoo-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Polar Bear Exhibit, American Zoo, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-5A6700 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/polar-bear-exhibit-american-zoo-1950s ER -
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