Melbourne 1951: Alice the Elephant and Wirth’s Circus in the Jubilee Parade

Step back to Melbourne in 1951 and watch Wirth’s Circus pass through the Jubilee Parade near Alexandra Avenue. The star of this scene is Alice, the much-loved elephant, carrying a woman rider beneath the circus blanket bearing her name. Around Alice, the parade brings together the spectacle of a travelling circus: performers on stilts, clowns and comics, and lions travelling in cages. Wirth’s was one of Australia’s best-known circus companies, entertaining audiences across the country for decades before closing in 1963, as television and the rising cost of touring changed the business. This historic footage offers a glimpse of the parade pageantry and circus entertainment of the time—and of how public attitudes toward performing animals have changed since. Original vintage footage: Time Capsule Vidz. Subscribe to Time Capsule Vidz for more restored vintage footage from Melbourne, Australia and around the world. © Time Capsule Vidz. All rights reserved in the restoration, editing, presentation, narration and original elements of this video. Unauthorised downloading, reproduction, re-uploading or commercial use of this edited video is not permitted without permission from Time Capsule Vidz #WirthsCircus #AliceTheElephant #Melbourne1951 #JubileeParade #MelbourneHistory #AustralianHistory #CircusHistory #VintageAustralia