Chimpanzees' tea party
former practice exploiting chimpanzees for human entertainment
The chimpanzee tea party was a form of public entertainment in which chimpanzees were dressed in human clothes and provided with a table of food and drink.
The first such tea party was held at the London Zoo in 1926, two years after the opening of Monkey Hill. They were put on almost daily during the summer until they were discontinued in 1972. Tea parties were also adopted by other institutions seeking to draw crowds. The chimps, adorned in hats, dresses, and other garments, would engage in activities reminiscent of a sophisticated tea party, such as sipping from cups, nibbling on snacks, and interacting with each other in playful ways. This idea was even used for marketing techniques in the 1900s. They were the inspiration for the PG Tips television advertisements which began in 1956. Neil Heath notes that teaching chimps human behaviors and using them in advertising campaigns raised animal welfare concerns, leading to the discontinuation of these practices.
History
The Chimpanzee Tea Party began in the London Zoo in 1926 as an attraction for displaying the Zoo's primates. The Wellington Zoo also displayed Chimpanzee Tea Parties around this time, ending them in 1956.
“Chimpanzees' tea party” enters the record as former practice exploiting chimpanzees for human entertainment. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Chimpanzees', party and former can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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