Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0281Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of a man sitting on a donkey, wa woman stands to the left while a bear is standing to the right. Above the image "T405 (Star)" is printed, below the image "V24113T Countr Circus Troupe with Dancing Bear from Balkans, on Turkish Road." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company Copyrighted, Underwood & Underwood Inc. Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
V24113
COUNTRY CIRCUS TROUPE, WITH DANCING BEAR ON A TURKISH ROAD
Theaters, vaudeville shows and moving pictures are popular in Constantinople, though they can have nothing like the large attendance of feminie patrons which helps support them in England and America. In Turkish country villages the formalities of seclusion are not quite so strict as in the towns, and a traveling troupe like this often makes a fair living. That dancing bear was captured in Bulgaria, up aong the wilds of the Balkan mountains. The man and the gaily dressed youngster before him are acrobats. The woman sings and dances. The dog contributes trick of his own, and is a playfellow for the boy in their leisure time.
It is the natural thing here for the husband to ride at ease while the wife trudges on foot. No other plan of procedure has ever occurred to either of them. She really is amazingly strong and hardy and probably will suffer no ill effects other than the earlier approach of old age. Such women become hags, when an Americn woman would be fresh and blooming.
Parts of the country regions around Constantinople are well cultivated and productive, but for many generations the Turkish government policy was not encouraging to farmers, and great tracts of land have long been so neglected that they show little promise. Sheep and goats do find some pasturage on hills even as bare as these. This highway is better than most of the country roads. Some of them, used only by foot passengers and pack donkeys, are mere trals connecting scattered villages.
Copyright by The Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection