Not long ago in Germany, it was a thing to pose with polar bears — or rather, people dressed in polar bear costumes.

The curious craze lasted from the end of the First World War to the late 1960s, yielding fantastic, mysterious snaps of smiling Teutons and their furry friends.

A selection of such images were discovered around the country by French collector Jean-Marie Donat over the last 20 years and published as a book.