W. E. Berry Ltd (1888 - 2004)
Dates
- Existence: 1888 - 2004
Biography
The W.E. Berry Ltd printing company was founded by William Edward Berry in the early 1900s after taking over his father’s printing company and splitting with his business partner. The original company had been founded by William Berry in 1888 at 13 Currer Street in Bradford to print advertising posters. Business soon started to specialise in the railway and entertainment sector, specially the circus industry and over time became one of the most significant printers of entertainment posters in the UK.
In the 1920s the company started to print posters for the film industry after W.E. Berry met Fred Martin at Paramount Pictures. This developed into a lucrative partnership with Berry becoming one of only three companies in Britain to specialise in printing large format posters. Successive contracts with Disney and Columbia arrived, turning Berry into one of the leading producers and distributors of film posters in the UK. Some of the most famous posters include Star Wars (1977) and Flash Gordon (1980).
The mid of the twentieth century saw the production of Berry’s most beautiful and sought posters in the entertainment sector and the company continued experiencing success until the end of the late 1990s when it employed around 140 people, including Chief Illustrator Leon Crossley and a team of freelance commercial artists. However, by the early twentieth century Berry’s fortunes started to turn and after heavy financial losses the company went into administration in 2004, ceasing business on the 4th day of February that year.
Found in 143 Collections and/or Records:
The Famous Continental Circus Berlin Poster, 1991
Colour illustration of horses. Left blank for overprinting location and date. Printed by W.E. Berry Limited Bradford UK.
Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian Circus Posters, c1800 - 1930
Early circus and menagerie posters including Polito's menagerie, Astley's Amphitheatre and Pablo Fanque's, Sanger's, Powell's, Ducrow's, Cooke's and Hengler's circuses among others.
World's Largest Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 17 March - 2 April 1966
Birmigham, Hay Mills. Colour illustration of female stood on an elephant with two elephants resting their front legs on that elephant, all on blocks of black colour over a red and orange background with white, blue and yellow type. Printed in England by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Additional filters:
- Type
- Archival Object 140
- Collection 3
- Subject
- Acrobats 24
- Aerialists 45
- Animal trainers 13
- Animals 106
- Art 1
- Boxing 1
- Business 2
- Circus workers 1
- Clowning 73
- Comedians 7
- Contortionists 5
- Dance 6
- Diving 1
- Dwarfs (Persons) 4
- Equestrians 23
- Escape artists 3
- Fairs 3
- Fakirs 3
- Family 2
- Fire eating 8
- Freak shows 3
- Gymnasts 4
- Human cannonball 1
- Jugglers 12
- Knife throwing 2
- Magic 4
- Male impersonators 1
- Menageries 12
- Mimes 1
- Minstrel shows 3
- Motion pictures 6
- Music 2
- Music-halls 3
- Musical performances 5
- Pantomime 7
- Performers 103
- Pierrot 2
- Puppets 3
- Ringmaster 4
- Ringmistress 1
- Showman 7
- Showwoman 5
- Singing 6
- Skating 10
- Strong men 6
- Strong women 1
- Stunt performers 1
- Sword swallowing 1
- Trampolinists 1
- Transport 1
- Travel 1
- Variety 7
- Ventriloquists 4
- Wall of death 1
- War 5
- Wild west 16
- World War, 1914-1918 1
- World War, 1939-1945 5
- Wrestling 7
- Zoos 2 + ∧ less