Holland Amusements (Initiated c1870)
Biography
The Holland family were perhaps one of the most famous of the fairground bioscope proprietors with both Annie Holland, nee Payne, and her brother George Payne, travelling two of the largest and most lavish shows on the fairground.
Annie Holland was the daughter of Mrs Payne, and her family's entry into the fairground business arose out of necessity. Her mother had been left a widow when her father died at the age of forty. Mrs Payne's solution to the problem of no income was to exhibit one of her children, who according to family tradition weighed in excess of forty stone.
The Holland cinematograph show could reputedly hold up to a thousand people with both exterior and interior elaborately decorated.
After becaming estranged from her husband, Annie Holland left London in 1901 and returned to the fairground. Her first show, the Palace of Light, began as a two-wagon fronted booth, built by the firm of Orton and Spooners, and included a gilded, carved proscenium which framed the screen comprising statues of angels, carved pillars and lavishly decorated masks. From 1904 onwards the show underwent dramatic renovations and after the tragedy in 1912 when the original booth was damaged in a fire on Anglesey, it became an amalgamation of other shows. Mrs Holland now bought Edwin Lawrence's show to replace it, however, it appears that only the two wagons at the front of the original exhibition that sustained the damage.
The Holland family presented both the Palace of Light and Wonderland, which was travelled by Annie's son Albert. Arthur Fay writing as Southdown in the World's Fair in the 1930s provides an interesting account of the type of performance the exhibitors presented. In April 1912 when the news of the sinking of the Titanic broke, a Gaumont Film Company newsreel was shown of the event. To accompany the film of the disaster, the Holland family arranged a musical sketch which incorporated tunes such as Afloat on the Ocean Blue, Ship's Bell Rings, The Sailor's Two Step, Crash, An Iceberg, Excitement on Board, Lowering the Boats, Women and Children First, and finished with Nearer my God to Thee and Chopin's Funeral March. The February issue of World's Fair in 1936 includes a description of a bill used by the Holland family and provides us with a guide to the admission charges which range from 3d up to 6d. Both shows continued to travel until the outbreak of the First World War, when the Palace of Light was settled permanently at Measham by James Holland where it continued to present moving pictures whilst the permanent cinema was constructed around it.
In the twenty first century the Holland family continue providing entertainment under the name Hollands Amusements, a family run business travelling rides, stalls and other attractions around Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire and North Wales among others.
Found in 26 Collections and/or Records:
Barking Park Fun Fair Poster, 9 - 18 September c1975
Holland. Red and blue type on white background.
Blueprints of Plans and Sketches for Fairground Rides, c1887 - 1940
Charles Taylor Collection
The Charles Taylor collection is a fine example of Taylor’s of Wombwell printers’ posters, which highlight changes in printing techniques, fashion and taste within the popular entertainment industry. Included are examples of posters for pantomimes, fairs and circuses. The collection also contains handbills and other advertising material.
Dagenham Civic Centre Fair Poster, 1 - 11 July c1975
T. Holland. Waltzer, Dodgems. Red and blue type on white background.
Design for Jack and Jill Slide, c1920 - 1939
Design for Jack and Jill front for Arthur Holland slide, showing a boy and a girl falling forward and a well on top left. Pencil on paper.
Drawings for Capitel, Mirror Frame and Show Fronts, c1875 - 1939
Highly finished design drawings for capitel, mirror frame and show fronts including the Jelly Wobble, Chas Relph, Shamrock, Noah’s ark, The Frivol, Arthur Holland’s Jack & Jill slide and half section of outside decoration for roundabout.
Grimsby May Fair Poster, 11 - 21 May c1975
T. Holland. Red and blue type on white background.
Large Boats Elevation, February 1915
End elevation of large boats framework for E. Holland with notes, scale 1".
Orton and Spooner Collection
This collection contains a large selection of archives from the Orton and Spooner Company. The collection comprises photographs and cabinet card images showing carved work, structural work and classic painted work, 4 boxes of notes, invoices and clippings, 8 drawers of plans and blueprints, 2 folders of ride specifications and order forms, accounts books and a library of source books showing turn of the century art used by the artists in the company.
Oversize Fairground Posters Printed by Taylor's of Wombwell, c1974 - 1977
Fairground posters printed by Taylor's of Wombwell, mainly for fairgrounds in Yorkshire, some presented by the Showmen's Guild Yorkshire Section.
Photographic Album, 1905 - 1953
Photographic Album, c1950 - 1959
Photographic album containing black and white photographs of fairgrounds, fairground rides, steam engines, living wagons and showpeople, including Silcock, Pat Collins, Morley, Holland and Hibble & Mellor and other locations and showmen with numbers. Photographs taken and collected by Rowland Scott, 28p.p some pages empty.
Photographic Album, 1948 - 1954
Photographic album containing black and white photographs of fairgrounds, fairground rides, steam engines, living wagons, boxing, fairground shows, circus and showpeople, including Silcock, Manning, Holland, Waddington, Ling, Butlin, Farrar, Marshall and Pat Collins at Nottingham Goose Fair, Chorley Fair and Southport and other locations and showmen with notes. Photographs taken and collected by Rowland Scott, 16p.p.
Photographic Album, 1908 - 1956
Photographic album containing black and white photographs of fairgrounds, fairground rides, fairground organs, steam engines, living wagons, fairground shows, boxing, wall of death and showpeople, including Holland, Farrar, Warren, Ling, Hibble & Mellor, Tuby, Wroot, Marshall and other showmen at Lincoln Fair with notes. Photographs taken and collected by Rowland Scott, 20p.p.
Photographic Album, 1905 - 1954
Photographic album containing black and white photographs of fairgrounds, fairground rides, steam engines, living wagons, globe of death, fairground shows, circus and showpeople, including Holland, Pat Collins, Cox, Proctor, Corrigan, Shufflebottom, Shaw, Marshall, Waddington, Ling and Pullen at Nottingham Goose Fair, Hull Fair, Lincoln, Huddersfield and other locations and showmen with notes. Photographs taken and collected by Rowland Scott, 19p.p.
Photographic Album, 1937 - 1941
Photographic album containing black and white photographs of fairgrounds, fairground rides, steam engines and transport, circus, wall of death and fairground shows including Holland, Pat Collins, Butlin, Tom Norman, Manning, Pullen, Ling, Farrar, Tuby, Whitelegg and Anderton and Rowland at Huddersfield, Holmfirth, Lincoln Fair, Horton Feast, Manningham Feast and other locations and showmen with notes. Photographs taken and collected by Rowland Scott, 20p.p.
Photographs and Postcards, c1899 - 1969
Photographs, postcards and negatives of fairgrounds taken by Rowland Scott and other fairground enthusiasts.
Plans, c1916 - 1939
Blueprints of electric parts for fairground rides supplied by Mather & Platt Ltd and Hackett & Co., Electrical Engineers to Orton and Spooner.
Posters, c1937 - 1989
A collection of posters printed by Taylor's of Wombwell for music hall and variety, circus, pantomime and fairgrounds.
Ride Entrance Elevation, c1920 - 1939
Design for Holland's showfront entrance with some notes.