Billy Smart's Circus (c1946 - 2006)
Biography
Billly Smart's Circus was established by William 'Billy' Smart (1894-1966). Billy came from a fairground family from London with an interest in horses and circuses. In 1946 Billy came across Cody's Circus and bought the big top.
Billy Smart's New World Circus made its debut at Southall Park, Middlesex, on 5 April 1946, for the first full season after the end of the war. Initially, Billy run his circus in conjunction with his fun fair, which was being run by his children, but by 1952 the fun fair, which was overshadowed by the circus, disappeared. The success of the circus side of the business however continued to increase and in 1955, Billy Smart's Circus grew from its two-pole tentto a 6,000 seat, four-pole round big top with a hippodrome track around the ring, and a vast entrance tent, thus enabling the staging of spectacular parades, which became a Billy Smart's Circus trademark.
Billy's greatest innovation, however, was his relationship with the newly established television networks when he agreed to broadcast his circus live on the BBC in 1947. Over the years, Billy Smart's Christmas Spectacular became a BBC holiday tradition, which ITV took over in 1979 and carried on until 1982. The BBC's first-ever colour broadcast was a 'Tribute to Billy Smart', while Royal Performances took place in London, raising thousands of pounds for charity.
A large part of the success of the circus was the showmanship that Billy brought to the operation of the circus, the large family he could draw upon to run the shows and his ability as a showman to market and capture opportunities to advertise. Whilst other circus proprietors were threatened by the rise in popularity of television and shunned the cameras, Billy Smart embraced them. Smart's Circus grew to be one of the largest in the world, touring every part of the British Isles, and with permanent quarters and an associated zoo at Winkfield, Berkshire, not far from where Smart began his fairground career. His success took the circus through twenty-six tenting tours, winter seasons, frequent TV appearances and the provision of animal acts to other circuses.
Billy died in his caravan on 25 September 1966 and the circus passed onto his sons Ronnie, David and Billy Jr. who continued travelling Billy Smart's New World Circus until around 1971.
In the 1990s Ronnie and his sons Gary and Lord revived the Smart Circus and started to tour a smaller scale version of the original circus. However, the Smart Circus was never the same after the dead of Billy and soon after, the Smart name was rented out to other circus operators until it stopped operating in the early 2000s.
Found in 1051 Collections and/or Records:
Pencil and Pen and Ink Sketches, 1955 - 1971
Pencil sketch of temple dancer, designed by Theatrical Models Ltd; pen and ink sketches of clown costumes and material, designed by Gerald Cheshire; pen and ink sketches coloured in of elephants in various costumes.
Pencil sketch of of the Inside of a Circus Tent, 1982
Pencil sketch of 178V12.41 with different details.
Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 Certificate of Registration for Gary Smart, 1973
Animal training licence for Gary Smart awarded 6th March 1973.
Peter Jay's Superdome Circus Programme, 1994
Front cover: ringmaster with the circus behind him. Inside: programme in the centre, description of acts with photos, commercial advertising. Back cover: text and Blackpool tower image. 6 pages.
Peter Jay's Superdome Circus Programme, 1994
Front cover: ringmaster with the circus behind him. Inside: programme in the centre, description of acts with photos, commercial advertising. Back cover: text and Blackpool tower image. 6 pages.
Peter Jay's Superdome Circus Programme, 1992
Front cover: group shot of the circus performers. Inside: programme in the centre, brief biography of Peter Jay, commercial advertising, information and photos of the acts. Back cover: advertisement for Blackpool.
Peter Jays's International Circus Programme, 1994
The item is a folded up poster. Front Side: various photographs of circus performers. Inside: programme in the centre, information about the circus with drawings of a clown, white horses and two female circus performers. Back Side: advertisements for other performers. 1 page.
Philip Gandey's Cirque Surreal Poster, 1995
Brighton, Preston Park, Preston Road, Friday 5 - Monday 29 May. Colour illustration of trapeze and acrobatic acts in the centre on a red and blue background, yellow, red white and black type on black, yellow and red backgrounds.
Philip Gandey's Cirque Surreal Programme, 1995
Programme for the '95 Tour of Phillip Gandey's Cirque Surreal: State Circus of Imagination. Front cover has colour illustration in the style of a surrealist painting in yellow, blue, red and white on a black background.
Photocopies of Pencil Sketches, Pencil and Pen and Ink Sketches of Circus Tent, Transport, People, and Performers, Watercolour of a Lion, Oil Painting of Clowns on Board, c1900 - 2000
Works of art collected by the Smart family.
Photocopies of Photographs of Fairground Rides, Steam Engines, Other Machines and the Smart Family, c1900 - 2000
Includes Savage Brothers Ltd Roundabouts.
Photocopies of Plans for New Foyer Front for Billy Smart's Circus, 1992
Various items of ephemera.
Photograph Album, 1963
Handmade blue concertina photograph albums containing black and white photographs of Mr and Mrs Ronald Smart and family on holiday in the USA, 1963.
Photographic Album, 1905 - 1953
Photographic Album, 1941 - 1955
Photographs and Postcards, c1800 - 1999
Black and white and colour photographs, negatives and photographic albums mainly containing images of British circus, circus performers, animals and circus personalities but also some menageries such as Bostock and Wombwell and other associated entertainments and non-British circuses taken by David Jamieson, Lindsay Temple, Den Curtis, Capt. Middleton, Jack Niblett and other photographers.
Photographs and Postcards, c1899 - 1969
Photographs, postcards and negatives of fairgrounds taken by Rowland Scott and other fairground enthusiasts.
Photographs and Postcards, 1908 - 1975
Black and white photographs and postcards of the Ohmy, the Smart and the Sanger circuses and family members, including John Sanger in sailor’s uniform. Also a variety of circus performers including Mme. Morelli from the Bostock menagerie. Many of the postcards have been used for correspondence.
Photographs and Postcards, c1900 - 2000
Pigalle Restaurant Programme, c1900 - 2000
Front cover: drawing of a woman holding two candle sticks. Inside: programme in the centre, information on the performers and a head shot photo. Back cover: information on the interior designers. 2 pages.