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 14 Collections and/or Records:
Billy Smart's New World Circus and Menagerie Poster, 24 - 29 May 1954
Edinburgh, Murray Fields. Colour illustration of polar bears on steps above brown bears and animal trainer on the right hand side. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Blackpool Tower Circus Poster, c1933 - 1990
Alfred Court with his Monarchs of the Jungle, Flying Codonas, Maximilian Truzzi juggler, Karolly Troupe equestrians, Cooke's Pony Revue, comedy jazz and boxing ponies, Gordon and Lester comedy acrobats, Ilés and Loyal, Nico and Nico, Six Rolling Wonder Girls, Loretta Ballet, Doodles, 3 van Normans, Marton Sisters. Colour illustrations of a lion, tiger, polar bear, leopard, the 3 Codonas and a couple in Edwardian costume roller skating. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd.
Blackpool Tower Circus Poster, 1939
15 Devils of the Forest presented by Alfred Court big cat act, Emmy Truzzi equestrian act, Cairoli Trio clowns, Lou Lenny with her kicking mules, 7 Martinettes acrobats, Omega Trio, equilibrists, Doodles clown, Cavalini's canine comedians, 3 Van Normans, The Great Wallendas high wire. Main background is blue with white stars, main title in yellow, type in red and blue on a white background. Printed by W. E. Berry.
Blackpool Tower Circus Posters, c1930 - 1990
Posters for Blackpool Tower Circus including shows by Knie's Circus, Circus Krone, Circus Schumann, Bertram Mills Circus, Robert Brothers Circus and performances by Charlie Cairoli, Doddles, Coco the Clown, The Rosaires, Lilly Yokoi, Alfred Court, Vojtek Trubka, The Great Wallendas and Mary Chipperfield among others.
Chipperfield Circus Posters, c1950 - 1999
Chipperfield Circus posters including Chipperfield Circus, Chipperfield Brothers Circus, Sally Chipperfield's Circus, Circus Spectacular, Chipperfields Europe's Greatest Circus, Chipperfield's Bingley Hall Xmas Circus, Mary Chipperfield's Circus and Jimmy Chipperfield's Circus among others.
Christopher Palmer Collection
Circus programmes and VHS tapes from Billy Smart’s Circus and Chipperfields’s Circus collected during the 1970s and early 1980s by the TV producer, Christopher John Palmer. There are also a number of promotional photographs of artistes and other ephemera related to the circus.
Circus Friends Association Collection
This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses
Cyril Critchlow Collection
Gerry Cottle's Circus, Cottle and Austen and Burnt Stub's Circus Programmes, c1900 - 2001
Gerry Cottle Circus programmes including Circus of Horrors, Cottle and Austen, Cottle-Chipperfield Circus, Continental Berlin Circus, Moscow State Circus and Gerry Cottle's Circus abroad.
Posters, c1887 - 2010
Circus, variety, pantomime and magic posters including Argyle theatre, Liverpool Empire, Blackpool Tower Circus, Robert Brothers, Austen Brothers, Sorcar, Vesta Tilley, Ken Dodd, Dan Leno, Florrie Forde and others.
Posters, c1800 - 2011
A wide range of British and international circus and menagerie posters ranging from the 19th to the 21st century including Astley's Amphitheatre, Pablo Fanque, Polito, Bostock and Wombwell, Ducrow, Cooke, Hengler, Sanger, Smart, Gerry Cottle, Bertram Mills, Chipperfield's, Robert Brothers, Fossett, Blackpool Tower, Billy Russell, Belle Vue, Great Yarmouth Hippodrome, Austen Brothers and many more.
Programmes, c1800 - 2019
A collection of mainly British and international circus programmes and some variety and music hall programmes containing circus acts.
Sanger Circus Programmes, c1894 - 1999
Sanger Circus programmes including Lord George Sanger's Circus, Lord George Sanger and Pops Sanger Circus, Lord John Sanger's Circus and Sanger's Circus. Contain pantomime acts as well as circus performances in theatres venues.
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.
Filtered By
- Subject: Animal trainers X
Additional filters:
- Type
- Archival Object 11
- Collection 3
- Subject
- Acrobats 12
- Aerialists 11
- Art 1
- Boxing 1
- Business 1
- Circus workers 1
- Clowning 12
- Comedians 8
- Contortionists 5
- Dance 6
- Diving 1
- Dwarfs (Persons) 4
- Equestrians 11
- Escape artists 3
- Fairs 2
- Fakirs 3
- Family 2
- Fire eating 5
- Freak shows 3
- Gymnasts 5
- Human cannonball 1
- Jugglers 9
- Knife throwing 2
- Magic 4
- Male impersonators 1
- Menageries 4
- Mimes 1
- Minstrel shows 3
- Motion pictures 6
- Music 2
- Music-halls 3
- Musical performances 5
- Pantomime 7
- Pierrot 2
- Puppets 3
- Ringmaster 4
- Ringmistress 1
- Showman 5
- Showwoman 3
- Singing 6
- Skating 8
- Strong men 6
- Stunt performers 1
- Sword swallowing 1
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- Transport 1
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- Variety 7
- Ventriloquists 4
- Wall of death 1
- War 5
- Wild west 5
- World War, 1914-1918 1
- World War, 1939-1945 4
- Wrestling 5
- Zoos 2 + ∧ less