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 107 Collections and/or Records:
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, c1946-1999
Worcester, The Pitchcroft, 10-12 September. A great new super spectacle, The Fairyland Fantasy. Colour illustration of woman in sparkling light blue gown holding a long stick with a star on the top end a castle on top left and two green witches over a cauldron on bottom left. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, c1946 - 1999
Leeds, Queen's Hall, 26 December to 23 January. Colour illustration of baby elephant on blue background, wearing a pointy hat with a bauble and a green bowtie, seated on a circus platform in front of a small woman in circus band uniform wearing a tall red hat and black shorts, holding a poster with his trunk with the location and time of the circus. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Nesfield Printing Works Bradford.
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 25 October - 11 November 1961
Wood Lane, Scrub Recreation Ground. Colour illustration of female aerial acrobatic act in red suit on centre right and clown's face on centre left with elephants, camels, lions and other circus acts underneath. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 23 October - 18 November 1967
Clapham Common. Colour illustration of baby elephant on starry blue background, wearing a pointy hat with a bauble and a green bowtie, seated on a circus platform in front of a small woman in circus band uniform wearing a tall red hat and black shorts, holding a poster with his trunk reading 'New 1967 Production', also yellow, blue and red type. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Nesfield Printing Works Bradford.
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 28 March - 2 April 1960
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 27 July - 8 August 1964
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 10 - 12 September 1962
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 24 October - 12 November 1960
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 25 October - 11 November 1961
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 24 - 29 June 1963
Billy Smart's Circus Poster, 18 March - 3 April 1964
Billy Smart's New World Circus and Fun Fair Poster, 3 - 8 July 1950
Billy Smart's New World Circus and Fun Fair Poster, 26 June - 1 July 1950
Billy Smart's new World Circus and Menagerie Poster, 24 - 29 May 1954
Edinburgh, Murray Fields. Colour illustration of acts grouped around the poster with highland cattle, a white face clown's face and an elephant behind a wheel of death on the top section, horses, chimpanzees and cebras on the centre and lions, clown faces, polar bears and an elephant in a police hat riding a motorcycle on the bottom section. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
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.
Billy Smart's New World Circus and Menagerie Poster, 30 March - 11 April 1951
Nottingham Goose Fair site. The Sensational Puhlmanns aeroplane aerialist, over 150 animals. Colour illustration of acrobatic aerial act showing a woman hanging by the feet and a man hunging by the mouth from an aeroplane. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Billy Smart's New World Circus and Zoo Poster, 1955
Tagora the human volcano, over 200 animals. Colour illustration of bare chested man wearing a turbant, spitting fire on the bottom right and his face on centre left on a blue, red and orange background, also yellow and red and white, black and yellow type. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Billy Smart's New World Circus and Zoo Poster, 3 - 4 June 1955
Cheltenham, Sandford Park. Colour illustration in a circle in the centre of the poster of dancing elephant wearing a pink tutu and woman also wearing a pink tutu in a circus ring. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Billy Smart's New World Circus and Zoo Poster, 3 - 8 September 1956
Preston, Queens Road site. Colour illustration of dancing elephant and woman both wearing a hula skirt and flower necklace, in a circus ring. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Billy Smart's New World Circus and Zoo Poster, 25 - 30 March 1957
Dewsbury, the Feast Ground. Tagora the human volcano. Colour illustration of bare chested man wearing a turbant and spiting fire and a large face of man wearing a turbant on top left, over a red and blue background. Printed by W. E. Berry Ltd Bradford.
Filtered By
- Subject: Performers X
Additional filters:
- Type
- Archival Object 104
- Collection 3
- Subject
- Acrobats 25
- Aerialists 48
- Animal trainers 14
- Animals 83
- Art 1
- Boxing 1
- Business 1
- Circus workers 1
- Clowning 75
- Comedians 9
- Contortionists 5
- Dance 6
- Diving 1
- Dwarfs (Persons) 4
- Equestrians 25
- Escape artists 3
- Fairs 3
- Fakirs 3
- Family 2
- Fire eating 8
- Freak shows 3
- Gymnasts 5
- Human cannonball 1
- Jugglers 12
- Knife throwing 2
- Magic 4
- Male impersonators 1
- Menageries 5
- 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 6
- Showwoman 4
- 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 15
- World War, 1914-1918 1
- World War, 1939-1945 4
- Wrestling 7
- Zoos 2 + ∧ less