Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus (Established c1957)
Dates
- Existence: Established c1957 - 1957
Biography
Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus was established in c1957 by Frank McClosky, Walter Kernan, Jerry Collins and Randolph Calhoun, the then owners of Cole Bros. Circus, who formed the Acme Circus Operating Corporation. After purchasing Clyde Beatty Circus, they merged it with their existing business to form the combined Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus, which they successfully operated for over twenty years.
Randolph Calhoun and Walter Kernan died in the early 1960s and Frank McCloskey in 1979, leaving Jerry Collins as the sole owner of the business. In 1981, in an unprecedented move, Jerry Collins, donated the Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus to the Florida State University with the altruistic desire to benefit the Florida community and academia. A year later the show was sold to long serving Cole Bros. manager Johnny Pugh.
John Wallace Pugh, the son of Digger Pugh, was an internationally renowned circus showman, who became President and CEO of Cole Bros and was credited with reinventing and revitalising The World's Largest Circus Under The Big Top in America. His ingenuity spurred him to design a radically different Big Top arena in American circuses and revolutionised the way circuses travelled in the country. Under Jonny’s management, Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus was renamed Cole Bros. Circus and has been operating successfully for over thirty years.
Found in 14 Collections and/or Records:
American and International Circus Programmes, c1950 - 1959
American and international circus programmes including Circo Americano, Boswell-Wilkie, Oklahoma State Fair, Cole Bros Circus, Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. and Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, all contain photographs of the acts and descriptions. In various languages.
Circus Films, c1950 - 1959
Circus Films, c1950 - 1959
Copy of film on DVD showing trampoline acts, female aerial acts, trapeze, acrobatics, clowning, wild animal acts, equestrian acts, ball ballancing and circus parades at various locations as well as circus scenes outside the tent and building the tent and with various circuses including Clyde Beatty, Ringling and Circo Americano and circus buildings in Germany and Viena. Colour, silent.
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
Circus Photographic Album, c1900 - 1999
Photographic album containing colour photographs of various American circuses including; Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey, Circus Vargas and Clyde Beatty Cole Bross Circus and the Circus World Museum, 18p.p. loose.
Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus Poster, c1930 - 1949
The World’s Largest Circus. Colour illustration of white face clown on a blue background a large big top behind him and the circus name in red type over yellow. Printed by Enquirer Printing Co., Cincinnati USA.
Digger Pugh Collection
Archive of the Digger Pugh family including newspaper cuttings, photographs, negatives, business records, programmes, research material, posters and films.
Enquirer Printing Company Collection
This collection of printed material produced by the Enquirer Job Printing Company contains American sideshow and freak show posters mainly from the Ripley’s ‘Believe it or Not’ franchise and a poster sampler that was taken around by salesmen from the company.
Films, c1950 - 1959
Please notice that 178D24.4 contains scenes of animal cruelty and human fatalities. Copies of films on DVD format showing performers at various circus around the world, travelling scenes, scenic views, performers behind the scenes, film sets. Black and white and colour, sound.
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, 1949 - 1970
Programmes from British, European and American circuses and some variety venues in the United Kingdom, in various languages. Also includes a Boswell-Wilkie Circus programme from South Africa.
Scrapbook of Multiple Circuses, 1930 - 1958
Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings, black and white photographs and copies of posters and illustrations, relating to multiple circus and acts including Clyde Beatty, Bertram Mills, Blackpool Tower and Chapman's, 134p.p.
Sideshow and Freak Show Posters, c1930 - 1949
Posters of sideshow and freak show performers printed by the Enquirer Job Printing Company, in Cincinnati, USA, many of which for Leroy Robert Ripley's Believe it or Not franchise.
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.