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 1058 Collections and/or Records:
Business Records Relating to Verona Circus Festival Artistes Dossier, 14 January 1993
Includes rules for the artists, general information and programme.
Business Records Relating to Yasmine Smart and Dany Cesar, 1992 - 1994
Includes correspondence between the Smart Family and Yasmine Smart and Dany Cesar regarding their act and performing horses.
Calendars and Almanacs, 1990 - 1993
Branded calendars.
Calgary Stamped Film, c1900 - 2000
Billy Smart. Amateur. 16mm. Silent and colour.
Catalogue of Sale of Circus Equipment, 22 February 1986
Booklet of circus equipment auction from Billy Smart's Circus which included costumes, trucks, circus props, trailers, lorries, and generators and two leaflets for the Billy Smart's circus sale of circus equipment auction.
Certificate of the Order of the Knights of the Road Given to Billy Smart, c1900 - 2000
Decorative brown border with green and red decorations, blue, black and orange type on off white background in the centre.
Charlie Carioli and Father Jean Marie Film, 1931 - 1998
VHS PAL. Note on tape reads 'Charlie Carioli, 8.47 George Carl, 20.54 Ruben Madsen, 32.26 Vercoe and Alyn Forte 1998, 52.57 Grock and Max van Embden Berlin 1931'
Charlie Chester Awards 1969 Certificate, 31 December 1969
Award presented to Billy Smart's Circus. Presented at the BBC's Playhouse Studio, London.
Children's Book 'The Adventures of Sandy Castle' by Gary Smart and Allis Moss, February 2014
Various items of ephemera.
Chinese Circus from Chong Qing Programme, 1988
Programme for circus run 3 June - 5 November 1988. Front cover: various drawings of circus performers. Inside: programme in the centre, introduction about the circus, commercial advertisment, information about other acts at Blackpool. Back cover: Blackpool Tower floor map. 6 pages.
Chinese Circus Poster, 1980 - 2000
Thought to be a poster for Gerry Cottle's Circus. Event title: (主辦) 世界馬戲大觀 / World Circus Show. Location: 香港海洋公園 / Ocean Park Hong Kong. Circus ran 10 December - 2 March. Colour illustration featuring acts and animal performers.
Chinese Circus Poster, 1986
Thought to be a poster for Gerry Cottle's Circus. Event title: (主辦)卓伯非精英馬戲團 / 卓伯非 Best/Elite Circus. Location: 香港海洋公園 / Ocean Park Hong Kong. Circus ran 19 December 1986 - 1 March 1987. Colour illustration featuring acts and animal performers.
Chipperfield's Circus Scrapbook, 1949 - 1990
Scrapbook containing black and white photographs, newspaper cuttings, programmes and some items of ephemera from Chipperfield Circus and other various other circuses including Wilkie's, Bertram Mills, MikkenieJoh Pearson and Billy Smart, some pages are blank, 84p.p.
Christmas Circus Film, c1947 - 1990
VHS PAL. Thames T.V. Note on tape reads 'Keith Harris with Orvil'.
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.
Circo Americano: el Mayor Espectaculo del Mundo Programme, 1971
Front cover: drawing of a woman riding atop an elephant with trapeze artists behind her. Inside: programme in the centre, photos of acts with blurbs, information on the circus being a symbol of peace. Back cover: advertisement for toys.
Circo Americano Programme, 1957
Front cover: drawing of an excited clown face holding a large candy cane. Inside: programme starts in the centre, information about Circo Americano, commercial advertisements, photos of the acts. Back cover: advertisement for light bulbs. 6 pages.
Circo Americano Programme, 1958
Front cover: drawing of an excited clown face holding a large candy cane. Inside: programme starts in the centre, information about Circo Americano, commercial advertisements, photos of the acts. Back cover: advertisement for light bulbs. 8 pages.
Circo Americano Programme, 1958
Front cover: various animals in the grassland, man dressed as a hunter, woman riding an elephant. Inside: programme starts in the centre, information about Circo Americano, commercial advertisements, photos of the acts. Back cover: advertisement for light bulbs. 10 pages.
Circo Americano Programme, 1958
Front cover: various animals in the grassland, man dressed as a hunter, woman riding an elephant. Inside: programme starts in the centre, information about Circo Americano, commercial advertisements, photos of the acts. Back cover: advertisement for light bulbs. 10 pages.