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:
Knie Programme, 1995
Front cover has colour photograph of clown in a red hat and blue blazer holding a red Knie balloon.
Krone, des Circus, den die Ganze Welt Kennt Programme, 1954
Front page: black and white drawing of a clown and elephant each reading a newspaper. Inside: programme of the show. Back page: advertisement. 2 pages.
Krone, Palacio Municipal de Deportes Barcelona Programme, 1958
Programme for circus run 19 December 1958 - 6 January 1959. Front cover: drawing of the head of an elephant. Inside: programme starts in the centre, history of the Krone circus, information about the acts with photos, commercial advertisements. Back cover: advertisement. 48 pages.
Krone Programme, 1956
Programme for circus run 25 December 1956 - 31 January 1957. Front cover: photo of large white horse leaping. Inside: programme in the centre, photos of the acts, commercial advertisements, history of the Krone circus. Back cover: advertisement. 16 pages.
Krone The Greatest Circus of Europe Programme, 1989
Front cover: animated circus animals, trapeze artists, and ring master in a blue dress. Inside: short biography of Krone family, programme in the centre, description of acts with photos, commercial advertising. Back cover: photo of a white horse and a woman in front of the Krone circus building. 20 pages.
Large Envelope from Cirkus Brazil Jack to W.W. Smart Esq New World Circus Limited, c1900 - 2000
Includes stamps and crawings of two clowns, an elephant, and a zebra in the top left corner.
Le Cirque de Moscou Programme, 1994 - 1995
Front cover: photograph of a male circus performer with a roaring lion. Inside: programme in the centre, commercial advertisements, photographs of the acts with brief descriptions. Back cover: commercial advertising. 12 pages.
Leaflet and Flyers for Circusiana Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Astley's Circus, 1968
Leaflet contains information about the circus, Philip Astley, and Circusiana.
Leaflets from Mr. Ronald Smart's USA Tours of Leisure Attractions, c1960 - 1969
Includes leaflets for amusement parks, aquariums and others in locations as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Florida, Los Angeles among others.
Leaflets from UK Tourist Attractions, c1900 - 2000
Includes leaflets from Windsor Safari Park, Tower World Blackpool, Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, Guernsey, and others.
Leather from Billy Smart's Big Top, 1965
Various items of ephemera.
Les Phoques D'Aarhus King Sea Lions Programme, c1900 - 2000
Front cover: picture of a sea lion balancing on top of a ball. Inside: programme starts in the middle, commercial advertisements, photos and brief descriptions of the acts. Back cover: advertisement. 8 pages.
Letter of Correspondence from David Hibling Concerning Artwork for a Poster Design, c1900 - 2000
Works of art collected by the Smart family.
Letter Regarding an Offer of Dogs, 19 May 1961
Letter from Ronald Smart dated to Hal Denver, concerning an offer of dogs; typescript, 1p.
Letter Regarding Billy Smart's New World Circus, 10 November 1956
Letter from Ronald Smart for Billy Smart's New World Circus to Hal Denver, concerning the proposed television date; typescript, 1p.
Letter to Mr. Smart from Campbell Logan, 6 May 1947
Business records related to the Smart family and Smart circus.
Letterheaded Paper, c1970 - 1979
Royal Gala Performance of Billy Smart's Circus. Colour.
Life in Fleetwood: Today and Yesterday Magazine, August 1991
Issue 11. Features article on a generation of Silcock's Fair.
Manchester Hippodrome Programme, 8 October 1956
Front cover: drawing of a woman dancing while holding a musical note, stars and musical notes all around, a cresent moon with a top hat looking down on her. Inside: programme in the centre, commercial advertisments, information about future shows. Back cover: Ford advertisement. 2 pages.
Maps, Charts and Plans, c1900 - 2000
Maps, charts and plans for aspects of Smart circuses and a caravan.