Billy
Smart’s Circus had a meteoric rise in fame and fortune starting in
1946. The show was particularly amazing in the short amount of time
it took to increase in size, stature and quality. In less than 10
years, Billy Smart’s Circus was touring the country in a 4-pole,
200ft diameter 6,000 seater big top - billed as “Europe’s Largest” -
with 100 performers and 200 animals. It toured for 25 years,
discontinuing its national tenting tours under the big top in 1971.
Billy Smart’s Circus continued to produced top class television
shows from its winter quarters in Windsor until 1982 and the tenting
show was subsequently revived by the Smart family in a modern format
style in 1994.
'The
Posters of Billy Smart's Circus' features over 150 original posters
- from the first year Smart's Circus went on the road with the
family's fun fair in 1946 to the last tour of the UK in 2014.
Produced
with the co-operation of the Smart family, the book features
exclusive material from their private collections and a number of
pieces written by them about their experiences with this flamboyant
and colourful show that brought the influences of the 'New World' to
the British public. Photographs, costumes, handbills, invitations,
tickets and all of the programme cover designs accompany the posters
and anecdotes to tell the kaleidoscopic story of the great Billy
Smart's Circus. |
