Collection of 50 Circus Posters
A collection of 50 circus posters, flyers and programmes (some duplicates).
Includes the Haydn’s Flea Circus banner and flyers.
The Boswell Wilkie Circus was a circus in South Africa that operated for around 75 years. The Boswells were known for centuries as one of the "big" English Gypsy families, often referred to as "Kings of the Gypsies." They were famous for being horse dealers, fortune tellers, and later, legendary circus performers. The family moved to South Africa in 1911. The Boswell family started the show in 1913 in Vrededorp, a Johannesburg suburb. It was one of the first shows to allow racially mixed audiences and it became a staple in South Africa. It was one of the first to defy the apartheid government's ban on Sunday entertainment.
Doyle's Circus (frequently billed as Doyle's Olympic Circus or Doyle's Circus International) was a notable mid-20th-century traveling traditional circus. It operated alongside legendary South African entertainment giants like Pagel's Circus, Boswell's Circus, and Wilkie's Circus.
Despite being a smaller, homegrown South African company, it branded itself as "Doyle's Circus International" to appeal to a broad public. It frequently brought in acrobats, clowns, and stunt artists from across the globe. Unlike larger enterprises that stuck exclusively to massive metropolitan arenas, Doyle's thrived on extensive regional routes. Historical archives show they regularly put up their big top tents in smaller communities, such as their widely publicised, lavish stop in Ladybrand in November 1964.
Their historical programmes showcased core, traditional elements of early and mid-20th-century entertainment, including equestrian gymnastics, object manipulation, jugglers, unicyclists, and trained animal acts. Doyle's occupied a specific niche.The circus was regarded as a "less ambitious enterprise" compared to Boswell's or Wilkie's. While Boswell's was backed by the financial might of African Theatres by 1956, Doyle's remained an independent, leaner outfit.
The mid-1960s brought an unsustainable level of financial pressure to independent local shows: Boswell and Wilkie joined forces on 1 July 1963 to create the massive Boswell Wilkie Circus, effectively monopolising local ticket sales.
The Chipperfield Invasion: In December 1964, England's legendary Chipperfield’s Circus imported an enormous, high-budget show directly into Cape Town.
Squeezed out by the massive scale of the Boswell-Wilkie merger and international imports, Doyle's Circus faced severe financial strain. The business finally ceased operations and was sold in liquidation in 1967.
Brian Boswell (1942-2021) was a circus performer and manager.
A member of the Boswell dynasty, the son of Stanley Boswell, he joined the Boswell's Circus in 1962, after finishing at school. Towards the end of 1963 the circus was sold to African Theatres and became the Boswell-Wilkie Circus, though none of the Boswell family was involved any further with this venture. In 1964, Chipperfield’s Circuscame out from England for what was to be a three-year tour of South Africa. Brian Boswell acted as adviser to them, and later as ringmaster. It was here that Brian met his future wife, Jane Stockley, daughter of one of the Chipperfield family. It was many years later, in 1982, that he opened his own circus – Brian’s Circus, which toured South Africa for many years, visiting between 90 and 100 venues in a year, and sometimes neighbouring countries too.
McLaren Circus was founded on 24 March 2005 by brothers David and Duncan McLaren. It has grown from a humble local show into South Africa's premier, full-scale traveling big-top circus.
Sold with all faults.
Various sizes.
R15,000
