The Penny Gaff

The Penny Gaff Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from The Penny Gaff, Circus, Long Jetty.

The Penny Gaff is a website through which St Leon explores how circus in Australia today, in both its traditional and contemporary genres, is the outcome of a continuum that extends over some 175 years and well beyond.

Tickets still available for tomorrows screening 🎥
22/10/2025

Tickets still available for tomorrows screening 🎥

The Colleano Heart, a 90-minute feature documentary, premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival on October 19. I have acted as historical consultant and resource provider for the project. "A circus family’s hidden legacy unfolds as descendants reunite across continents, uncovering their Aboriginal an...

Circus Books Available!
17/05/2025

Circus Books Available!

I am starting to sell down my extensive home library including a large part of my collection of circus books and would love to share them with you! More to be added soon... View the current listings below: Taschen: The Circus, 1870-1950, A GIANT MEGA-VOLUME

Here are some postcards I gently picked up featuring the famous ba****ck rider, May Wirth - accompanied by her biography...
17/05/2025

Here are some postcards I gently picked up featuring the famous ba****ck rider, May Wirth - accompanied by her biography.

May Wirth – A Short Biography By Mark St Leon, PhD © Copyright Reserved: Mark St Leon 2010 May Emmeline Wirth was born on 6 June 1894 at Bundaberg, Queensland, the daughter of John Edward Zinga, a circus artist from Mauritius whose original name was Despoges, and his Australian-born wife Dezeppo ...

Have you seen our latest blog post?? Check it out!
15/01/2025

Have you seen our latest blog post?? Check it out!

Bud Atkinson’s American Circus & Wild West Show was organised in the United States and shipped for Australia. It made an overland tour by rail between Sydney and Melbourne in 1912-13, The Mangean Troupe (acrobats) was a feature of the circus.

From Colleano to Wirth - read the synopsis' for even greater insight!
06/08/2024

From Colleano to Wirth - read the synopsis' for even greater insight!

We're always adding to our resources, be sure to check them out in the 'Archives'. WIRTH, MAY, Australian ba****ck rider, Hollywood screen test (USA, 1917) In 1917, Australian-born May Wirth, a sensational ba****ck rider, was a "center ring" attraction of America's largest circus, Ringling Bros. Tha...

📣 A great read!
06/08/2024

📣 A great read!

Recently published on Theatre Heritage, I highly recommend delving into this two-part article on Ida St Leon Part 1 MARK ST LEON is one of the foremost authorities on the history of circus in Australia. He is a descendent of the St Leon circus family, and the author of numerous books and articles on...

I recently purchased another lovely portrait of my late, distant cousin, Ida St Leon - find out more here...
23/05/2024

I recently purchased another lovely portrait of my late, distant cousin, Ida St Leon - find out more here...

I recently purchased this lovely portrait of Ida Jennie St Leon, 3rd generation "St Leon", off an eBay site. This portrait was made in Chicago, about the year 1924, when Ida was near the end of her professional theatrical career. Ida was born in Sydney in 1894, the daughter of Alfred and Vernon Ida....

My article “George Loyal & Ella Zuila: Pioneering Aerialists” was published in the latest edition of Bandwagon, The Jour...
22/05/2024

My article “George Loyal & Ella Zuila: Pioneering Aerialists” was published in the latest edition of Bandwagon, The Journal of the Circus Historical Society Inc (USA), (Vol 68, No. 1).

Have you read it?

The new issue of Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society is here, which means we just released a previously embargoed issue to our Internet Archive collection!

Vol. 65, No. 1 (2021) is now available to re-visit, plus 521 fully searchable issues back to 1940: tinyurl.com/BWarchive

Only CHS members have access to digital copies of the past 3 years of Bandwagon via the members-only Back Yard. Join today! tinyurl.com/joinCHS24

New items added! 🤩 View this clip and many others featuring great circus artists throughout the centuries in our film ar...
22/05/2024

New items added! 🤩 View this clip and many others featuring great circus artists throughout the centuries in our film archives!

Arturo [Arthur] "Jandy" Jandaschewsky (1884-1971) Although most of his family had retired or moved on, Arthur continued to perform in vaudeville, circus and ...

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