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Wirth Bros was founded by the children of a Bavarian musician, Johannes Wirth (1834 – 1880), who arrived in Australia in 1855. The family worked as itinerant musicians, including for Ashton’s Circus, before establishing a musical and acrobatic troupe that evolved into a travelling circus. By 1887 Wirth Bros Circus was the largest circus in Australia, under the management of Phillip Wirth (1864 – 1937) and his brother George (1867 - 1941). In 1889 they began transporting the circus by train, a practice that continued for the rest of Wirth’s existence. In the 1890s Wirth Bros Circus performed in New Zealand, South Africa, Java, India and England, the first international tour by an Australian circus. Wirth’s Circus (as it was known from 1930) operated a two-year national touring cycle, which included annual visits to Sydney (at Easter) and Melbourne (around the Melbourne Cup, when they presented a gold-mounted whip to the winning jockey). The circus predominantly used imported international acts, with up to 40 performers, 10 elephants and 40 horses, with wild animals and support staff. They also staged a pantomime each year at Christmas time. Wirth’s Circus went into decline with the introduction of television and rising transport costs. On 27 December 1953 Wirth’s Olympia was destroyed by fire, and the circus finally closed in May 1963. Source: collections.artscentremelbourne.com.au/#browse=enarrative...

Three German Shepherds in expectation to show off themselves at the dog show.

History As is the case with almost all the other breeds of dog, there is much speculation on the origins and the science of the breeding of the Whippet. One theory supports a breed of dog that dates to ancient Rome and Egypt. There is evidence found in paintings, statues, pottery, tapestries and artifacts that support the existence of a small type of Greyhound, with the Whippet's particularly rose shaped ear. The British Museum possesses paintings that date from 1350 that show a dog that remarkably resembles a Whippet. So for those people who believe that the Whippet is an ancient breed of dog, there is quite a lot of evidence to support that theory. The second theory is that the Whippet evolved during the 18th and 19th centuries in Northern England. During this time and in that region, to make a living, the average citizen was either a coal miner, a tenant farmer, or worked in the mills. The wealthy owned vast estates which possessed kennels and among the dogs kept in those kennels were Greyhounds. Being large dogs and expensive to keep and maintain, Greyhounds were simply not an option for the average person. It is thought that the Whippet resulted from some English coal miners crossing small Greyhounds with terriers. The result from these crosses was a tough, rugged, agile little sight hound. The breed's distinct advantages in its swiftness, quietness and earlier small size did not go unnoticed by poachers who would hide the Whippet under their coats away from the warden's suspicious eye and then sneak them onto the private grounds to hunt. Source: www.australiandoglover.com/2016/05/whippet-breed-profile....