An elephant enjoys its back being scrubbed by the keeper on March 1, 1950. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

A monkey is led by its trainer Qi Defang during training for a circus in Suzhou, Anhui province, November 29, 2014. Suzhou is known as the hometown of circus troupes in China and has more than 300 circus troupes. (Photo by William Hong/Reuters)

Two elderly men smoking pipes of opium on a terrace in Korea. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). August 1950

Giffords Circus’s show is touring the UK. Established in 2000, Giffords Circus is a small circus company that delivers circus / theatre fusion to the villages and market towns of the south west. It combines dance, comedy, horses and live music in a two-hour show, located on village greens in a small white tent surrounded by handmade burgundy and gold showman’s wagons. Photographer Tom Pilston goes behind the scenes to meet the performers. Here: The incredible, gravity-defying Konjowoch Troupe. (Photo by Tom Pilston/The Guardian)

Battle-weary American troops withdraw from Yong San in Korea. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 1950

Elephant Maja of Circus Bush on his daily walk with Circus ringmaster Hardy Scholl (R) on Berlin streets in Berlin, Germany June 30, 2016. (Photo by Stefanie Loos/Reuters)

An elephant from Earl's Court Circus with a man in its mouth, 1928. P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.