Wild West Show-101 Ranch letterhead-1928-Magician Valcarte (Val Evans)-vFINE-Af

Description

Wild West Show-101 Ranch letterhead-1928-Magician Valcarte (Val Evans)-vFINE-
(No Reserve-Bid & the Item Will Sell)
ITEM:  Here is a beautiful color letterhead for the 101 Ranch REAL WILD WEST SHOW, dated Jan. 18th, 1928.
J.  H.  Oyler, the show manager, writes to Harry Valcarte (Magician Val Evans) in Peabody, Massachusetts.  Valcarte had probably written earlier seeking to be booked in the side show at the circus.  Letter says that he should write immediately. Signed in ink on the bottom, "
John H. Oyler
".    Image on top of cowboy on a bucking bronco, surrounded by Native American items.
From Wikipedia:
The Millers' neighbor Major Gordon W. Lillie, who performed as
Pawnee Bill
, motivated the Millers to produce a
Wild West Show
of their own. The Millers made their transition from putting on local shows to the national scene in 1907, when they performed at the
Jamestown Exposition
in
Virginia
.
Later in 1907, the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show began the tour circuit in
Brighton Beach
, New York. Joe Miller, the eldest son, was an exceptional equestrian and star performer. Over the course of the show's history, its cast included
Lillian Smith
,
Bill Pickett
, Bessie Herberg,
Bee Ho Gray
,
Tom Mix
,
Jack Hoxie
,
Mexican Joe
, Ross Hettan, and an elderly
Buffalo Bill
.
The Miller brothers came late into Wild West Show business and suffered financially along with the other shows after the invention of motion pictures. Their show had more problems than most in a business that was harsh in the best of times. During their first year on the circuit, they suffered a serious railroad accident. Later several members of their cast contracted typhoid fever.
In 1908, when Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill combined their shows into an extravaganza that broke records at Madison Square Gardens in New York City, the Miller Brothers took their show abroad. In England, the British military confiscated most of the 101's horses, stagecoaches, and automobiles to build up for war, as tensions were building related to the pending World War I. When the Millers' show toured in Germany, authorities arrested some of their Oglala Sioux performers on suspicion of being Serbian spies, they were never seen again. A frantic Zack Miller managed to get the rest of cast out of Germany via Norway, and then to England. Once in London, however, he had difficulty finding a steamship that would sell his people passage. Finally, he obtained passage for his cast on an American ship. Once the cast returned to Oklahoma, the eldest brother Joe Miller refused to pay the Indian cast overtime. As a result, the entire Indian cast quit the show.
By 1916, the two younger Miller brothers abandoned trying to work with their volatile oldest brother. George Jr. and Zack worked at the ranch, while Joe schemed to make the Wild West Show a financial success. Joe Miller hired an out-of-work, aging, and ill Buffalo Bill to star in a World War I recruitment show called the "Pageant of Preparedness." Soon Cody quit the show; he died within a year. Still unwilling to let the show close, Joe continued to operate on a smaller scale. In 1927, Joe was unsuccessful in his attempts to sell his show to the American Circus Corporation.
DATE: Jan.18, 1928
SIZE:  8 1/2 by 11 inches.
COND:  Minor use marks.   Has been folded for mailing. All  in otherwise very Fine, almost Mint condition.  Please view the attached image to see the quality of this fine item.
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