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Call Number
CWM Mss 70
CWM Ph 30

Title 
Dancey, Stephen R. Collection, 1877-1944                                                                                       .6 c.f. (2 boxes) 

Biography
Oscar Dancey, a native of Mendota, Illinois, temporarily traveled with the Pawnee Bill Wild West during the 1903 season as a member of the baggage horse stock crew. This brief experience led to a lifelong love of Wild West shows. Dancey’s passion was passed on to his grandson Stephen R. Dancey who built a large collection of documentary, photographic and advertisement ephemera relating to both Wild West shows and American circuses.

Scope and Content 
The collection is organized into two series MANUSCRIPTS and VISUAL MATERIALS. Both series are arranged alphabetically. The MANUSCRIPTS series (CWM Mss 70) contains an assortment of memorabilia from a variety of different circuses and Wild West shows. The series contains several items relating to the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus including a program of the show from 1906.

The VISUAL MATERIALS series (CWM Ph 30) contain a number of photographs of individual performers from the early years of the 20th century. The series also includes a circa 1944 image of the abandoned Ben Wallace Winter Quarters in Peru, Indiana.  Of particular note are two photo albums. One album contains small photographic prints of the Pawnee Bill Wild West and contains an extensive number of images taken by Harry V. Bock, a carpenter with the show who photographed the show between 1900 and 1905. The original negatives for many of the images in this album can also be seen in CWM Ph 2 Farnum, Allen L. Collection. The series also contains a photo album of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus from 1928 created by Pete Mardo. Mardo, whose birth name was Peter Guckeyson, was a clown for several different circuses including the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Sparks Circus, and Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. Mardo was known for assembling photo albums of the shows he was on and presenting copies to different members of the staff at the end of the season as mementos. 

Also included in the VISUAL MATERIALS series is a photograph of the gravesite of Dan Conklin, a former scout for Kit Carson and performer with Pawnee Bill’s Wild West who was killed during a storm which interrupted the performance of the show at Mendota, Illinois on October 6, 1903. 

Presented to Circus World Museum by Stephen R. and Carole Dancey, September, 2011.



CWM Mss 70
Container List
 
Box       Folder
                                  MANUSCRIPTS
Box 1     Folder 1       Adam Forepaugh Circus, Newspaper Ad, 1877
Box 1     Folder 2       Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, news clippings and advertisements, 1910
Box 1     Folder 3       Cole, Bert, Business Card, undated
Box 1     Folder 4       Gollmar Bros. Circus, route card, 1916
Box 1     Folder 5       Great Wallace Shows, Letter, 1906
                                  Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus 
Box 1     Folder 6              Press pass, 1929
Box 1     Folder 7              Program, 1906 
Box 1     Folder 8              Route Card, 1910, 1937
Box 1     Folder 9              Hagenbeck-Wallace Forepaugh-Sells Bros. Circus, ticket, 1935
Box 1     Folder 10     Ringling Bros. Circus, route book, 1895-1896

CWM PH 30
Container List 
Box       Folder

                                  VISUAL MATERIALS
Box 1     Folder 1       Ben Wallace Winter Quarters (Peru, Indiana), ca. 1944
Box 1     Folder 2       Cole, Bert and Bill Hart, undated
Box 1     Folder 3       Conklin, Dan, Gravestone, undated 
Box 1     Folder 4       Davenport, Lulu
Box 1     Folder 5       Enos, Mary and Vicia Davenport, 1934
Box 1     Folder 6       Gee, Daisy, 1900-1903
Box 1     Folder 7       Gibson, Jessie, undated 
Box 1     Folder 8       Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, Photo Album, 1928
Box 1     Folder 9       McDonald, Jean and Dortha Johnson, 1928
Box 1     Folder 10     Nelson Girls, 1911
Box 1     Folder 11     Pawnee Bill’s Wild West, Photo Album, 1901-1905
Box 1     Folder 12     Railroad Stock Car, Robbins Bros. Circus, ca. 1931
Box 1     Folder 13     Unidentified performers and elephant in spec wardrobe, undated 
Box 1     Folder 14     Watson, Lotta, 1899