305

Cyanotype of members of the Buffalo Bill Wild West troupe in a Vin Fiz promotional wagon.

[Hamilton, OH, 25 June 1912]
Cyanotype photograph, 3¼ x 5 inches, mounted on an album leaf with two smaller unrelated silver prints on verso; minor wear.

  • Notes: This image shows at least 10 American Indians in full show regalia parading through a small town on a cart advertising the popular soft drink "Vin Fiz." 

    This wagon was a feature of the combined Wild West-Far East show with Buffalo Bill Cody and Pawnee Bill Lillie in the spring and summer of 1912. One review describes "The Vin-Fiz six horse team of dapple grays driven by Billy Wales" (7 September 1912, Norfolk, NE Daily News). Billy Wales was a horse trainer best known for his work with the Budweiser Clydesdales. We can't make out the horses in this image, though. 

    With--another cyanotype from the same album as the Vin Fiz wagon image, apparently from the same day, which shows the Jewel Theatre in Hamilton, OH. A poster advertises the 1912 film "A Dash Through the Clouds," Monday 24 June. The website "Did Buffalo Bill Visit Your Town?" states that he was in Hamilton on 25 June 1912. 
  • Condition:
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November 20, 2025 10:30 AM EST
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