Papers, 1898-1964.

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Papers, 1898-1964.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/173703125

Papers of Joseph Mercedes, a Chicago-born vaudeville entertainer and later, promoter of the Wisconsin tourist trade. The collection documents the success of his musical mind-reading act which he performed with Helene Clement (stage name "Mlle. Stantone") whom he married in 1918. After a stage accident crippled Mrs. Mercedes' hand, the couple moved permanently to their summer home in Minocqua, Wis. where in 1931 Mr. Mercedes organized the Heart O' the Lakes Association, later called the Wisconsin Tourist Bureau, with offices in Rhinelander, Wis. and Chicago, Ill. The papers include biographical information; personal and business correspondence; clippings and publicity material concerning the vaudeville act; miscellaneous ephemera and business papers relating to the Wisconsin Tourist Bureau; clippings concerning Mr. Mercedes' creation of the "Circus Sideshow of the Nineteenth Century" at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis.; and photographs covering the gamut of the couple's activities.

0.8 c.f. (1 archives box and 1 flat box),604 photographs,6 transparencies,3 drawings,117 pieces of ephemera,and13 booklets.

Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6926573

Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Heart O' the Lakes Association.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64f70jc (corporateBody)

Mercedes, Helene Clement.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pk202j (person)

Mercedes, Joseph, 1888-1966.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qn7qgh (person)

Circus World Museum (Baraboo, Wis.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6809t9p (corporateBody)

The museum was established in 1959 by a group of circus fans and a former Ringling Bros. attorney, John M. Kelley, under the auspices of Circus World Museum, Inc. Its mission is to document and disseminate information on American circus history. The site was chosen because it was the original winter quarters of the Ringling Bros. Circus. At the museum's creation, ownership of all collections and property was transferred to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. A lease management agreement w...

Wisconsin Tourist Bureau.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66b2cdt (corporateBody)