WILLARD THE WIZARD

JIM, WILLARD. Will Exhibit in Big Tent at [blank] Willard the Wizard and Company in a Bewildering Oriental Production "Nights of Enchantment." Bandera, TX: J. Marvin Hunter's Printing House, [c.1900]. Broadside: 60.5 x 22.8 cm. Illustrated. Minor chipping along edges and a few separations. Very good. 

With a blank space left for the specific show location to be overprinted or written in as necessary. Illustrated with four wood engraved vignettes of tricks in progress. Jim Willard (1853-1935) was the original Wizard, but was followed in the business by his sons Harry and John Robert. At one point all three were Willard the Wizards crisscrossing the American Southwest putting on tent shows. This poster is almost certainly from the senior Willard based on the presence of his assistant "Nellie Davenport" who was actually his wife Lucy Mae Keafer. Dating this broadside is rather difficult, but according to this broadside: "Willard the Wizard has delighted and entertained thousands. Fifty years of his life have been given to the pleasing of great audiences." If this statement is correct, this would date this broadside around 1900.