Gosh, now that I'm retired I find myself having less computer time than before! How does that work anyway? I've been having a tad bit of a mental struggle trying to figure out how this whole circus thread should progress. There's plenty of material to keep the thread going except for a key element: I have trains, I have wagons, I have tents, I have figures. What's lacking is space - room to set this all up properly. You've seen how the suggestion of a circus can be successful in the small confines of my Edge of Town micro-layout, but that's about as good is it gonna get here for now. Believe me, I've been wracking my head over a solution for this and maybe there is in fact something that can be done - but not yet, too many other thing vying for my time at the moment.
Sooo, that being said, at the very least the circus thread can continue with more wagons. Ertl is widely known for their diecast vehicles in a variety of scales. What came as a surprise to me was their offering of circus wagons in cold cast resin! Back in 1997 they produced a four-wagon tribute to The Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The museum collection is one of the biggest in the country and has not only a ton of wagons on display, but many more stored on the property in buildings not open to the public. They also have a staff of skilled craftsmen who can either restore old wagons, or build totally new ones from scratch.
Today's featured wagon is the first of the four in the series and is my latest acquisition as it has been the hardest one to find. My example has some flaws, but I'm okay with them as it allowed me to finally acquire one after many years of searching for a price about half the going rate. Basically, the resin sides appear to be slightly off-kilter making some views to look a bit wonky. Oh well, from the side it makes for a great display piece! So without further ado, here's the Ertl Pawnee Bill Band Wagon along with my photo of it residing at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. Enjoy!
My photo of Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show Bandwagon at Baraboo, Wisconsin, 1991
Post card images from fleaBay (posted here to show the brief history of the wagon on the back of the card)
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