When I found the following paragraph which included a reference to my great great grandfather Lewis Logan Slater the lucky winner of " the silver cake basket" at a free concert on the streets of Severy, Kansas, I just had to find out what was going on.
[24 Oct 1890, Page 2 - Democratic Messenger at Newspapers.com]
Hamlin's Wizard Oil claimed to be able to cure just about any ailment* and spread the good news around the continent not just through print advertising but alto through its traveling concert tours. Here's a description of a Canadian troupe I found on Linda Knight Seccaspina's blog
Drawn by four white stallions, it served as a mobile performance stage, with a built-in parlour organ and lockers crammed with Hamlin’s medicines. Wizard Oil was emblazoned in gigantic letters across the sides. The troupe consisted of a driver, a lecturer and a male quartet. Hamlin enforced a rigid dress code. Some competitors posed as Indians, Quakers or mysterious healers from distant lands, but Wizard Oil president John Hamlin wanted his wagons and employees to project an image of professionalism. All employees were contractually bound to dress identically in high silk hats, frock coats, gray vests, striped trousers, spats and glossy patent-leather shoes.
[Source: lindaseccaspina.wordpress.com]
Through Google Books and HathiTrust I located a promotional song book printed by the company featuring "humorous and Sentimental Songs as sung throughout the United States by Hamlin's Wizard Oil Concert Troupes." Here's the cover and a couple of pages.
It all must have been as exciting for the residents of small towns throughout North America as the circus coming to town.
*Link to Wizard Oil and cancer cure claims
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