Old Milwaukee Days-Milwaukee Philatelic Society-1972

The Milwaukee Philatelic Society issued this illustrated cover to commemorate the Old Milwaukee Days Civic Celebration and the Fourth of July Schlitz Circus Parade. The parade featured a 40 horse hitch which was last attempted in 1904.  This envelope was carried via the Old Milwuakee Special Circus Train from Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin to Milwaukee on June 29, 1972 which is the date of the postmark.  The stamps featured on the cover are the 5 cent Circus stamp and the 3 cent State of Wisconsin - Forward Stamp.   

The envelope also features a City of Milwaukee Incorporation Seal and is autographed by Chappie Fox.  

Charles Philip "Chappie" Fox (May 27, 1913 - September 12, 2003) was a circus historian and philanthropist born in Milwaukee, WI.  He was responsible for the expansion of the Circus World Museum and helped found the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee.

Fox took over the tiny museum, in Baraboo, Wisconsin in 1960, and began to collect and restore antique circus wagons. These wooden wagons had been built in the late 19th and early 20th century, and had been in disrepair across the United States and Europe.  Today, the museum owns over 200 of these wagons.

In 1963, Chappie Fox and Ben Barkin, under the sponsorship of the Schlitz Brewing Company began the Great Circus Parade.

A self-trained circus historian, Fox wrote and edited many books about circus animals, advertising and imagery, and also authored many children's stories. He died of heart disease at a nursing home in Baraboo.

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