W. C. FIELDS - DOCUMENT SIGNED 12/29/1916 - HFSID 283836

W. C. FIELDS
Signed contract for purchase and delivery of a Phaeton automobile from a Cadillac dealership in Chicago (1916). Itemized bill for the "fully loaded" luxury car includes a credit for trade-in of his 1915 Pathfinder.
Document signed: "W. C. Fields/Sherman Hotel", 1 page, 8½x11. Chicago, 1916 December 29. Also signed "H. M. McCord" as Sales Manager.Signed order form for one Type 55 Phaeton, with the following extra equipment: 1 Bumper ($10), 1 Spotlight ($5), Royal Cord tires all around ($70), 2 extra Royal Cord tires ($101.27), 2 extra Tubes ($12.73), 1 extra Rim ($7.25). Total price = $2,471.25. The order is contingent on the satisfactory sale of Fields' 1915 Pathfinder touring car, provided by him in partial payment. Two filing holes at left edge. Lightly toned and soiled at edges. "Duplicate" stamp at upper right corner. Upper left corner has small staple holes and is lightly creased. Horizontal mailing folds. Otherwise, fine condition. Accompanied by typed letter (1 page, 8½x11) to Fields from H. M. McCord, dated 1917 January 3, informing him that the Pathfinder has been sold, for a $400 credit toward his purchase price, and assuring him of good service on his new Phaeton. Lightly toned. Horizontal mailing folds. Upper left corner has small staple holes and is lightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition. Red-nosed, gravel-voiced, bottle-hitting American comedian W.C. Fields (1880-1946), born William Claude Dukenfield, began his film career in silents. He later excelled in such films as David Copperfield (as Micawber), My Little Chickadee (with Mae West) and The Bank Dick. The vaudeville veteran, who appeared in every version of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1915 to 1921, made his last film, Sensations of 1945, in 1944. Nobody contributed more wry quotations (such as "Anyone who hates children and animals can't be all bad.") to American folklore. An established vaudeville star since the turn of the century, and also featured on stage and in silent films by 1915, Fields could well afford the Phaeton 55, which boasted a V-8 engine by Fisher. His trade-in, the 1915 Pathfinder, was itself a quality car, touted as the "King of Twelves" and competing with Cadillac in the luxury car market. Two items.