In 1883, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show began in North Platte, Nebraska. Before it folded three decades later, the hunter-scout-turned-megastar had entertained over 50 million Americans and Europeans.
With 200 actors and 300 head of elk, deer, horses, mules, mountain sheep and buffalo, the show was a Wild West odyssey. Posters were one of the most powerful marketing tools used to promote the megastar. Made to impress the crowned heads of Europe and the masses in America, these colorful lithographic posters are now desirable collectibles. Never meant to survive 100 years, somehow they have.
In San Francisco, Greg Martin Auctions featured a selection of vintage Buffalo Bill posters in its October 28, 2002 Antique & Collectible Firearms auction. The sale totaled over $4.5 million.
Photo Gallery
-All images courtesy of Greg Martin Auctions-
(Bottom) Promotional hand-colored portrait photograph of Buffalo Bill Cody in buckskin show costume, holding a Winchester Model 1873 rifle; c. 1890s; 231⁄2 by 353⁄8 inches image; $5,320.
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