This collection is unprocessed. Materials are arranged in the order received.
Accession No. TRI.2014.0030: Purchased, March 2014; Accession No. TRI.2016.0070: Purchased, 2016 December; Accession No. TRI.2016.0071: Purchased, 2016 December; some accessions unknown
[identification of item], Wild West Shows Collection, SPEC.TRI.WWC, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, Ohio State University
Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.
This collection is unprocessed. Finding aid written by: Courtney Bishop, 2017 September; Courtney Bishop, 2021 May
Wild West Shows were outdoor extravaganzas that came out of the Great Plains during the late 19th and early 20th century. The shows displayed events of the Old West, beginning in 1883 with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Buffalo Bill's show did reenactments of frontier events and displays of western outdoors skills, such as marksmanship. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody (1846-1917) was a guide, scout, frontiersman, showman, actor, entrepreneur, and founder of Buffalo Bill's Wild West. During the first season of the show his partner, Dr. William F. Carver, was an exhibition shooter. Cody and Carver had a falling out and became rivals with their own wild west shows.
The Wild West Shows Collection contains programs and postcards for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows, one of which is in French, and a program for “Dr. Wm. F. Carver Champion Shot of the World.” Materials are dated circa 1888 to 1912.