Still in search

The CFM is still in search of a curator. We have interviewed a number of good candidates and have a few more interviews scheduled. We hope to be able to make an announcement later this fall.
It has been interesting trying to find an individual with a good balance of firearms history and museum training. A large number of applicants are very strong on one side with little knowledge or experience of the other.
If you know of a highly qualified individual contact the Human Resources office at 307-578-4089.

June in Cody

We are into our busiest weeks of the year. 

This weekend (June 12-14) the CFM and the town of Cody host the Winchester Club of America annual gun show.  The show is at the Riley Arena (1400 Heart Mountain Street – Cody). 

Next weekend (June 19-21) the Winchester Arms Collectors Association annual show is also at the Riley Arena. 

The Records Office will be doing serial number searches for folks at both gun shows and offering discounts on CFM memberships.  I invite to stop by the shows if you are in the area.  

The rest of the  BBHC also has a lot going on this month with the Plains Indian Museum Powwow and the grand opening of the new Whitney Gallery of Western Art and many other activities.  The whole town bustles with events and activities so visit Cody in June!!

More Bad Guns

We were offered right of first refusal on a Bill Cody-related gun. This guns had a signed affidavit (from 1925) describing the history as a gift from Buffalo Bill to the seller (a long-time friend of Cody’s supposedly) in 1876. The seller of the gun was in dire financial straits and needed to sell the gun. The selling price, you ask? $1.00. Granted, this was 1925 and the dollar went a lot further, but one would imagine that you could get more mileage out of the Buffalo Bill association.

Regardless, we looked up the gun and determined that the gun was not made until 1904. Also, relying on the Buffalo Bill Museum’s list of people known to have relationships with Buffalo Bill, we found no mention of the seller.

We took a pass.

Lots to do

So I am watching it snow while thinking about all of the various and sundry things that are going on.

The BBHC is about to announce a new venture with some local Cody businesses. We will be producing a BBHC-approved reproduction of the Winchester Single-Shot Rifle (aka, the Model 1885). We are looking at a limited run of 100 guns at a decent premium. The unveiling of the prototype will take place at the Colorado Gun Collectors Association Show in Denver next month. If all goes well, we will be able to proceed to the next step and go all out. If this project is a success, we will look at making this the first of a series of five guns.

In preparation for my departure, I am trying to get things caught up administratively. There is a small pile of things that need resolved before I am out the door. Amongst these is my participation on the AAM reaccreditation committee.

As part of the 10-year cycle, we have to renew our accreditation with the American Association of Museums. The final package will fill about three 3″ binders. I am the tech-person and I have to assemble everything into something understandable. I know I have mentioned it before, but it is something that needs done before I become the ex-Curator.

Cheers,

Dave K.

Some Bad Guns Out There…

One of the most time-consuming, but interesting, aspects of life at the Cody Firearms Museum is responding to the literally thousands of inquiries we receive each year – not counting the more than 5,000 requests that reach the Cody Firearms Museum Records Office. One of the two Cody Firearms Museum Curatorial Assistants, Warren Newman, is responsible for replying to the vast majority of these inquiries. Whether by phone, email, or good old fashioned postal mail, your inquiries will get to us and we will get back to you.

Unfortunately, several recent inquiries point to an influx of guns onto the collector market that, while having a great story, appear to be in the Bad Gun category. We did not think too much of some photos sent to us by a gentleman hoping to get more information on a couple of his recent purchases. However, over the last few weeks, several other individuals asked us about similar guns. This prompted us to get some scans of a couple of pictures in order to show others what to look for if a gun appears to be too-good-to-be-true. Sorry about the images. We did not take them. We are also not disclosing the name of the individual who owns the guns and took the pictures or the individual makes and models of the guns on which the embellishments appear.

“Lillian Smith” gun, right side of stock

“Lillian Smith” gun, left side of stock

“Annie Oakley” gun, right side of stock

“Annie Oakley” gun, left side of stock

Gun Number 1 – Annie Oakley – 1st – Trick Shot World Champion

Where to begin?

Factually, I will agree with the idea that Annie Oakley was a great shot and, likely, the best shot of her day – male or female. However, there were few opportunities for shooters of the day to be crowned as a “Champion”, much less “World Champion” in anything other than target shooting (rifle or pistol) or shotgun competitions. Occasional matches between two renowned trick-shots would take place, but these were few and far between.

After a bad train wreck in 1901, Oakley left the Wild West and did not tour with the show again. As for Buffalo Bill and his show, they were not in St. Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. During the years 1903-1906, the Wild West was touring in Europe.

With that resolved, we move on to the markings and metal plates on the gun. The stampings on the left side of the stock are uneven (both in line, depth, and application) and likely of a style not available at the time (If someone knows more about the last 150 years of stencil/stamp design, please let us know!).

The metal plates on the gun’s right side are unevenly cut and, again, unevenly marked. On true prize guns from the era – especially to individuals of the stature of Annie Oakley – the name would have been nicely engraved on the frame of the gun or on a metal (brass) plate (also called an escutcheon) inlet into the stock.

There are simply too many things wrong with this gun to look at it as a legitimate prize gun owned by Annie Oakley. In order to legitimate it, there would have to be a proven chain of custody, identifying the gun by description and by serial number, from the initial owner to the current owner. This chain of custody does not include notarized letters by someone two or three generations removed. It does include diaries and journals, entries in wills, probate records, arrest records, other court documents, newspaper articles from the period in question, etc.

It is hard to do, but when everything falls into place, there is a real sense that there are no questions. If you have to “feel that it is right”, it is likely not a good thing.

Gun Number 2 – Lillian Smith – World Champion – 1888

Given the above look at the “Annie Oakley” gun, I will let the reader try to pick out some of the issues with this one but I do want to point out the military-style stamp used on the left side of the stock. Take a look at this one and then look at the “Annie Oakley” gun, above.

Lillian Smith was a real person. She was a known trick shot artist, toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West for a couple of seasons (1887-1889), and was a rival of Annie Oakley. With the dates of her employment with Cody’s outfit, you would think that there would be something on the gun tying Smith to Cody.

Take a look at a PBS page or the Wikipedia Entry for more information on Smith.

Busy, busy…

A lot of our friends assume that the winter is the slow season for us at the historical center. I like to think of it, however, using the metaphor of the duck on the pond. Everything above water is nice and calm like nothing is going on but the feet are just paddling away underwater.

Right now, the staff of the firearms museum, in tangent with other departments, is working on an inventory, verifying some paperwork for regulatory matters, working on label copy, and updating our own internal records for the objects in our collection.

The next few weeks are going to busy for me, personally, as I go to a gun show, present at Fourth Friday, and then head to meetings of a board on which I sit. The gun show is the Las Vegas Antique Arms Show at the Riviera Hotel (Jan. 16-18). Fourth Friday (Jan. 23) is a Winter event at the historical center. This month the focus is on the Firearms Museum. Following that, I am heading to Cheyenne for the Mountain-Plains Museums Association mid-winter board meeting (Jan. 29-31).

Should be fun!

Cheers,

Dave

XRF means X-Ray Fun!!!

Not really.

XRF is X-Ray Fluorescence. Essentially, it involves shooting low voltage x-rays at a target to determine the molecular makeup of the object.

Yesterday and today, we (staff of the BBHC) got to play with an XRF gun that we can use (for the next two weeks, at least) to determine the chemical makeup of everything from the alloy in a rifle barrel, the composition of gutta percha grips, and the type of brass used in a cartridge case. For non-gun objects, we looked at pigments in Native American clothing and accessories, individual pigments in a Remington watercolor, and the presence of arsenic in animal mounts.

Unfortunately, there is an expense that goes with the tool. I won’t go into it here, but if you know someone with deep pockets, send them my way!

Cheers,

Dave

Holiday Open House

Today is the day of our annual Holiday Open House – the busiest day of the year for the historical center with more than 3,000 people walking in the front door.

We have 15-20 musical groups, from grade school to professional, Santa Claus, Wyoming PBS, and all with free admission. The staff members who work today get a day off earlier in the week.

Later today, I am working as an emcee for a couple of the stages and sitting down for a book signing. Always a fun time.

It is always enjoyable as I get to show some of the gallery to some folks and I get to meet people from the area who would not normally have time to get to the museum during our regular work hours.

Well, time to get back to work!
Cheers,

Dave

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Winchester Wingo - in the original crates

I want to make this one a short one given that we are in a short week, if for no other reason.

Today I took a ride to a warehouse used by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center to store some of our oversized objects that need different housing. In the midst of the objects there are a Model T Ford, several wagons (horse-drawn), storage/shipping crates for past traveling exhibits, old office furniture, and (from the Cody Firearms Museum collection) a crated-up Winchester Wingo machine. This machine is one of two known to exist. It was designed to throw hollow balls of ice for use in an indoor target shooting game. The one that came to Cody from a private individual was, as far as I know, never unpacked.I know that some donors would be concerned to see something like this, but when we are dealing with something like the Wingo machine, it is better to have left it in the original packaging.

Also – on a separate note, I wanted to mention a new blog by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the shooting, hunting and firearms industry. I should also mention at this time that the Cody Firearms Museum is a non-profit member of the NSSF.

Time for me to go home for the day. Have a safe week and don’t eat too much!

Cheers,

Dave

Donating to a Museum

As I was cleaning some correspondence from my desk, I came across a question from a gentleman asking how to donate firearms to the Cody Firearms Museum.

This is one of the more common questions we receive. For the fast answer, a possible donor would contact the Curator of the relevant museum of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (in this case, me) and the Curator would determine if the object or objects would be appropriate to the collection.  If the Curator agrees to accept the gift, the donor would deliver the object(s) to the museum. The Curator or other staff member would produce a receipt and initiate all of the internal support processes.

If a tax deduction is desired, the donor must have an appraisal performed (preferably before the object arrives). This appraisal cannot be paid for by the museum and the museum cannot arrange the appraisal.If the donor is giving us the object to be sold to support the institution and the object is sold within a two year period, then the auction value becomes the value for tax purposes.

Once an object comes in, that is when the work starts. Besides processing the paperwork for the gift process (necessary for the signing of a deed of gift), the staff needs to accession the object into the collection. This process can take 6-8 hours and helps to create a record for the object, record the condition of the object, perform any necessary conservation or cleaning, and store the object.

If the object is to be exhibited, then there is an entirely different raft of issues and activities – but we can cover those later. In the meantime, you can see what happens on the large scale by looking at the re-installation of our Whitney Gallery of Western Art.

Cheers,

Dave K.