Buffalo Bill, Champion of the Wild West Hunters, from the Goodwin Champion series for Old Judge and Gypsy Queen Cigarettes 1888

Curator: It strikes me immediately how theatrical this rendering of Buffalo Bill feels, almost as if he’s presenting himself on a stage. Editor: Well, you're not far off. This is "Buffalo Bill, Champion of the Wild West Hunters," created by Goodwin & Company around 1888. It's a lithograph print, one of many that were packaged with Old Judge and Gypsy Queen Cigarettes. Think of it as early advertising. Curator: The color palette feels distinctly staged too – this teal blue background, the warm oranges, even the dark sheen on his boots all contribute to this heightened, almost mythical character. The real Buffalo Bill was a complex person. Does this rendering flatten him into pure symbol? Editor: In a sense, yes. Look at the materials – lithography allowed for mass production, cheaply disseminating this romanticized image. The focus was less on accurate depiction and more on building a brand, a cultural icon. Think of how easily consumable this image would have been—both as a small physical object and a symbol. Curator: Absolutely. And note how carefully crafted the costume is. The fringed buckskin jacket speaks to frontier ruggedness, but it's also deliberately picturesque. Even the crop seems calculated to elevate him beyond the reality of the labor, but at the same time… there's an ambiguity, isn’t there? Editor: Ambiguity? How so? It seems straightforward promotion to me, designed for maximum sales. Curator: Maybe. But observe his posture; that somewhat hesitant gaze, and the almost droopy holding of that little whip.. He looks not like an untamed hunter, but rather, like an entertainer—a spectacle presented for mass consumption. Editor: So, you’re suggesting the print inadvertently reveals something deeper, about the manufactured nature of heroism and the commodification of the Wild West image? Curator: Exactly. The print's true value might lie not in what it consciously promotes, but what it unintentionally reveals about the social and cultural context of the time, a point which the mass production certainly helped proliferate! Editor: Hmm, it gives me a bit more to chew on – beyond just the tobacco it was selling! I think you may have shed light on the layers of production involved. Curator: Hopefully, we’ve encouraged others to look closely, and consider just how powerful and persuasive visual shorthand can be.