circus and sideshow

The top lot at Potter & Potter’s auction of the collection of Dave and Mary Jane Price on Nov. 16 is Buffalo Bill’s First Wild West Performance Program, inscribed in ink to title page “William Jacobs/Omaha, Nebraska/1883/1st show.” William Jacobs was a private in the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Omaha, Nebraska beginning in February 1882. This program for Cody & Carver’s Rocky Mountain & Prairie Exhibition, with the Famed Scout and Indian Fighter Buffalo Bill (Hon. W.F. Cody), and Dr. W.F. Carver, King of Riflemen, and Acknowledged Champion Marksman of the World, Will Soon Appear in This City (Hartford, CT: Calhoun Printing Company, 1883) is likely the only surviving program of the initial performance of the Wild West show on May 19, 1883. It has a pre-sale estimate of $5,000-$7,000.
Posters

Circus, sideshow and oddities: Relics from bygone era coming to auction