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Colt: The Legacy of a Legend
(Reprinted from The Gun Report, April 2003)
 The
Buffalo Bill Historical Center will explore the history and artistry of
the world's most famous firearms, and the life and times of their
innovative creator, Samuel Colt, when it opens an exhibition May 16th
called "Colt: The Legacy of a Legend."
The display of approximately 800 carefully selected firearms, presented in
the context of six thought-provoking themes, represents the most
historically significant exhibition of Colt firearms during the past 100
years, according to Interim Curator Warren Newman of the Historical
Center's Cody Firearms Museum.
"With a proud colt as his trademark, Sam Colt made his name and his guns
international legends," Newman says. "They still are - more than 140 years
after his death."
About 100 lenders from the Colt Collectors Association, additional private
collectors and several museums are contributing to the display of firearms
ranging from the earliest of Colt's products to those manufactured in
modern times. This "almost incredible" array of firearms will represent
the legacy of Colt and its impact on our society, Newman says.
Even people who are not interested in firearms will be intrigued to learn
about Samuel Colt - a gifted man who lived his short life "filled with
intensity and inventive ingenuity" as he developed his ideas for a
functional and reliable revolving cylinder handgun.
"He gave substance to his ideas by carving the parts for such a gun from
pieces of wood," Newman said. "Those priceless carvings will provide one
of the many highlights of the exhibition."
During his 48-year life, Colt pioneered the principles of interchangeable
parts and mass production that would become hallmarks of the American
Industrial Revolution. He explored advertising and marketing techniques
that ushered in a new era in merchandising.
Among its various themes, "Colt: The Legacy of a Legend," will provide a
glimpse into Colt factories that operated much differently than the
mundane and tedious manufacturing processes employed by most 19th and 20th
century factories.
"Colt's factories in New Jersey and Connecticut were more than mere
workplaces," Newman said. "These were communities of people, rather than
just jobs. They provided well-paid workers with a sense of belonging to a
worthy endeavor."
The Colt exhibition also explores the "Myth of the West" as portrayed by
historians, artists, actors in Buffalo Bill's Wild West, contemporary
movie and television actors, and "often imaginative journalists."
"Through this imagery, we have developed remarkably similar mental
pictures of cowboys and Indians, lawmen and outlaws, gunfighters and
shootouts," Newman said. "They have become an integral part of the fiber
of our nation, and the heart of the captivating story of the American
West."
Visitors will especially enjoy the exhibitions treatment of historic
firearms not only as tools of westward expansion, but also as works of art
produced by "extraordinary workers."
"Their engraving, inlaying, metal finishing and woodworking skills created
highly embellished special order and presentation firearms of striking
beauty," Newman said. "The rich gaining of wooden stocks and handles was
enhanced by checkering and elaborate hand carving."
Newman says the most "unexpected" theme of the Colt exhibition will be the
phenomenon of the collector and his collections.
"Sometimes considered compulsive behavior,
collecting is a nearly universal activity," Newman said. "Almost everyone
collects something. The impulse is diversely motivated by the desire to
acquire, the profit motive, the pursuit of knowledge, a fascination with
history and the excitement of discovery."
The exhibition has been developed in cooperation with the Colt Collectors
Association and the Colt's Manufacturing Company. Because the firearms on
display are on loan to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, it will not be
possible for the exhibition to travel to other venues following its
closure in October.
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center, open daily through the spring and
summer, is comprised of five museums devoted to western cultural and
natural history: the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Buffalo Bill Museum,
Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, and the Draper Museum of
Natural History in addition to the McCracken Research Library. For general
information, call (307) 587-4771 or visit
www.bbhc.org.
Reprinted from The Gun Report Magazine, April, 2003, p. 71
Copyright The Gun Report Magazine, 2003.
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