This amazing little film clip was shot by Thomas Edison in 1894, showing famous shooter Annie Oakley hitting both still and moving targets.Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey, 1860-1926) was a sharpshooter who had starred since 1885 in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. She was born in rural Ohio and was supporting her widowed mother and siblings by hunting, when she was only nine years old. When she was 21, she met her future husband, sharpshooter Frank E. Butler, when she defeated him in a shooting contest. She was one of the first female celebrities in America. The poster image is from Wikipedia.
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Thank you to Bearded Lady (Carlyn), who writes at The Raucous Royals and The Ballyhoo (both well worth a visit), for the Great Buddy Award!
12 comments:
That is too cool! I had no idea any film of Annie Oakley even existed. What a treat, Lidian - thanks for sharing!
The little film is fabulous! It didn't realize that there were films created that long ago. Thanks for sharing. www.satisfiedsole.com
WOW! This is especially relevant because the kids and I just saw "Annie Get Your Gun" again. This is too neat!
Laura - I was so excited to find this clip, I knew I had to use it. I'm so glad you liked it!
Pam - There are some amazing little films from the 1890s, lots of them made by Edison.
Mrs. Mecomber - It really is cool, apparently she could slice a playing card in two with one shot, i wish Edison had filmed that! :)
My great-grandmother got to see her in one of her shows, probably with Wild Bill Hickock.
How cool is that! and taken by Edison. What an wonderful time in History that was. I wonder if Sara Palin looked up to her?
I love the variety of stuff you can find on YouTube!
The History Detectives did a segment on Annie and I believe they used this film.
She really was extraordinary as are you.
-fM
I love anything like this! Funnily enough I was looking at pictures of Annie a couple of days ago on Jamd.
Miriam - That is amazing, is there any record of what she thought of the show?
Laura - I have no idea! :)
Bill - It really is wonderful what people have uploaded to YouTube.
footnoteMaven - Thank you, and you also.
Alison - That's serendipity! :)
Wow, she is good! Great find!
As to what Annie thought of the show... do you mean the movie clip or Buffalo Bill's Wild West?
Annie was very professional, loved to perform, loved gimmicks and gadgets and new tricks. She was very loyal to the Wild West Show, only leaving it when Buffalo Bill began to get jealous of her stardom eclipsing his own, began sandbagging her with other inferior acts. She later patched it up with Buffalo Bill, rejoined the show and deeply mourned Bill at his passing in 1917.
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