Treasures from Our West: Showmen’s League of America Photograph

Originally featured in Points West magazine in Spring 2016

Photograph, Showmen’s League of America’s 1st Annual Ball

It looks like a swanky affair is taking place in the ballroom of Chicago’s Hotel Sherman in this photograph dated March 4, 1914. Who better to dress “to the nines” than the Showmen’s League of America—and who better to take the helm as such an organization’s first president than the great showman himself, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody?

Buffalo Bill is the tallest figure in the front row, and while not wearing the fringed buckskin his life story might conjure up, he is certainly recognizable by his iconic goatee and his likeness on the banner in the background.

The Showmen’s League of America, founded in 1913 and still active today, defines itself, according to its website, as “a community of showpeople dedicated to service and fellowship.” Find out more at www.showmensleague.org.

Black and white photograph by Spandau & Coultry, Chicago, IL. MS 6 William F. Cody Collection. P.6.845

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