Buffalo Bill Gun

Toy gun made by the Milton Bradley Company

Buffalo Bill GunType| Toy gun

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Company| Milton Bradley
Country| United States
Availability| 1884–?

The Buffalo Bill Gun was one of the first toys made by the Milton Bradley Company. The toy was based on the popular Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.[1] The strenuous life, so widely favored as the century drew to its close, was reflected in many games that Americans played at home.[1] The Milton Bradley Company, like many other game manufacturers, was alert to the trend.[1] As soon as Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show had proved to be popular, company technicians devised the Buffalo Bill Gun, a wooden model that shot wooden pellets.[1]

## Overview[edit]

The popular Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show served as inspiration for the toy

The Buffalo Bill Gun was the most popular toy the company had produced to date. Appearing in 1884, it was immediately sold out and the Company could not keep up with the re-orders.[1] Company space was enlarged for this high demand for Buffalo Bill Guns, yet the production could still barely keep up with the demand. The American Bookseller called it "a wonderful demand for the 'Buffalo Bill' gun," and said, "The beauty of the gun is that it will shoot accurately almost any kind of missile: arrow, heavy shot, marbles, pebbles, beans, and, as was discovered last Fourth of July, cannon torpedoes."[2]

The expansion of the factory allowed the Company to produce other products that would not have been possible before expansion, such as the lawn game Enchantment, Pitch-a-Ring, Ring Toss, or Jackstraws. The popularity of the toy led to the production of inexpensive competitors; to compete with the knockoffs, Milton Bradley produced its own "cheap gun", the Springfield.[3]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Shea, James J.; Mercer, Charles E. (2010). It's All in the Game. Putnam. p. 145.
2. ^ "Springfield Notes". The American Bookseller. XVI (6): 312. September 15, 1884. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
3. ^ "Trade Items". The American Stationer: 533. May 6, 1886. Retrieved 10 July 2020.

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Milton Bradley Company

Products
(List)|

| Board games|

* 13 Dead End Drive
* Aggravation1
* Axis & Allies
* Battle Cry
* Battle Masters
* Battleship
* Broadsides and Boarding Parties
* Candyland
* The Checkered Game of Life
* Connect Four
* Conquest of the Empire
* Crossfire
* Dark Tower
* Don't Break the Ice1
* Dragonmaster
* Easy Money
* Enchanted Palace
* Fireball Island
* Focus1
* Fortress America
* Go to the Head of the Class1
* Guess Who?
* Headache1
* HeroQuest
* Hi Ho! Cherry-O1
* Hotel
* Loopin' Louie
* Mall Madness
* Mouse Trap (board game)
* Mystery Date
* Mystery Mansion
* Operation
* Park and Shop
* Pass the Pigs1
* Perfection1
* Pirate and Traveler
* Power Barons
* Pretty Pretty Princess1
* Rack-O
* Scattergories1
* Scotland Yard1
* Scrabble1
* Shogun
* Snakes and ladders1
* Square Mile
* Stratego1
* Thunder Road
* Torpedo Run!
* Trump: The Game
* Upwords
* Voice of the Mummy
* Which Witch?
* Why
* Yahtzee

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Electronic games|

* Big Trak
* Heads Up Action Soccer
* Merlin (console)
* Milton
* Microvision
* OMNI
* Simon
* Star Bird

Other games|

* Ants in the Pants1
* Buckaroo!1
* Don't Spill the Beans1
* Downfall
* Gator Golf
* Heroscape
* Hungry Hungry Hippos
* Jenga1
* KerPlunk1
* Knock Out
* Twister

Toys|

* Barrel of Monkeys
* Mr. Bucket
* Buffalo Bill Gun

Video games|

* Abadox1
* Cabal1
* California Games1
* Captain Skyhawk
* Digger T. Rock
* Jordan vs Bird: One on One1
* Marble Madness
* Race America
* Time Lord
* World Games1

Consoles|

* Vectrex

People|

* Milton Bradley

Related topics|

* Company building
* Gamemaster Series

Related companies|

* Hasbro
* McLoughlin Brothers
* Parker Brothers
* Playskool

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* 1Licensed or not originally published by MB
* 2Only in the United States and Canada

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