Bidspirit auction | Are You a Buffalo Bell

Are You a Buffalo Bell Toy - Made by the Gong Bell Company. East Hampton, Ct. - Circa 1900. From the Bob Stewart Collection. At first glance, the imagery for this bell toy seems too cryptic to decipher. However, plausible speculation suggests that the inspiration may stem from a drinking game that was played in the Old Wild West known as ”Buffalo”. In this odd ritual, a player was forced to chug the rest of his drink if he was seen drinking with his dominant hand. It was actually useful for a player to learn to drink with his non-dominant hand because this allowed him to reach for his pistol with his ”shooting” hand if he needed to. Once a gunslinger agreed to play the game of ”Buffalo”, they were meant to become a lifelong adherent to the rules of the game. Condition: Mint Condition.