There's No Business Like Show Business

Firearms from the stage, screen and expositions are a hit at auction.

- BY STEVE FRIESEN

Annie Oakley probably never said “there’s no business like show business,” but, as far as Irving Berlin was concerned, she did.

There is no question that show business was very good to her. Already an excellent shot when she met Buffalo Bill in 1885, her next 16 years with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West catapulted her to stardom and international celebrity. Sharpshooting became a part of show business, something which Irving Berlin noted in the musical Annie Get Your Gun. This year show business became good business when Annie’s target variation Smith & Wesson New Model No. 3 sold for $323,125 in August.