?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
ANONYMOUS ON THE BOWERY / STEVE BRODIE. 1895. 82 7/8x39 1/4 inches. The Strobridge Litho., Co., New York. Condition B+: repaired tears in margins and image; horizontal folds. Steve Brodie was a Brooklyn bookmaker who was immortalized by his allegedly successful 135-feet jump off the Brooklyn Bridge on a $200 bet on July 23, 1886. His stunt was performed only months after another man, Robert Odlum, died attempting the same feat. The stunt was advertised in various newspapers, and crowds thronged the area for the spectacle. Actually, Brodie fooled the crowd by throwing a dummy in his place. Using his new-found fame, he opened the New York City Tavern and Museum in the Bowery that became a mecca for fans. Items on display included the clothes he wore the day of the jump and a signed affidavit from the barge captain who fished him out of the river. Brodie also became a vaudeville star and had roles in "Mad Money" (1891) and "On the Bowery" (1894). This poster advertises the latter. In the play, Brodie recreated his famous jump on stage. In 1933, Raoul Walsh filmed The Bowery, with George Raft portraying Brodie, and co-starring Fay Wray, star of that year 's King Kong. A fictional portrayal of Brodie and his stunt appeared in a 1949 Bugs Bunny Cartoon, "Bowery Bugs". In the years following Brodie's stunt, the term to 'pull a Brodie' was used to denote doing something dangerous.
