DESIGNER UNKNOWN TROTTING-CLUB-LEVALLOIS. 49 3/4x35 7/8 inches. Emile Levy, Paris. Condition B / B+: losses and discoloration along vertical and horizontal folds; discoloration in right margin; light foxing in image. Mounted on board? Framed. A whimsical fantasy portrayal, which by today's standards would be considered false advertising, of Buffalo Bill on horseback racing against a bicycle. The Trotting Club in Levallois was a sporting ground located in a suburban village to the west of Paris. As Levallois grew into an industrial city, filled with automobile and bicycle factories, the "stadium" did not survive. In fact, little is known about the venue except for a mention that it was used by the Parisian Standard Athletic Club (a football--soccer--team), where they held one of the earliest matches for which admission was charged. It is safe to assume that the arena was not nearly as big and luxurious as it is depicted. The exact nature of the event advertised is lost to time (the poster doesn't even give the date), but surely it did not involve Buffalo Bill himself. After the Wild West impresario made his successful debut on the European continent in 1889, hucksters, marketers and promoters began to take advantage of his fame. At least one other poster exists advertising a race between "Buffalo Bill" and a tandem bicycle (on that poster, the Frontiersman appears as S. F. Cody (his real name was William Frederick Cody). Here, the promoters don't even use a fake name, merely relying on his image as an inducement for punters to buy tickets. Despite the bogus nature of the event (some claim the events were always geared so the horseman would win), the poster itself is well designed, with the central image of the racers (and some of the typography) encapsulated within a horseshoe.
