A Visual Representation Between Ownership and Marketing in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Discussions of women and firearms in the United States are often framed as a modern phenomenon, frequently tied to recent surges in female participation in gun ownership. Yet women’s engagement with firearms stretches back centuries, cutting across domestic, social, cultural, and political contexts. Whether for protection, livelihood, recreation, or symbolic association, women have long been part of the story of arms in America and beyond. This exhibit seeks to situate that participation within a larger historical framework, with particular attention to the ways in which the firearms industry has marketed to women as both consumers and cultural figures.
By the late nineteenth century, the rise of mass advertising transformed how Americans encountered products, including firearms. Just as department stores, magazines, and catalogs began targeting women as household decision-makers and consumers, firearms companies adapted their strategies to address female audiences. Advertisements frequently placed women into identifiable categories: the vigilant protector defending her home and children, the adventurous sportswoman asserting skill and independence, or the stylish figure whose marksmanship enhanced her appeal to men. These carefully constructed archetypes offered aspirational images, but they also reflected and reinforced cultural assumptions about gender, safety, and desirability that resonate, sometimes uncomfortably, into the present.
The firearms industry also sought to create tangible products for this perceived market. In 1902, Smith & Wesson introduced a line of revolvers explicitly marketed as the Ladysmith, one of the earliest examples of a gun branded specifically for women. The marketing materials underscored both utility and femininity, presenting the firearm as a tool for self-defense while simultaneously emphasizing small size, elegance, and suitability for women’s hands. Such messaging revealed how the industry negotiated notions of gender, producing objects that were at once functional weapons and cultural symbols.
Advertising of this period did more than promote products; it created a visual and rhetorical language that shaped popular ideas about women and guns. Posters, catalog engravings, and magazine spreads often blended images of refinement and danger, elegance and empowerment. At the same time, these depictions carried stereotypes that positioned women within narrowly defined roles. For example, promotional imagery suggested that a woman who mastered shooting might be admired by men, echoing broader cultural narratives in which women’s accomplishments were validated through male approval. These messages complicate how we read such material today: they can be simultaneously empowering and restrictive, progressive in granting women visibility yet regressive in the constraints they imposed.
This gallery presents ten examples of firearms advertisements from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that targeted or depicted women. These objects are artifacts not only of marketing but also of gendered discourse, consumer culture, and the negotiation of identity. Visitors are encouraged to approach them with a critical eye, recognizing both the historical conditions under which they were produced and the lasting influence they exerted. While some imagery may strike contemporary viewers as offensive or may even have been controversial in its own day, these advertisements are invaluable sources. They provide insight into how firearms companies conceptualized women as consumers, how women were positioned in the broader narrative of American modernity, and how the intersection of gender and gun culture continues to evolve.
Exhibit
“The Summer Girl is always surrounded by admirers” Forest and Stream Magazine July 23, 1898 Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, MAR.FORS.1898.7.23
This 1898 advertisement for the Marlin Model 1897 Rifle depicts the “Summer Girl” proudly displaying her bullseye target to a group of admiring men. While ostensibly celebrating female marksmanship, the image reinforces contemporary gender expectations by linking a woman’s shooting ability to her attractiveness and social desirability. Rather than framing skill as independent achievement, the advertisement illustrates how firearms marketing simultaneously granted women visibility and constrained them within stereotypes that equated competence with charm. Yet for some women, such portrayals also offered an empowering validation of their skill and presence in public recreational life.
“Papa says it won’t hurt me” McClare’s Magazine July 1, 1903 & Saturday Evening Post 1913Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, IVJ.MCM.1903.7 & Google Images
This Iver Johnson advertisement boldly claimed “accidental discharge impossible,” a reassurance dramatized by depicting a child holding a revolver pointed dangerously near her own face. Such imagery highlights early twentieth-century marketing strategies that often used women and children to promote safety and accessibility, even when the visuals contradicted basic firearm handling practices. A decade later, the company reprised the theme with greater attention to safety. While troubling to modern viewers, these advertisements reflect efforts to normalize firearms in domestic life and can also be read as affirmations of technological progress, underscoring manufacturers’ confidence in their products’ reliability.
“Papa says it won’t hurt me” McClare’s Magazine July 1, 1903 & Saturday Evening Post 1913Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, IVJ.MCM.1903.7 & Google Images
This 1905 Stevens advertisement depicts a woman confidently sighting her firearm alongside her bird dog, presenting her as an active participant in the sporting tradition. Unlike many contemporaneous ads that emphasized femininity or domesticity, this image highlighted competence and partnership with an animal long associated with serious hunting culture. By positioning a female figure in a role typically reserved for men, the advertisement challenged prevailing gender norms while still appealing to aspirational ideals of leisure and refinement. For some viewers, such portrayals could be read as empowering, affirming women’s rightful place in outdoor recreation and sporting life.
“The Story of Stevens” National Sportsman Magazine September 1, 1905Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, STEV.NS.1905.9
This 1907 Smith & Wesson advertisement described its revolver in terms of “beauty, grace, and extreme care,” which are attributes more often applied to women than to firearms. In doing so, it blurred the line between marketing the product and reinforcing cultural expectations of femininity. At the same time, the ad reflected the growing presence of women in target shooting, a pastime popularized by figures such as Annie Oakley, who founded clubs and offered training for female shooters. While projecting gendered ideals onto the object itself, the campaign also indirectly affirmed women’s legitimacy as participants in organized shooting sports.
“It embodies the famous SMITH & WESSON qualities of beauty, grace, and extreme care in make-up and finish” Munsey Magazine July 1, 1907Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, SMW.MM.1907.7
Unlike advertisements aimed at recreational shooting, this 1907 Smith & Wesson campaign emphasized personal security, assuring women they could master a revolver quickly and no longer feel “helpless” in the absence of men. The ad reflects a longstanding marketing strategy that leverages fear and vulnerability to promote self-defense products. At the same time, it positioned women as independent actors capable of taking responsibility for their own protection, a significant departure from the era’s dominant domestic ideals. Thus, even as it reinforced anxieties, the message also offered empowerment through knowledge, skill, and the promise of self-reliance.
“Any woman can learn how to use a SMITH & WESSON in a few hours…she will no longer feel a sense of helplessness when male members of the family are absent” The Outing Magazine August 1, 1907Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, SMW.OM.1907.8
This 1914 Marlin advertisement returned to the sporting theme, depicting a woman proudly holding her slide-action shotgun under the caption, “Isn’t it a beauty?” The phrasing simultaneously praised the firearm’s craftsmanship and projected gendered ideals of attractiveness, linking aesthetic value to both the gun and its user. Yet by featuring a woman as the central figure in a hunting context, the ad also normalized female participation in sport shooting and presented her as a competent outdoorswoman. While reinforcing beauty standards, the imagery nonetheless expanded the cultural space in which women could be publicly associated with firearms and field pursuits.
“Isn’t it a Beauty?” Outer’s Book October 10, 1914Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, MAR.OB.1914.10
Published during World War I, this Iver Johnson advertisement urged “the thoughtful soldier” to provide his wife with a revolver before departing for military service. The ad reflected both the anxieties of wartime separation and the firearm industry’s ability to link personal protection with national duty. By situating the revolver as a soldier’s parting gift, the campaign emphasized vulnerability but also offered reassurance—promising that women could maintain security at home in their husbands’ absence. While framed through a paternalistic lens, it nonetheless suggested women’s capacity to assume responsibility for their own safety during a moment of profound social upheaval.
“Now you won’t feel afraid” Coller’s National Weekly May 11, 1918Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, IVJ.CNW.1918.5.11
This 1919 Dominion Shotgun Shells advertisement presented sport shooting as equally suited to men and women, framing the pastime as a shared arena of skill and recreation. Unlike many contemporaneous ads that relied on gendered tropes or fear-based appeals, this campaign emphasized parity, depicting women as natural participants in outdoor sport. In doing so, it both reflected and encouraged the growing cultural legitimacy of female shooters in North America. While still embedded in a male-dominated industry, the ad’s straightforward acknowledgment of women as sporting equals marked a progressive departure, offering a vision of inclusivity that foreshadowed later shifts in recreational culture.
“It’s the greatest sport of man or woman” Rod and Gun, Canada June 1, 1919Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, DCC.RGC.1919.6
This 1921 Ithaca advertisement featured Mrs. Harrison, a competitive shooter, as its spokesperson, reflecting the long tradition of women in organized marksmanship following pioneers like Annie Oakley. By showcasing a female athlete, the ad appealed to women by presenting competitive shooting as both respectable and attainable. At the same time, the decision to identify her only by her husband’s surname underscores the era’s gender conventions, which often obscured women’s individual identities. Nevertheless, the campaign highlighted women’s expertise in the sporting world and helped legitimize their place in competitive shooting, offering an empowering model of skill and accomplishment.
“Mrs. Harrison says that any woman can break more targets with an Ithaca” National Sportsman October 1, 1921Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA; Gift of Roy Marcot, Tucson, Arizona. MS111 Roy Marcot Firearms Advertisement Collection, ITH.NS.1921.10
This advertisement uses a female competitive shooter in its advertising. There is a long lineage of female competitive shooters in American history. Following in the footsteps of Annie Oakley, this shooter is used to help sell the product to women although it would be nice to know her first name.
“Our women-folk are mighty independent now-a-days” Unknown, 1926Credit Line: Google Images
This 1926 advertisement proclaimed, “Our women-folk are mighty independent now-a-days,” yet the accompanying message perpetuated a familiar damsel-in-distress trope. Rather than appealing directly to women as consumers, the ad reassured male buyers that the firearm was safe “even for her.” In doing so, it reinforced paternalistic attitudes, presenting women’s independence as conditional and mediated through male authority. Still, the language acknowledged shifting cultural norms by recognizing women’s growing visibility in public life. While framed in condescension, the ad inadvertently underscored the inevitability of women’s presence in firearms culture, marking a transitional moment between restriction and broader acceptance.
Continuity and Change in Women’s Firearms Culture
Taken together, the advertisements from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries reveal both the inclusion and limitation of women in firearms culture. Companies simultaneously invited women into the world of shooting sports, self-defense, and domestic security, while framing their presence through restrictive gendered tropes: the protective mother, the admired sportswoman, the dependent wife, or the object of male reassurance. These tensions carried into later decades, where advertising often oscillated between empowerment and paternalism.
By the mid-twentieth century, firearms marketing frequently reflected broader cultural attitudes toward women. Companies employed sensational imagery, at times even hiring Playboy photographers to depict women in sexualized campaigns such as Winchester’s “Bird Busters” series of the 1960s and 1970s. These images reinforced women as spectacle rather than participant, catering primarily to male consumers while still using women’s visibility as a selling point. Similarly, Smith & Wesson and other firms experimented with placing advertisements in mainstream women’s magazines like Ladies’ Home Journal and Red Book. These ads often relied on fear-based appeals, promising safety for “the woman alone,” yet such messaging ultimately proved unappealing to editors and audiences. By the late 1970s, gun ads had largely disappeared from these publications, reflecting the cultural and commercial limits of such strategies.
Yet the second half of the twentieth century also witnessed significant shifts in women’s ownership and self-representation. Women & Guns magazine, founded in 1989, marked a turning point by offering a platform designed by and for women, emphasizing knowledge, safety, and autonomy. That same year, the National Shooting Sports Foundation began formally tracking women who took out hunting licenses, a metric that confirmed women’s growing presence in outdoor culture. Firearms manufacturers responded: Smith & Wesson reintroduced the LadySmith line, and the popularity of these models was such that the company had to create a separate “New Line” of revolvers to meet broader consumer demand. Unlike earlier eras when guns “for women” were niche or novelty items, these late twentieth-century products reflected women’s increasing assertiveness as independent consumers and active shooters.
Today, women’s involvement in firearms ownership is both more visible and more diverse than at any point in history. Recent studies indicate that Black women are among the fastest-growing groups of new gun owners in the United States, with surveys showing a 87% increase in participation between 2015 and 2020 (National Shooting Sports Foundation, 2021). This demographic expansion challenges the industry to reckon with long-standing narratives and to recognize the multiplicity of women’s identities, experiences, and motivations.
The history of women and firearms is thus a story of negotiation: between exclusion and inclusion, between stereotype and empowerment, between marketing constructs and lived reality. Advertisements have raised women up as skilled athletes, responsible defenders, and independent consumers, but they have also sought to confine women within enduring molds of beauty, dependency, and desirability. This exhibit encourages viewers to consider both aspects of that legacy. Women have always been part of firearms culture, and their growing visibility continues to reshape the conversation, not as novelty, but as necessity.