I’ve been staying with my Mom on weekends.
Luckily she is almost as big fan of the Old Westerns as I am.

So, watching all these 100% historically accurate westerns from the 1950’s and 60’s made me realize something.
I bet you couldn’t hardly get insurance on a saloon in the Old West. It seems that is the first place to get shot up, trashed out and just in general wrecked when trouble starts.
Busted furniture, shattered plate glass windows (and bar mirrors), etc.
I’m sure the “Ladies” upstairs qualified for hazard pay from all the 45 slugs passing through their floorboards.

It’s no wonder they couldn’t afford to properly attach the stairway bannisters that led upstairs.

I've thought the same thing. A fight or shootout over every insult and accusation of card cheating, who could afford the cost of all that damage? Every saloon owner should have invested in metal chairs, plastic cups, plastic whiskey bottles and lots of chewing gum to plug all those bullet holes in the walls.

And it must be tough to keep rain out after everyone has fired shots into the ceiling!

And there are guns lying around everywhere that no one ever picks up. Every time someone gets told 'toss it on the ground' everyone just walks away and leaves it after the scene is done.

The rates were probably sky high, because in the old TV westerns, the writers never seemed to adjust the prices down accordingly for the time period.

And the water trough out front....was that the saloon owner’s responsibility? Or a municipal service?
Those got lots of holes also.

Glass coverage must've been insane too. Somebody was ALWAYS getting tossed out a window big enough to drive a stagecoach through.

Thick skins too, nobody ever seemed to bleed much from the experience.

Ammo sales would've been the business to be in.

Y'all recognized the fact there was a VERY ample supply of replacement stock, right?

Broken stuff was replaced within a day or two according to some of the storylines.

They ran out of money paying for the stagecoach insurance.

That and buying trains that only go slower than horses...

Speaking of how slow travel was....what if your insurance adjuster was from out of town?
In the fort night it took him get on-site, your saloon (or mercantile, those were hot spots for trouble too, apparently) could be trashed three, four, maybe 1/2 dozen times. How do you start the paperwork for multiple claims?
Or do you just get the last one?

quote:

Originally posted by hudr:
And the water trough out front....was that the saloon owner’s responsibility? Or a municipal service?
Those got lots of holes also.

How come the same cowboy, who the day before was shooting silver dollars out of the air, now can't hit a bad guy, whose head is a foot over the water trough?

A friend of mine had a Colt SAA that was a family heirloom. Made 1888. Seemed to be tight and operating properly. We loaded some .45 Colt black powder rounds to see how it shot.
At 15 yards, you were lucky if you could put all 6 into about a 6 inch circle. Not a tack driver. Huge fun, though. And it was cool to shoot a true piece of history.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

Broken stuff was replaced within a day or two according to some of the storylines.

Well they saved a lot of money wearing the same clothes all the time, day after day, year after year.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
A friend of mine had a Colt SAA that was a family heirloom. Made 1888. Seemed to be tight and operating properly. We loaded some .45 Colt black powder rounds to see how it shot.
At 15 yards, you were lucky if you could put all 6 into about a 6 inch circle. Not a tack driver. Huge fun, though. And it was cool to shoot a true piece of history.

You just needed more practice. Those Colts are capable of 100 yard hip shots from the draw, kicking the glasses out of people's hands, shooting guns out of hands, etc.

I agree.

A bit of practice and you'll be able to shoot as good as the Waco Kid.

I can't help wonder about the quality of medical care. Actually I don't wonder, I just think about it and am appalled.
Any wound in COM -> dead within days if not sooner
Any wound in an extremity -> amputation if you're lucky

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
I can't help wonder about the quality of medical care. Actually I don't wonder, I just think about it and am appalled.
Any wound in COM -> dead within days if not sooner
Any wound in an extremity -> amputation if you're lucky

You obviously haven’t been watching the same “Historical Documents” that we have.
“Gut shot” was your biggest worry. And usually only if you wore a black hat. A shot to an extremity was only worth a few days with an arm sling or a crutch for a leg shot.
Femoral arteries didn’t exist, apparently. Or were too small to hit.
Broken bones mend in just a few days.

Geez. Do some research.

"We gotta get the bullet out!" Funny that screen writers are still working that into story lines to this day. Apparently the reason to get the bullet out has been lost on them.

Don't know about insurance rates,but if we could still get our hands on those 100 round revolvers and winchesters or gatltin guns that you could crank all day. Obviously before the high capacity mag ban!!