North American Auction Company
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The West Rides Again: Tombstone Museum Part II, Western Art & Navajo Treasures

Sat, Nov 15, 2025 11:00AM EST
  2025-11-15 11:00:00 2025-11-15 11:00:00 America/New_York North American Auction Company North American Auction Company : The West Rides Again: Tombstone Museum Part II, Western Art & Navajo Treasures https://live.naabid.com/auctions/north-american-auction/the-west-rides-again-tombstone-museum-part-ii-western-art-navajo-treasures-21122
Join North American Auction Company on November 15th for Part II of the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Collection with other rare items. This extraordinary sale features the largest private collection of Tombstone history, including rare and historic pieces tied to Wyatt Earp, the Earp Brothers, and the infamous Cochise Cowboys. From original artifacts, outlaw relics, and C.S. Fly photographs, this is a can’t-miss event for collectors of the Old West’s most legendary chapter.
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Lot 526

19th C. Tombstone Prostitutes w/ Lillian Grubb

Estimate: $350 - $650
Starting Bid
$100

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
Featured in this lot is this collection of Birdcage Theatre photo-postcards, Actress Lillian Grubb photograph and CDV with a total of 4 pairs of Bordello Tassels circa 19th century and were housed at the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum; Provenance: From the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum in Tombstone, Arizona. This collection of photo-postcards, CDV, and bordello tassels feature a wonderfully and professionally crafted construction that shows one photograph of Lillian Grubb with a smaller CDV of Grubb. The two photo-postcards are of the Bird Cage Theatre the outside and the inside of the theatre. The Bird Cage Theatre, opened in December 1881, was one of Tombstone, Arizona Territory’s most famous, and notorious, entertainment halls. Advertised as a combination theatre, dance hall, saloon, and gambling parlor, it quickly earned a reputation as the roughest spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast. National newspapers called it “the wildest, wickedest night spot in America,” with performances ranging from vaudeville and opera singers to bawdy comedy. Beneath the main hall, gambling rooms and 14 curtained box seats—known as “cages”—were frequented by prostitutes and their clients. The Bird Cage ran continuously, day and night, for nearly a decade, witnessing countless gunfights and legendary poker games before closing in 1889 when Tombstone’s silver mines declined. Today it survives as a museum, its bullet holes and faded décor offering an authentic glimpse into the boomtown’s raucous past. The last part of the collection includes bordello tassels for wearing on the prostitute's wrist as a way to be chosen for "Work". Lillian Grubb was a noted stage actress and singer who gained some public attention when she sought to annul her 1883 marriage to George Steitmatter (also known as George Deberhard). She claimed he had misrepresented himself when in fact he was already married and residing in New York, not Germany as he had led her to believe. This legal conflict was covered by The New York Times in 1884. The condition of this collection of CDV, photo-postcards, and bordello tassels is well preserved with the CDV showing slight wear to the mounting card but otherwise shows a well preserved overall condition. The measurements of this collection range from 10 1/8" x 1 3/8" to 3 7/8" x 2 3/8". The collective weight of this collection is

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