although in her twenties, had to keep her blond hair in pigtails for all public appearances until 1960. Autry clearly wanted to preserve the image Davis projected of Oakley as a girlish, feminine woman who could also ride, rope, and shoot expertly.
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Davis's Annie lived on a Texas ranch with her younger brother, Tagg. With the assistance of her love interest, deputy sheriff Lofty, Annie protected the nearby town of Diablo from outlaws and other villains. Wearing a bandanna, boots, and a fringed vest and split-skirt outfit, Annie jumped from horseback to stagecoach, shot while standing on horseback, and performed other marvelous feats.
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In this series, Annie routinely exhibited such "female" characteristics as sensitivity and benevolence. But, unlike Merman's and Hutton's Annies, Davis also clearly exhibited such "male" characteristics as aggressiveness and toughness. In one episode, titled ''Trouble Shooter," Annie championed convict laborers working on a nearby ranch, a "female" cause that involved a great deal of "male" shooting. In another, ''Twisted Trails," Annie defended a rodeo performer, and in yet another, she protected a Dutch gunmaker from discriminatory treatment.
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Davis's Oakley thrilled a generation of youngsters but also gave them important ideas regarding women. Granted, like any good woman of the time, Davis's Annie pursued admirable goals and relied on men in her quests. But she also ventured beyond the era's prescriptions for women, acting like a strong-minded woman who outrode and outshot everybody. Her male confederates defended her on this count. According to Tagg and Lofty, Annie could "do everything."
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The books and comics that resulted from this series carried a similar double-sided message. In Dell Publishing Company's "Annie Oakley" comics, Annie charmed men, championed all sorts of causes, and cooked expertly. But Annie also shot, rode hard, and performed other masculine feats.
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The feminine/masculine Annie also appeared in Whitman Publishing Company's 1955 release
Annie Oakley in Danger at Diablo
by Doris Schroeder. In its first few pages, the feminine Annie protected her brother and whipped up rabbit stew and dumplings to succor him. At the same time, the masculine
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