The Good Old Days............
Tam @ View from the porch Posted something that sparked some old brain cells that had been sitting in neutral for quite some time.
She quotes a Saturday Evening Post article from 1910 about women and handguns.
She ends with this -
"This was a full page ad in a national, mainstream general-interest magazine. Interested readers could put $15 in cash or cheque in an envelope and receive a brand-new Savage 10-shot .32 caliber semiautomatic pistol in the mail. It was a different world."
Yes it certainly was.
As a youngster, my goal in life was to become Jim Bridger or Liver Eatin' Johnson.
Earnest Hemingway or Robert Ruark were also considered as acceptable alternatives to the aforementioned mountain men at the time as far as optimal life choices to emulate.
I had subscriptions to Field and Stream and Outdoor Life magazine and was a member of the Outdoor Life Book Club at the tender age of 12. This was financed from a paper route, lawn cutting, scut work for the neighbors and farmers in the area and anything else I could do to rustle up money.
I hit the big time at age 13 when I went to work at the Texaco gas station in town. This allowed me the finances to start ordering mail order catalogs from the advertisers in the back of the magazines.
Whoo Hoo!! A whole new world opened up.
Now this before the Gun Control Act of 1968 was in existence and, as Tam mentioned earlier, just about anyone could send a check and in a few weeks the Postman would bring a rifle to your house.
One place out of Kansas City that dealt in Army Surplus was called, P&S Sales. I bought a ton of crap from them for camping, etc.
I still have the 1943 issue US Army cold weather overcoat w/ liner I bought from them for $4.00. Lucky for me they sent one that was way to big for my skinny ass and it fits me still today.
Over the years I lost the Rucksack, Messkit, Sleeping Bags and other shit I ordered from them.
But every time I received a catalog from them the first thing I'd look at were the rifles.
I was amazed.
German Mausers for $20.00
British Enfields for $15.00 to $20.00
US 1903 Bolt Actions for $20.00
US M1 Garand Rifles for $40.00
Italian Carcano and Japanese rifles $10.00 per or 3 for $25.00
The only problem was the line on the bottom of the page that read - "Must be 18 years or older to purchase firearms".
I whined, pleaded and begged my dad to help me out with this problem and he always told me no.
God love him. My Old Man was a great guy and the best Dad a kid could ever ask for, but I never understood his, "You don't need any of those old piece of shit rifles" answer.
I never did understand that, but I suspect Mom might have had something to do with it.
That or it might have had something to do with the fact I was goofy as shit.
I finally quit asking after a couple of years figuring I'd just buy them myself when I turned 18.
And by that time the gun control laws had changed and I was screwed.
And I still don't own any of those rifles.
One of these days I'll hopefully be able to own a 1903 Springfield and an M1 Garand.
In the meantime I'll just sit here and think of the good old days. That ain't so bad an idea.
Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday Night-
