ephemera

GUNS AND HOLSTERS AND THINGS THAT GO BANG IN THE NIGHT
by Pamela E. Apkarian-Russell

   When Chabas painted "September Morn" he had no idea whata tempest in a tea pot would result in the exhibition of the work. He alsohadn’t any idea that there would be dozens of take-offs on his works orthat there would be many that would condemn the theme. A pristine, almostvirginal woman stands in a pond, slightly bent over, using her hands topreserve her modesty. By today’s standards, the painting is antiseptic-- but times have changed and Victorian attitudes toward the naked humanbody, at least in art, do not prevail. The take-offs on the painting areeven more interesting than the painting, at least in relation to this article.
    A young black girl replaces the original and "Goaway white man, I ain’t no September morn", must have caused great hilarityat the time. A young Draytonesque child is placed in the same position,which is not surprising as the Edwardians often portrayed children nakedwith sexual innuendo, which in retrospect we can see the hidden side ofa society that was prim and proper except behind closed doors. Perhapsthe most interesting of these spin-offs uses the actual woman but thereis a masked bandit confronting her with a gun, yelling "Hands Up".
   Remember, these were the days you could imply anythingas long as you didn’t actually say or show it. The early vaudevillianswere often masters of the bawdy, and sometimes the subtlety was so subtlethat it was blatant. In this case she is not only to reveal herself butthe gun itself becomes a sexual representative substitute. It is also,the symbol of power and force, which is dominance. These were the dayswhen women still didn’t have the right to vote, let alone have the rightto their own bodies. The message is subtle enough but and for the innocentit was innocent enough to be amusing, but most people knew what the subliminalmessage was, and depending on their gender or their emancipation -- eitherdidn’t see anything wrong with the message, or were infuriated by it. Themany cartoons and caricatures that were published when the painting cameout are collectible in their own right and in themselves are a social document.
   With gun control and violence so much in the news, itseems an appropriate time to take a look at other gun related ephemera.
   The Springfield armory is the home of the SpringfieldRifle and therefore, of interest to weapons collectors. Of these, the cardwith copper windows is probably the most difficult to locate, and the mostexpensive. A collage of cards on the Springfield armory can act as an interestingbackdrop if someone owns the spoon which has the Armory engraved in thebowl but has a handle shaped like a rifle! Spoon collectors also vie forthese items and it is not half so common as one would wish it to be.
   One of the more interesting Thanksgiving cards, in thecomic genre, is of a Turkey wearing a gun belt and holsters with two sixshooters predominantly showing.  The Caption? "I believe in self preservation."Usually Turkeys are being chased by a hatchet or ax-wielding carnivoreof some kind that is intent on having a juicy Thanksgiving feast of onetype or another. Seldom is the turkey empowered to do anything else buteither run away or chase and peck. The concept that he has the upper hand,or the gun hand verses the ax hand, is rather amusing. If you have everbeen in the position of having to provide the bird out of the yard forthe cook to prepare you will be able to appreciate both the absurdity andthe horror of the idea of the proverbial turned table!
   Gun companies and powder companies used the postcard aswell as the calendar to advertise their products. Winchester and Dupontwere the two that used the genre best. To my knowledge, there were neverany advertising gimmicks to make people buy machine guns, cannons, or recommendingthe product in the use of pipe bombs. It was simply assumed that no saneperson would own them, need them, or want them. Firearms were meant tobe utilitarian, or in the case of collector’s guns, beautifully made anddesigned as well. Pearl handles, beautifully chased and engraved barrelswere what collectors demand.
   During the days of prohibition, Al Capone, Bugsey Seigal,and the Valentine’s day massacre, most gun owners felt machine guns werefor mobsters. It just wasn’t cool carrying around a sawed-off shot gununless you had a name like Harry the Horse or Angie the Ox. Maybe it isstill is the same way.
   Dupont did a series of dogs and another of birds, whichare not as rare as some would think but are very difficult to find becauseof the number of collectors who want them. This is one of those sets thatfall into many categories and increase the desirability of the cards aswell as the cost. The set of Dupont Dogs in mint condition will cost approximately$1200. The birds will cost slightly less.
   Winchester and Colt advertising have usually been welldesigned and appealing. Condition will affect the price substantially.The beauty of these companies is they were advertising in the days whenchromolithography was the printing process and no other printing processhas ever been able to produce colors or print as true or as fine. Afterthis era all advertising tends to pale in contrast, as the quality justisn’t there.
   Rifles and shot guns are often seen on Real Photo cardsof hunting scenes especially when it is a posed photo of the hunters withtheir trophies, which can be deer, or squirrels, or whatever. In many ofthese early photos pre 1920, it was almost as if this was important toshow the hunter (s) weapon in hand and the food they were taking home tobe eaten. Certainly, there were the Teddy Roosevelt-types that shot forpleasure and photo shots of the trophies that would be then sent to thetaxidermist, but they were the minority not the majority.
   Categories to look under for different types of guns,rifles, etc. are: military, including patriotic as militia and Civil orRevolutionary War soldiers always have muskets and the like; as well asadvertising, comic, hunting and fishing, cowboys, Indians, and in justabout any place where people might be wearing or using guns. Don’t be surprisedto find a card of cats by Manser with the cats dressed for and out shootingOn these be careful, as those printed in Turkey are modern, brand new,being made today and are not the original ones produced in Belgium andSwitzerland. Even a section on drink might render decanters made of pistols.
   For those who are interested in weapons of mass destruction,there are a handful of cards that were produced of nuclear tests. Moderncards have not yet taken on Clint Eastwood or Terminator mentalities byshowing the guns used for mass murders or showing the actual events butone never knows considering the coliseum mentality of a segment of society.
   The days of sharp-shooting contests and Annie Oakley orSargent York are gone. Royalty and the wealthy no longer go out and shootthousands of birds in a day, leaving grouse beaters looking for anothermode of work. Hunting the fox is now being frowned upon, leaving the poorfarmers without any substitute for ridding themselves of an animal thatcauses as much destruction to them as squirrels do in an attic. Save theskeets but let children carry guns to school, how times have changed. Iffor some reason you feel this has been too "tongue in cheek", too pro-gun,too anti-gun, too whatever, relax. As usual, with this column we are showingwhat is available and giving you the opportunity to think about it, applysome common sense and make your own decision what guns are collectible,what use of them should or should not be made, who should be able to havethem or use them, or whether anyone needs an arsenal of machine guns intheir home. The ultimate question might just be whether turkeys should
be allowed to carry pistols! However, you feel about the issues thisis a fascinating subject to collect with all types of ephemera to use asbackdrops and display, with or without a gun collection.
   Mark Twain wrote in his 1882 Address to Youth:  "Ayouth who can’t hit a cathedral at thirty yards with a Gatling gun in three-quartersof an hour, can take up an empty old musket and bag his grandmother everytime."
   On July 2nd 1881 Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of PresidentGarfield, shot him with a .44 British Bulldog, which was a relatively expensivepistol for the time. He said he had specifically picked the British Bulldog,as he thought it would look attractive in a museum. He was correct -- itdoes. Guiteau’s lawyer had him plead insanity. God had instructed him tokill the President. He was convicted and hung on June 30th 1882.