Gun Digest 2011. Dan ShidelerЧитать онлайн книгу.
when one considers the amount of time Oscar probably spent on preparation and experimentation with various production methods, it’s doubtful #212 left his shop until sometime in perhaps the first month. Previous reports are not clear on how many helpers, if any, Oscar hired at the very beginning. Though the name of the company includes “& Sons,” his boys were aged 21 and 23 at the time, so is very probably that he hired some more experienced help for his assembly process.
TOUGH TIMES DEMANDED TOUGH SALES TACTICS
Early Brownie ads were primarily aimed at the outdoorsman type of prospective buyer such as hunters, trappers, fishermen and such. As that dark decade of the 1920s inexorably moved toward the Great Crash of 1929 and resulting mass unemployment, many men were resorting to such outdoor vocations in order to feed their families. The initial price of the Brownie was $5. Six years later, probably due to Oscar’s improved production methods, Taylor Fur of New York was offering the Brownie for just $3.45 in their 1926 advertisements!
The Brownie ads state they would be shipped “postpaid” anywhere in the U.S.. The Brownie was delivered in a small, very plain, boxed unmarked in any manner. The boxes in my collection measure 4.75" X 3.5" X 1" deep, just big enough to accommodate the Brownie, wrapped in brown oiled paper, and accompanied by factory papers. Other writers have reported that these fragile boxes were produced in blue, red or black solid colors with no particular color being more common than any other. The specimens I have are solid black, and the only other two I’ve been told of were also black. The boxes, being composed of paper, have a much lesser degree of survivabilty than the guns they contained and are therefore more rare to find than the guns themselves. The current price of these guns in Very Good to Excellent condition, with their original box and papers, is quite high. One such specimen advertised nationally in a gun publication in 2007 for $799 was already sold when I inquired about it.
It’s interesting to note that the boxes I’ve handled were of simple cardboard construction, but were then covered with the colored paper that has a somewhat “pebbled” texture to it. It had to have been more expensive to use a plain box with that extra step of production necessary to glue that colored and textured paper over every surface of the box, except most of the interior! I’ve not yet resolved that puzzling feature.
Brownie in original factory box.
VARIATION #1
The information stamped into the right side of the barrel cluster on these earliest guns is shown in the photo at left. In italicized type it reads: PAT. APPL’D.FOR. There are no spaces between the abbreviated words.
The location of the serial numbers on this variation may be found in five different locations: 1) under the right grip, on the edge of the gripstrap, down at bottom; 2) with gun open, on right side of the barrel cluster, down near the hinge; 3) with gun open, look up under the little “ears” on the front of the barrel latch lever which lies along the top of the gun; 4) & 5) on back of both metal side plates on receiver section of the gun. Some of the earlier guns also had the serial number written in pencil on the back of the wooden grips. We estimate this model was produced from 1919 until mid-1923 and that there were probably between 10,000 and 11,000 produced.
Location of serial numbers on Variation #1.
NOTE 1: So far there have been only 50 of the Variation #1 reported to our database. This is 32.25% of the total production, not quite one third.
NOTE 2: Due to the length of some serial numbers and the limited space available on some parts, only the last three or four digits of the whole number may be found. These are typically found in locations 2) and 3) shown in the photo, and on back of grips.
NOTE 3: The muzzle of the barrels has not been chamfered (beveled) as on later guns. The face of the muzzle is completely flat.
NOTE 4: Unlike some later Brownies, there is no pin at top center of the metal plate on the right side. Below are photos of the two types of sideplate. Earlier Variations #1 and #2 had no pin.
Location of the pin that identifies later variations. Variation #1 (front) has no pin.
Warning Regarding Disassembly
The metal side plates on the Brownie have a single screw towards the rear holding them to the frame. When you remove that screw, do not pry up on the plate. This usually results in the sharp edges of both the plate and the frame being marred beyond repair. These metal side plates are beveled into the frame at the front edge. After removing the screw gently loosen the plate by lifting it and/or moving it up and down to loosen it from the frame. Once loose, slide it to the rear for removal. CAUTION: There are some variations with an alignment pin through the metal plate on the right side. On these Brownies, once the screw is removed you must gently lift the rear of the plate until it just clears the top of the pin before sliding it to the rear.
VARIATION #2
Variation #2 differs from Variation #1 only in that the stamped patent information on the right side of the barrel cluster reads: PAT’D.JAN.27,1920. That is the date which was discovered to be in error. The patent papers are plainly marked as July, not January. I’ve had only six Variation #2 specimens reported to the database. These represent just under 4% of the total number reported. This would indicate 1,260 units probably were produced from mid-1923 to early in 1924, a guesstimated total of 1,260 units. Personally, I have a hunch it may have been even less.
Erroneous patent date identifying Variation #2.
VARIATION #2.5
Variation #2.5 differs from Variation #2 in ways which strongly indicate it to be a short-run transitional piece to the later Variation #3, which the company seems to have eventually settled on and produced in greatest volume. The serial numbers can be found in the same locations as on Variations #1 and #2. The only visible external clue that this is not one of those two earlier variations is that no alignment pin is found in the metal plate on the right side, even though it has the correct patent date stamped on it, which would immediately identify it as a Variation #3. The patent info reads: PAT. JULY 27, 1920. It’s interesting to note that the stamped patent information on Variation #2.5 has a space separating each word or group of numerals.
Identifying characteristics of Variation 2.5.
This particular example of Variation 2.5 is a very recent discovery and only three specimens have been observed thus far. They represent only 1.3% of the total production, or less than 400 units produced, probably for only 30 days or so early in 1924. The serial numbers on the reported specimens are just 725 apart, which if Oscar followed the usually consecutive numbering of each piece, would mean there may be at least another 723 units out there. Whichever figures one uses, this means that Variation #2.5 is currently the rarest of the Brownie family and should, especially in the future, demand a premium in its selling price.
VARIATION #3
Variation #3 had the longest production period and therefore the most units of production, making it the most often encountered Brownie variation found. The stamping found on the right side of the barrel cluster of this variation is the same as the previous Variation #2.5: PAT. JULY 27, 1920. An estimated 20,977 units were produced from 1924 until the end of its production in 1932. Both of the boxed specimens I’ve managed to obtain are the Variation #3. It stands to reason that since these were the most recently made guns, the better their chance to have survived in Very Good, or Excellent, and even New condition. (Unfired, pristine guns with their original box and factory papers have come to be commonly known as