- Re: Harvey McMurchy, Hunter Arms & "The Yankee Sidelock" Archived Message
Posted by H. McMurchy on March 22, 2010, 9:38 am, in reply to "Re: Harvey McMurchy, Hunter Arms & "The Yankee Sidelock""
|
AH- an excellent question Bro. Hunter and I hope it is not unseemly to reveal that the L.C. Smith Trophy for the Amateur State Champion awarded at the annual State Tournament, the L.C. Smith Pigeon Grade introduced late in 1894, and the L.C. Smith "The Trap Gun" buttplate were all my ideas. The Panic of 1893, partially a result of the McKinley Tariff of 1890, hit the nation hard; especially the railroads, banks, and agrarian west. It was a very difficult time for the gunmakers in New York and Conn. also. In 1895, my friend Mr Park began publishing a series of editorials in Sporting Life encouraging the purchase of American guns, shells, and powder. You can read them here http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfg2hmx7_311kp75d7hd The Live Bird and Inanimate Target shooters (and baseball players) were the sporting celebrities of the day, with large followings in the press and public. I convinced the Hunters to use the increasingly popular (and affordable with the use of clays rather than Live Birds) sport of trap as a vehicle for the promotion of the excellent L.C. Smith guns. The powder and shell makers, esp. DuPont, also began to market their products with extensive advertisments and calendars. You can see some here http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/17710152 On p. 268 of Houchins' L.C. Smith "The Legend Lives" you'll find a picture of me with a Smith Trophy vase and a large painting by Edmund Henry Osthaus commissioned by DuPont for a series of trade cards; the is Count Gladstone, Field Trial Champion in 1896  Although I did win many State Championships, the Smith trophy went to the Amateur winners. I'm particularly proud of the Pigeon Grade gun, "The Only American Made Pigeon Gun" with "our new Pigeon Nitro Steel" and "adapted to stand the strain of many heavy loads of nitro powder" (what a work of marketing that was  )with regular or Monte Carlo stock.  By the middle of 1895, U.S. maker's guns were being used more than British guns, and at the head of the parade was Hunter Arms Co.'s L.C. Smith. Three Iowans: Fred Gilbert, Charles Budd, and Charles Grimm, three shooters from Ohio: Rolla Heikes, Charles Young, and me (formerly of Cincinnati and now of Syracuse) and "Jack" Fanning of San Francisco had been or were currently using Smith guns to win major tournament and Cup challenges. And we offered a special "The L.C. Smith Trap Gun" buttplate, which was enthusiastically received by sportsmen!  By the end of 1896, the U.S. economy was well into recovery, and the Hunter Arms Co. was running a full capacity. The Hunter Bros. were most appreciative of my contributions. http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1896/VOL_28_NO_08/SL2808011.pdf Nov. 14, 1896 The Hunter Arms Company, of Fulton, N. Y., perhaps enjoyed the best trade of any American gun makers during the past two or three years. The gun which they make—the "L. C. Smith"—is the most popular of any gun made in America, and having the right men back of it, held it to the front, and despite the hard times have run their factory with a full force of men, and on full time. This, we believe, is more than any other company can say, and it speaks volumes in favor of the L. C. Smith gun. The trade in high-priced foreign guns has suffered considerable in the last two or three years, as the class of men who formerly bought imported guns and paid a big price for them, found that an American gun costing one-half the money gave just as much service and shot just as hard and close as the imported weapon. The foreign gun showed a fine finish of parts, balanced nicely and shot well, but the cost was always a bar to the average sportsman purchasing one, as few men who are obliged to work for a living feel like putting $300 or more into a gun with the present condition of times. Oh-unfortunately, I don't know what happened to my guns after I left Tarpon Springs for "the other side of Jordan" July 31, 1926. Maybe one of you has one?!? |