Dave and Nick's posts give but an inkling of the traffic in incredible talent (especially engraving) that orbited the big-name gunmakers in the northeast US during the 1895-1910 time period. Isolated groups of itinerant craftsmen, mostly bachelors, "followed the money" - a change in maker's location that offered even a $7-12 a week increase in salary was enough to spur most specialized workers on to new towns and broader chances for advancement. In one of his Double Gun Journal articles on the special features of the Ithaca Gun, Walt Snyder captured in a short paragraph the malleable spirit of these artisans, some of whom actually lived in the same boarding houses in places like Wheeling, WV and Ithaca, NY. By c. 1916, most of them rooted with makers like Remington, Ithaca, Fox, Parker, LC Smith, and Lefever. living out their lives and gunmaking careers there.
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