Of Shotguns and Typewriters

[gsaun039]

I recovered an old typewriter from my dad's house. I used it for a number of years to type before getting my own typewriter sometime during high school.

My brother and I were closing out a chapter in our lives as we were making the last passes through the house we grew up in and that became our house after our dad passed away earlier this year. Since the house was completed in 1953 and sits upon a sizable chunk of land in an area of northern VA, the land is more valuable than the house. We decided to sell it as it wasn't really suitable to renovate and upgrade and neither of us wanted it as either living quarters or something as rental property. . The most remarkable thing about the house was the General Electric refrigerator that came with the house along with the GE cabinets and GE other appliances in the kitchen lasted as long as the house itself. Like many of those houses from those times, they are being torn down and replaced with something newer, larger, and more expensive.

It's how I have come into possession of most of the firearms my dad had. These are the firearms that my dad taught me to shoot out on our farm when I was a boy and to hunt with on the farm or on a family friend's land near Front Royal, Virginia.

One of the many things I have retrieved over the past few months is "paperwork" that my dad never really shared with us. While some might include old receipts my dad kept for his radios and electronics or, for example, a natural gas hot water heater that he bought at Montgomery Wards in 1968 for less than $39 (and it was still working as of yesterday when we turned over the keys to the house), it's been some of the family paperwork from previous generations that's been most interesting and insightful. I know the general outlines of our family history like where and when our family emigrated to the colony of Virginia and where our family "set up shop" so to speak.

One of the items of paperwork I discovered was an inventory of valuable items that my grandfather had in 1944. I don't know why he created the list but includes the Remington 12-gauge shotgun (with the serial number seen in other images I have posted elsewhere), the Winchester .22 rifle I now also possess. There were two other items besides watches and jewelry that were on that list that I found interesting; An L.C. Smith 16-gauge shotgun (with the serial number) and an L.C. Smith typewriter. I thought it was odd that they were listed in order on this inventory list and wondered about having the same name. Never, in my memory, do I remember a second shotgun. And so, in the years between this inventory and my grandfather's death, I have no idea where it ended up, the back story, or anything. I mentioned this to my brother about both the L.C. Smith shotgun and the L.C. Smith typewriter. My brother had found the typewriter in my closet and it wasn't something he had wanted. So, I recovered that typewriter (a heavy sucker, too). I did wonder about the name but hadn't looked further beyond the name on the list.

When I returned home last night with the last of the recovered items, I found that my copy (new) of Charles Semmer's book Remington Double Shotguns had arrived while I was gone. I opened the box and removed the wrapping from the book and dove into it as I glanced through the various sections. Quite a compilation (and there were only 3600 volumes printed according to the inside cover copyright page, so I count myself lucky). The book is heavy made with fine heavy paper in this hardback edition. Reminds me of what a coworker of mine said about the weight of paperwork and the weight of airplanes when he was in school in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering "When the weight of the paperwork is equal to or greater than the weight of the aircraft design, then and only then, will the aircraft fly!". I think the same might be said about the book. "When they weight of the book written about these shotguns is gequal to or reater than the weight of the shotgun, then and only then will the shotgun properly fire!" Once I got settled in, I started reading the book from the beginning.

Lo' and behold, there was mention about Remington also making typewriters. No, it couldn't be coincidence could it? So, I looked up the L.C. Smith Company's history and, sure enough, they also made shotguns and typewriters. In one way it makes sense, with the knowledge and ability to make heavy iron or steel castings or forgings. Semmer's book doesn't go much further than the mention of Remington typewriters, at least in what I've read so far. And the L.C. Smith typewriter portion of that company eventually merged and became Smith-Corona typewriters. I see the Remington typewriters also followed their own merger and production history.

I find it fascinating that these two companies that are known for their firearms have these other offshoots from the late 19th century turn up in the typewriter business. You just never know how things are going to turn up or turn out.

Before I left, I went out to the parkland that was part of the farm my dad owned and where I learned to hunt and shoot. He deeded that part of the property to the county park authority to be used for parkland only when he sold it. The trees have gotten older and bigger, but the terrain is unchanged and I recognized it immediately as I walked down the trail. The last time I had been there was 1963. Many good memories there.

[Jim in Wisconsin]

Thanks for writing that. I'm 78 and can relate at least to the time period you grew up in. It's sad but necessary to "move on" with our lives . I really liked the part about the heavy paper work - that sounds right to me!