Cased Borchardt on AA

[SteveM]

Looks nice...will start at a penny with no reserve. Serial #845.

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/13214186

[Ron Wood]

Lovely set, and a new serial number for the data base! Thank you!

[DavidJayUden]

Absolutely beautiful. Made before a man's time was worth anything.
dju

[lugerholsterrepair]

Made before a man's time was worth anything. David, I am curious as to why you would say that. The people who built early guns like this one were paid commensurate wages. They were highly skilled. They worked long hours but likely lived well. Men during these times didn't expect to become wealthy from working..just live a decent life and have a plump goose for Christmas.

If I were to comment on turn of the Century craftsmen I would have to say they took much pride in what they produced. They paid attention, did it right. They didn't rush home to watch a mindless TV set every night or football on weekends. Their work ethic was different but hardly worthless.

[Ben M.]

color of woodened grip plates is stunning. thanks for the postings.

[DavidJayUden]

Earth to Jerry:
Something has gotten extremely lost in translation.
I am referring to the early guild days where the "new guys" spent years doing the mundane tasks, eventually working their way up the labor ladder.
So much of the fitting work in those days was a slow and tedious process, usually long hours over a candle, sooting parts to be fitted. Such was the life of the early gunsmith at the finest builders in Europe, and probably a motive for immigration to the USA.
But to read that I was suggesting that the turn-of-the-century craftsman did not take pride in their work is simply incorrect.
As to their reward at the end of the day, I really can't comment, but I'm not certain if a skilled gunsmith and craftsman ever really earned the rewards that he had coming, especially in Europe. They were simply expected to occupy a lower position in life than other more lucratively rewarded peers.
dju

[ithacaartist]

The Borchardt always struck me as simultaneously whacky-looking and beautiful. The lines and details of this one really stand out due to its crispy condition, what a gorgeous weapon. Old-timey work strikes me as very demanding, and although just about everything was do-able in period machine shops, I'll bet a lot of it was done the hard way. Blue collar work, for sure, and it's fun to imagine what life was like around, say, 1906--a different time = a different world! Life and death issues, I think, were closer and harsher back then--no vaccines, penicillin, etc. I'm reading a book, reproduced from the 1898 original, about medical anomalies, and it's amazing what couldn't be detected or successfully treated back then. Any glitch in the childbirth process risked terminal sepsis, and in about half of the problem cases, the mother died. This kind of stuff makes me appreciate what we generally have now. I think everyone who has a skill and works at it should thrive and live a comfortable life, free from the specter of destitution, and without fear of oppression.

[MikeP]

We never had a tractor on the family farm til my dad came home in 1946.

When asked about the good old days, the old timers I grew up around had it to be understood there were no good old days.
Penicillin was new in WW 2.

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by MikeP

We never had a tractor on the family farm til my dad came home in 1946.

When asked about the good old days, the old timers I grew up around had it to be understood there were no good old days.
Penicillin was new in WW 2.

I think it's just like anything else...those that lived it knew. Most of America's small family farms used honest-to-goodness horsepower until the late 40s and early 50s. In the 70s, I worked for a while for a farmer who had started the John Deere dealership in Interlaken, NY.(formerly Farmerville) The yard by the main barn was filled with "retired" tractors and other equipment, almost all of it J.D. There were As and Bs that still ran, in a pinch. I spent a summer plowing with a 70, and did some fitting with the amazing Model R that ran with loaded duals. It needed a small gas pony motor to turn over the big diesel plant it had, instead of an electric starter. We'd measure out just enough gas for starting the pony in a Hi-C can because everything was old and leaky. It felt like I was navigating an ocean liner!

In skeptical circles, the phenomenon you describe is called the "good old days fallacy"--I kid you not. The irrational part of nostalgia takes over, and the good stuff is remembered well, and the bad, not so much--a kind of confirmation bias. But if the truth be known, I'd say the trade-offs make all periods, eras, regimes, and generations about equal. We may miss the good stuff and forget the bad, but there was still plenty of bad. And so it goes, from one generation to the next, each one thinking that life was better back whenever. I'm sure that our grand kids will pine for something they've only heard about from our youth, while not knowing about its downside!

[kzullick]

Well said David.