only photo I have of my Grandfather and he has a gun with him

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Cee Zee

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I think this shows how important guns were to people from my region. I didn't know my grandfather because he divorced my grandmother before I was born and I just got this photo recently. The gun culture runs deep in these parts.

BTW they called him Wild Bill because he was a hard throwing baseball pitcher with no control. There's an interesting story to go with that but it's not for this forum.
 

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What, you think we ain't baseball fans?

Very interesting picture. Any idea what kind of firearm he's holding?

Why is it, the older I get, the newer old pictures of grandpa are?
 
He's obviously protecting his bird seed storage from marauding sparrows.

A .410, or a .22?
 
I tried to figure out what it was. I'm guessing a .22 because that's what my uncle used for hunting when he was young not long after Grandpa ditched grandma.

BTW since you asked MistWolf he was so wild with his pitching that he hit a friend in the head with a ball and killed him. He had a contract to pitch with the Reds in the upcoming season at the time but he never picked up a baseball again. The name stuck with him the rest of his life though. My brothers both inherited his throwing arm but I sure didn't. They could throw a ball twice as far as I could. One brother was looked at by scouts but he was a 3 inning pitcher and that was before the era of relief specialists. Today he would almost certainly have gotten a shot at the majors. He pitched on a team with a guy named Don Gullett BTW. I was the bat boy. Don is a great guy and an avid hunter.
 
From 1910 - 1920, my grandfather was a lumberjack in northern Minnesota. On Sundays, the camp would have boxing matches. We have a photograph of my grandfather in a boxing match with a log cabin in the background. Leaning against the log cabin are about 10 rifles that people carried with them wherever they went. Nothing out of the ordinary and just part of life at that time.
 
You do realize that he's got a red dot scope mounted on that rifle, don't you?!?

:)
 
Times and attitudes change. This 1940 photo showed the folks back East the new baby and how prosperous the young parents were in California.
 

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Times and attitudes change. This 1940 photo showed the folks back East the new baby and how prosperous the young parents were in California.
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This might be a dumb question, but what's up with the revolver in his hand? I mean, you've got a standard family photo. Young married couple, new baby, new car...gun. Is that just to show it off?
 
People liked their firearms in those days. I've seen countless old photos where the men all have their firearms with them.

BTW my mother's family was so poor after dear old Grandpa left them that they would send my uncle out with 2 .22 shells and tell him to bring home something for dinner. And he would do it. And he didn't even have a $400 red dot scope. ;)
 
I also wonder if posing with a gun in those days was a way to show off prized possessions. I have a few old photos from those days of my dad's father posed with nice things. Like the bicycle and someone's cars.

(Sorry, I have no gun pics to compare.)

backintheday.jpg
 
GC70...nice picture. It reminds me of a family photo of my own from that era. No guns in mine though. BTW, finger on the trigger...yeah times change.
 
Thanks for sharing. Like you, I didn't know my (paternal) grandfather; he died young when I was eight, and we had not lived near each other.

I had no pictures of him until my dad died, and I found several in his old barn. None with firearms, though, and I can only assume what I wish about whether or not he had any at any time.

My dad did, though, and the last two he still owned are now mine.
 
This might be a dumb question, but what's up with the revolver in his hand? I mean, you've got a standard family photo. Young married couple, new baby, new car...gun. Is that just to show it off?
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Looks like a nickel plated revolver. He probably paid a lot of money for it in an era where you were lucky to cover basic living expenses and there was no government "safety net". He was rightfully proud of his family, his car and his handgun and it spoke volumes of how well he was doing. And it showed that he was a responsible husband and father willing to protect his loved ones. Back before there was a 911 to dial and the modern day illusion that a quick phone call will have police saving you in time. A different era and mindset and one I see us slowing returning to over the coming years.
 
Cee Zee said:
People liked their firearms in those days. I've seen countless old photos where the men all have their firearms with them.

BTW my mother's family was so poor after dear old Grandpa left them that they would send my uncle out with 2 .22 shells and tell him to bring home something for dinner. And he would do it. And he didn't even have a $400 red dot scope. ;)
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Same with my grandfather.

I used to ask him "what do jackrabbits taste like" or pigeons, etc. He could always tell me because he had eaten it at one time.

Becoming such a thrify marksman served him well later in Korea, hunting a different type of animal.

I have a picture of my great-grandfather and a bunch of guys with their deer rifles from the turn of the century around here somewhere......if I find it I will share.
 
Nice photo, CZ! Do you think that pic was taken to commemorate a new gun?
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I really have no idea. I have an aunt that's still living. Maybe I could ask her. I also have a cousin that knew him. He left the family a long time ago for some rich woman in Cincinnati. He left them high and dry and I never had a lot of respect for him but I never got to show it because I only saw him twice in my life and I didn't really get to talk to him either time.

I used to buy a historical magazine based on Kentucky history. They had a lot of old photos there. It's amazing how often the men had their guns with them when those photos were taken. It must have been their prize possession and a big part of how they provided for their family. I'm guessing at this. I really don't know why they did it.

I think I'll get my wife to take a shot of me holding a rifle just to keep the tradition going. :)

I didn't know my other grandfather either unfortunately. He died before I was born. FWIW I've ate a whole lot of wild critters in my time too. And I could eat a lot more if I bothered to show up for the annual dinner the gun club has. They have everything from skunk to possums to bear meat there. Frog legs are still the best thing I ever ate that came from the land on it's own. We used to spend several weeks gigging and then have a 3 day frog leg fry (and beer) party. I was too young for the beer part but I ate a ton of frog legs. I was the official sack carrier for the frogging crew. We spent some wild nights in the woods in those days.
 
Cee Zee said:
People liked their firearms in those days. I've seen countless old photos where the men all have their firearms with them.

BTW my mother's family was so poor after dear old Grandpa left them that they would send my uncle out with 2 .22 shells and tell him to bring home something for dinner. And he would do it. And he didn't even have a $400 red dot scope. ;)
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heard the same story 500 times by 500 different guys. I guess if you did not bring home game you were tied to a tree.
 
Speaking of the way things used to be, in a photo from an old family album somebody appears to be hanging a long gun from an upstairs window of the Haughton, La. School and there doesn't seem to be anybody running away.:)
Haughton_School1r2_recolor.gif
 
I was 2 when he passed so I never really met him. Only picture I have of Grandpa is a black and white of him and his Collie. The guy looked as hard as nails but he was wearing a grin.
 
monotonous_iterancy said:
This might be a dumb question, but what's up with the revolver in his hand? I mean, you've got a standard family photo. Young married couple, new baby, new car...gun. Is that just to show it off?
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Maybe he was target practicing, or had to shoot a rat, or holding that woman hostage. People were more free to carry firearms back then unlike it is now for some people who want to point it out. I think it is cool as hell.
 
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