The North American Frontiersmen

1750-1843

 
 

BUCK CONNER

Editor - Staff Writer

  Smoke Signals

                May./Jun. '09

 

 

A day late and a dollar short.

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Shown below are a few items from different collections that have sold in the last few years. Where were we when such neat things were available? What's the old saying "day late, dollar short". 

 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

I was very lucky to have a father that was into this type of collecting. My friends had "Roy Roger's" cap guns, I wanted one so bad I could taste the chrome plating. Dad said, "It will be a damn cold day before I buy junk like that", then produced a non-matching numbered 1849 Colt pocket pistol with three boxes of caps. He had filled the nipples with solder so I wouldn't be able to really fire the gun. Now is that cool, not really to a six year old, those damn Roy Roger's guns could shoot for ever with those rolls of caps. I would get off a half dozen shots then have to run and hide to get reloaded.  !@#$%^)(*&  true story folks.

We (my grandfather, my father and yours truly) have been collecting for over 100 years combined time in our family. Purchasing many of our items from the most reputable sources including London, New York and New England Auction houses as well as leading dealers such as Flayderman, Summers,  Bannerman & Sons and Ables. The majority of purchases were made in the 1920's - 1970's when good things were still available on a regular basis. I have sold over 1000 items (400 of them being antique arms) now in the cleanup stages of selling the remainder of these old collections. "Once the interest in collecting is gone so is the collection", a very true statement that my father would say in his later years. It took me about 50 years to really understand what he was saying.

After we (my wife and myself) deciding to sell most of the items not really interested in I put together a web site to show some of these things with the wife's suggestions. She was tired of me coming home every evening (day in and day out) having to clean guns, wipe down swords, check the safes for moisture or pay another insurance statement on the coverage of these items. 

To see the website built of this endless collection (to us it really was more than we where able to handle after my father passed away).  

Our Collection

We can talk about "accouterments" and related wares in a later issue.

Enjoy....                                   

Buck Conner       

 

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