Those early 50's gun and holster sets were what I loved when I was a little kid. I think that Robin has the picture of me in my Roy Rogers cowboy outfit, and I will have to ask her to scan it in for me so I can share it on here. I used to save up my allowance for the newest set that i would see when we went to the Ben Franklin "Dime Store", and then my mom would always put in half if I saved half. Thinking back, she probably put that set on lay-away so it would be sure to still be there by the time I had my allowance saved up enough for my half. Here is a picture of one of my best friends at the time, and showing off his new toy rifle and cowboy outfit. This picture was taken by my mother out in front of the neighborhood grocery that our family had back then.
I remember, back in 1991 or so, I dressed up like a Western Sheriff for a Halloween Square Dance Party. I had the jeans, pointed boots, an old Western shirt with snaps and cowboy hat. My roommate had a real Western belt and holster that I borrowed. I bought a toy gun/holster set and used the toy gun. Also, bought a toy Sheriff badge. All-in-all, I looked pretty cool. I found a store in Texas that specializes in the real-life Western costumes and reenactment stuff, including guns and rifles. Costumes of Tonto, The Lone Ranger, Wyatt Earp and others. These really authentic looking costumes do cost.
We used to find real Indian arrowheads sometimes, along the banks of a lake that we knew as Mud Lake in the UP of Michigan, where I grew up. As its name implies, it wasn't the sort of lake that was any good for swimming, although kids would skate on it in the winter. Perhaps because it was on the end of a dead-end road, and required a hike through the woods, it hadn't been picked clean. We'd play war games in the woods with our BB guns, usually wearing heavy jackets.
@Ken Anderson Out of curiosity, were you growing up, or perhaps a teen, when the Mackinac Bridge was being built? I was 19 when my folks drove across it, completing a trip up through the LP, across and over, down through WI back to Chicago. They loved it! One of the few real vacation trips they ever took, I stayed behind as I was attending DeVry Techical Institute. My Dad was then just two years away from retirement. I was warned ahead of time, no "parties" in the house! No partier, basically chicken, I became bolder as time went on. Frank
I was six or seven. Before they opened the bridge for automobile traffic, there was a day when people were invited to walk across it and we did that. So yeah, I walked across it before it was opened to cars.
@Ken Anderson Nice! A pretty long walk! Main span something like 3/5 mile or more. I checked after posting, it was completed in 1957, while my folks crossed it in '64. Guess by then it was "old-hat" to the locals. Wouldn't mind seeing it once time before I expire.
My favorite to me a big sister. I owe my love of trap and skeet shooting. She hails from Southern Ohio and taught 15,000 women how to use a firearm. A woman before her time.
I was in Cody Wyoming when we went to Yellowstone. I was surprised how chilly it was there. It was like the beginning of August and the temperature was maybe 40 degrees overnight, and jacket weather duing the day. Other parts of Wyoming had been quite warm. I am not sure what the elevation is there, but defintely a chilly place. I loved that trip, I would love to take it again. Of course we almost got blown away by a tornado in SD...We took shelter in the car, but we were using a tent at the time with an air mattress and the air mattress got blown out of the tent, and ended up on the other side of campground!
Before I met my husband I had never even touched a real gun and to impress him on a date I went target shooting with him and I was pretty darn good and he was impressed. He was also impressed how fast I drove. Good thing these two things were enough because I couldn't cook then, learned after being married. In the end it was my cooking he loved the most.
I find Annie Oakley's biography so interesting. Especially her very young years in Southern Ohio. Her father died when she was 6 yrs. old. The family was very poor. She was sent to a home, who in turn sent her out to hire for 50 cents a week and never seen a cent of it.The family treated her badly, and at times made her stand out in the snow in her bare feet all night. After two years she ran away and lived in with a family that knew her. They knew by the whip lashes on her back how bad it was, her age 9 years old. She made a quote that it was the first time in 2 years she felt safe enough to sleep through the whole night. Annie hunted rabbits and pheasants and sold them to local hotels and restaurants. By the time she was 15 yrs. old she had enough money to pay the whole mortgage on the family farm.
My wife has her own rifle and handgun. For Christmas we are getting her a S&W 9mm. That will be our last firearm. When her mom was young, she brought down a nice Buck White Tail (nice rack). From what I can tell, her and her mom are the only ones in the family that enjoy shooting. We have a yearly membership at a local gun/rifle club. Heck, I was pleasingly shocked at how happy she was when she got her Ruger 10/22 rifle. We don't hunt, just target shoot. My wife loves my cooking, but don't eat at home nearly as much as we use to.
My side of the family wasn't into guns or hunting...hubby was the only one. My kids may each have a gun but I'm not even sure of that. I think my son hasn't one of my husband's but not sure either. Something we just never talk about.