Saw this ad

[KDubs]

 [ Invalid Attachment ]
Picked up some old blackpowder annual magazines at the local junk shop.
  Saw this ad and gosh I think I know this guy
Kevin

[Bigsmoke]

The difference between the printed word and something on the Internet.
The printed word sticks around forever.
That ad was probably in an issue of the DGW Annual.  We used to advertise in that every year.  Do they still print that since Butch Winters died?  He was a great guy.
Whatever is on the Internet is just a series of zeros and ones.  Easily lost in cyberspace.
Thanks for noticing that, Kevin.
John (Bigsmoke)

[KDubs]

Yes DGW annual 1987.  Magazines were a only 1$ a piece.
 As I read thru them I wondered how many of the companies advertised then are still in business today.
 Kevin

[Bigsmoke]

Hey,
Yep, I have often wondered the same thing as I have read through old magazines.
IN one form or another, I have been peddling muzzleloading stuff since the early 1970's, so I have been aware of different companies that have been advertising over the years.
Last year, I got ahold of a Muzzleblasts from 1947 or so.  There were very few businesses that even sounded familiar.  I would guess the mortality rate of these companies over the long haul is pretty bad.  A lot of it has to do with the businesses being a one or two man operation run by old pharts.  They shrivel up and die and typically, the heirs just sell what they can and toss what's left over.
I was especially happy to have visited The Gun Works in Springfield, OR this year on our vacation.  Although Joe passed away last year, the business is still a going operation thanks to his wife, Suzy.  She is a real powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with.  Interestingly enough, while I was there, another lady we have known like forever happened to come in.  She and her husband used to run a little business called the Book Peddler.  Well, same story, Jim died a few years ago and she is still trying to offload all the books he had acquired.  And for a gal pushing 70+, I would think, it is a real chore going to shows and rendezvous and loading and unloading crates of books.  Not a lightweight thing.
I am pretty happy that John has the gumption to keep October Country running.  I guess he has had it about 15 years or so by now, and it's still going.  He has made some changes, for sure, but it is working...
Anyway, so it was heading west.
John

[BEAVERMAN]

Hey,
Yep, I have often wondered the same thing as I have read through old magazines.
IN one form or another, I have been peddling muzzleloading stuff since the early 1970's, so I have been aware of different companies that have been advertising over the years.
Last year, I got ahold of a Muzzleblasts from 1947 or so.  There were very few businesses that even sounded familiar.  I would guess the mortality rate of these companies over the long haul is pretty bad.  A lot of it has to do with the businesses being a one or two man operation run by old pharts.  They shrivel up and die and typically, the heirs just sell what they can and toss what's left over.
I was especially happy to have visited The Gun Works in Springfield, OR this year on our vacation.  Although Joe passed away last year, the business is still a going operation thanks to his wife, Suzy.  She is a real powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with.  Interestingly enough, while I was there, another lady we have known like forever happened to come in.  She and her husband used to run a little business called the Book Peddler.  Well, same story, Jim died a few years ago and she is still trying to offload all the books he had acquired.  And for a gal pushing 70+, I would think, it is a real chore going to shows and rendezvous and loading and unloading crates of books.  Not a lightweight thing.
I am pretty happy that John has the gumption to keep October Country running.  I guess he has had it about 15 years or so by now, and it's still going.  He has made some changes, for sure, but it is working...
Anyway, so it was heading west.
John

15 YEARS???!!!!!!!!!!! dang it was only last year when you moved to Cali, or so it seams, Jim Hayden was a real nice man and is still missed today, along with Joe, we're all very pleased to see Suzy still running the Gun Works, hope she decides to come back to the show now that were moving back to Enumclaw, she's been missed!

[Bigsmoke]

Suzy will certainly need to bring a few worker bees with her if she plans on coming back and setting up.  What do they do, like 8 tables or so?  Heck, I'd get tired just carrying in all the guns they used to hang up on the racks.
I remember the first time I saw Jim Hayden.  It was back in the early 1970's at the state shoot in Fresno.  He was riding around on a little red Honda tricycle.  Proud to have called him a friend.
John (Bigsmoke)