Mention of the Depression reminds me that not only were these affordable “Everyman” doubles tools of provision and protection for the large segment of Americans at the bottom of the economic scale they were also responsible for saving at least one American gun company.
1929 dawned with optimism and promise and for good reason - America had just gone through a decade of so-called “permanent prosperity” and this same “Everyman” had, for the first time, become an investor (via margin accounts, unfortunately). Meanwhile, on the banks of Fall Creek at the southern end of New York’s Finger Lakes region, Smith and Livermore, the hands-on owners of Ithaca Gun Co. were doing what they’d been doing through decades of successful operation: they were making their own assessments and planning and implementing accordingly.
The result was instead of launching a high end model to tap into this growing wealth across America, they introduced a new double at the opposite end of the spectrum: the Ithaca Western Arms “Long Range”.
And when 1929’s true character crashed onto the scene, Ithaca “just happened” to be ready. Annual sales of the flagship NID plunged from thousands to hundreds bottoming out in 1934 at zero.
And the Long Range? From 1929 - 1939, Ithaca sold 49,000+. And the company was saved.
Competitors and critics claimed it was luck. I believe it was a classic American example of the aphorism:
The smarter I work
The “luckier” I get.
Last edited by FallCreekFan; 06/16/26 10:59 AM.
