I like Bushmaster's notion that they may not have "the aura of those from companies that met a much earlier and swifter demise, e.g. Parker, Fox, and L.C. Smith." My notion is there's some peculiar psychology, more than looks and reliability, going on with Ithacas. There may be something of a nostalgic or romantic attachment to the companies that didn't linger. It baffles me.