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"What is the number of your Winchester?" Ad ques.
austinsguns
Member Posts: 143 ✭✭✭
Why did winchester place these ads?
Comments
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FULL AUTO[:0][:0][:0]
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Yessir! But no joke, John Browning converted an 1873 Winchester to full auto. He used a rudimentary gas system mounted at the muzzle, which operated through levers, return springs and a pushrod, to work the finger lever. The gun apparently emptied its magazine in one second.
65555 - received in the warehouse on 9/19/1893 (38-55 high-wall)
68432 - received in the warehouse on 5/25/1895 (25-20 SS low-wall)
69603 - received in the warehouse on 11/14/1894 (38 WCF low-wall)
The ledger entries for all three serial numbers were complete, and perfectly normal in all respects.
There is nothing about that ad that makes any sense to me.
They offered a new Model 94 to the first 20 verified respondents.
I have no idea what Winchester was up to with that request for specific serial numbers. I did look up all three of the Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle serial numbers, and there is no connection that I can see.
65555 - received in the warehouse on 9/19/1893 (38-55 high-wall)
68432 - received in the warehouse on 5/25/1895 (25-20 SS low-wall)
69603 - received in the warehouse on 11/14/1894 (38 WCF low-wall)
The ledger entries for all three serial numbers were complete, and perfectly normal in all respects.
There is nothing about that ad that makes any sense to me.
Let's start an investigation and try to figure out what that ad was all about.
For starters, where was that ad placed? I see, with a Google search, that copies (original and reproductions) have been sold of that ad; unfortunately, none of the results I looked at were saying what publication that advertisement was originally placed in (though I admit, I only spent a limited amount of time looking).
So let's start with finding out where that ad was placed -- or even if it is a legitimate vintage advertisement? Maybe it was a counterfeit vintage advertisement someone made at some point when selling one of the mentioned rifles in some attempt to make their rifle "special"?
Perhaps the moderators will keep this thread open while people investigate (and speculate) about this issue.
I have made this a Sticky Topic (for at least the next few months) so that we can stay focused on it.
I own the above pictured AD. Please let me know if I can be of any more assistance.
quote:Originally posted by Bert H.
I have made this a Sticky Topic (for at least the next few months) so that we can stay focused on it.
I own the above pictured AD. Please let me know if I can be of any more assistance.
Do you have any information about the publication it came from? Name, publisher, issue, date of publication, printer, editor, etc.? It may not lead to anything, but with search engines, one piece of information might help to pull up some source referencing that ad.
"Winchester advertising" has about 9 million results on Google; narrowing that focus with some other key word might lead to some explanation of that ad.
Above is the entire magazine with the ad.
It looks to be from New York.
Published in the Youth's Companion Magazine.
Is there a correlation with the dates of manufacture of these rifles?
No, there is not. They are spreadout from 1890 through 1896.
Bert could it just be a promotional gimmick? like one of todays give aways companies have. $10 would have been about a months ?? wages wouldn't it? since they want to know how the finish and such are holding up it may be quality control issue to see if anything needs changed ect.
Possibly it was some type of promotional gimmick, or a quality control check, though I have to wonder why, as none of the guns were more than 7-years old at the time.
Is it possible that some sort of financial turmoil was behind this? Creditors? Law suits?
Today, there are companies that can give a potential advertiser all sorts of detailed information about the readership of magazines; when those ads were run, companies were pretty much on their own.
They could certainly get some idea about interest in their products -- and the viewership they were getting to a specific advertisement -- by evaluating the requests they received for catalogs, but if they wanted to know if current owners of Winchester firearms were reading a specific magazine, they'd have no way of telling.
Not only would such an offer have a promotional effect -- as it would potentially get people talking about their firearms with friends and family -- it would also give Winchester a way to gauge if their advertising was reaching a specific targeted audience (current Winchester owners).
Perhaps the answer to this mystery will be found in learning about the ways companies tried to measure advertising effectiveness early in advertising, or trying to learn who made decisions about marketing and promotion during that time period and see if there is any indication there was interest, in the company, about trying to measure advertising effectiveness?
Perhaps a retailer has been engaged in the shady practice of removing the serial numbers, or selling at a lower than allowed price. Maybe they owed Winchester a bunch of money, or there is a commercial lawsuit involved.
3 of each looks like a random sampling. I can almost hear a Winchester executive saying "Pick 3 serial numbers of each model, let's see where they wound up".
I'm just thinking that Winchester was looking to gather evidence to burn someone.
This is just a wild guess -
Perhaps a retailer has been engaged in the shady practice of removing the serial numbers, or selling at a lower than allowed price. Maybe they owed Winchester a bunch of money, or there is a commercial lawsuit involved.
3 of each looks like a random sampling. I can almost hear a Winchester executive saying "Pick 3 serial numbers of each model, let's see where they wound up".
I'm just thinking that Winchester was looking to gather evidence to burn someone.
I'm not sure I'm really understanding what you're suggesting as a possibility, but if this was in any way connected with a lawsuit, it would be something that could be researched -- the courts records would still be around.
Does anyone have any other theories on this?
"Send your name and address on a postal-card, and we will send you our 128-page Illustrated Catalogue, Free."