It was the early spring of 1970 when I found a interesting ad in the back of a comic book, It was to Sell Vegtable and flower seeds for a outfit called the American Seed Company. So I cut out the ad and as neatly as I could and filled it out with the promise of of all sorts of things,But what caught my eye was a BB gun rifle they said you can get. I mailed it off and being a kid of 9 I ran home every day to see if my package arrived.

About 2 weeks later a box about 2 feet by 1.5 feet was sitting on my dads door step. I quickly opened it like a hungry savage to see what they had sent me. The box was filled half vegtable and half flower seeds of all types. So I got to work selling them at 20 cents a pop to everyone in the neighborhood where I lived in Oxnard. After about one month I had all but the Okra and Beet seeds sold so guess what got planted in the back yard.

Anyways,I remember looking through the prize catalog and seeing what amounted to a requirement stating Must have an adult siginture to order Daisy air rifle. Oh man I thought I was sunk. But after alot of begging and extra chores my Mom rest her soul signed. I sent the money in and about 1 month passed and just when I had all but given up on it. I came home from grade school to find a rifle sized box leaning on my dads front door. Again the hungry savage in me came out as I ripped the box to get my hands on it.

The first thing I did was to set a small coke bottle on the wood fence on the side of the house and try to bust it. But when I shot it,the bb bounced off and hit the window to the living room and left one of those cone shaped bb holes. I was toast. I managed to hide it for two weeks. Every day about an hour after school let out I went to the creek to sit there and shoot frogs and crayfish at the waters edge. Till I was found out about the window and was given 2 choices.

Hand over the rifle or 5 across the well you know. I took the 5 across my bottem but still had my highly prized Daisy. Thus my love affair with things that shoot started early in 1970

My Daisy Red Ryder from the 1940s is still around. A little rust here and there, but fully functional. My BIL found it my parents things and I passed it along to my #2 son, he's into guns the other one isn't. It still has a .22LR hole through the stock, I still can't remember why I did that. I guess to make it look like it was in an indian fight or something. #2 son, being a packrat, I am sure he will keep it forever.

__________________
Dick

My first firearm was a Crossman version of the M1 Carbine, which I still have. This is an early one with the wood stock. For my 6th birthday Dad let me pick any bb gun I wanted from the sears catalog. He felt the Crossman was a poor choice but if that was my choice I could live with it. In retrospect it was a poor choice, considering what else was available, but I still love it.

We must be about the same age and I, also, sold the seeds you mentioned. I don't remember what I earned by selling them, but had a lot of fun.

Thanks for the memories!

You're lucky you didn't Put Your Eye Out

__________________
In dog years I'm dead.

Of a 94 Winchester. Must have been about 1973/74 when I got one. It was about as close to a 94 as you could get and even had a loading gate where you fed the BB's. At the time our place backed up to McCaffertie's wheat field and there was a never ending supply of grasshoppers to "hunt". I got good enough with that rifle I could knock empty 22 shells off a brick at about 15 yards.
Year before last for Christmas the wife bought me a Daisy Red Ryder...it has been great fun.