I ask because colonial advertising is remarkably basful about prices of goods for sale. I would like to find out sale price of pistols in the Framing era.
Friday, October 11, 2024
A Story That I Heard
I do not if it is true but I see little references to it occasionally. The claim is that offering goods at a particular price available to all buyers was originally a Quaker notion based on treating all equally. It sounds like something Quakers would adopt as a policy. This article about Macy's Quaker roots references it. More detail here.
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Clayton, there is a book copy in my lap, “Guns on the early Frontiers” by Carl Russell and all through it are references to what guns cost eg what the .gov was paying for stuff they bought to gift to their Native allies and what customs duties were smacked on importe as well as various comments on ‘regulations’ on gifting/selling ordnance to Natives. Only regulation I remember was in the “Carolinas” don’t recall n/s “…don’t show up for militia drill with a matchlock!” circa 1640 or so
ReplyDeleteBook has a lot of info page 98 gunsmith paid $500/year @ St Louis in 1823/24.
colonial period “gun barrel and lock six shillings”
french fusil (mainly for indian(Native America) trade about $6 page 16
per Astor Blunderbus was $7.85 page 71
yow pg 132 rifles supplied to Indians Tench Coxe (yup him) shipped rifles for Indians $10.50
have not found any pistol prices but I’m just flipping through pages.
if you can’t find this book email me a fi103r@yahoo.com one of my favorite books but if it helps I’ll find a way to get it to you
Richard
Clayton only pistol prices so far are military contract pistols Simeon North sold Model 1799 at $6 each pg 200 then model 1808 various contractors $10 a PAIR and Navy model 1808 w/belt hook $12 a PAIR
ReplyDeletewow
Richard
For scale, Massachusetts agricultural laborers earned $0.84.4 per day, so a pistol was about six days labor.
Deletehttps://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89071501472
DeleteSnicker contract for pistols requiring interchangeable parts 20k pistols .69 cal $7 each Simeon North and other contractors
ReplyDeletePg 210 Model 1836 .54cal Johnson built $7.50 each last flintlocks .mil pistols
ReplyDeletefor scale pg 224 gunpowder was $.40/lb up to $.62/lb during War of 1812.
ReplyDeleteVery helpful. I just ordered it.
ReplyDelete