Albert Kraus was more than a full-time engraver of the Hunter Arms company; he was also the manager of the engraving department. From the research I have conducted it appears that Hunter Arms always operated a full time, and fully staffed in-house engraving department; and that the engraving department continued to operate throughout the Marlin ownership era and on thru the end of Smith gun production, although I am unable to determine the size of the engraving crew. At any rate, in part of my research I spoke with an individual who knew Kraus personally and who told me that, as a department manager, Kraus came across as a tough crusty old guy; but that one of his primary concerns was scheduling "his men" with enough hours each week so that they could make a living and support their families. As a general rule of the shop, each man was assigned work according to his skill level and abilities at performing certain types of engraving tasks; as they developed their skills guys apprenticed to Kraus were the lowest paid workers and were assigned grunt work such as heavy chiseling, filing, and burnishing, another more skilled engravers might be assigned certain game scenes, etc. Basically, the more skilled engravers were assigned the higher grades; and the least skilled, the lowest grades (Skeet, Ideal, Trap). To save time and lower production costs, for standard engraving patterns Kraus fabricated brass templates cut out with pattern outlines which were fastened over the side plates; and from which the primary pattern outlines were scribed. After scribing the pattern, the engraver assigned to the work would cut the pattern to the proper depth; then fill in/add to that pattern the appropriate style and amount of scroll work. I've seen a number of these templates to include patterns for the Ideal, Specialty, Crown, etc; and interestingly, noted that these "standard" pattern layouts changed slightly from time to time (I've seen at least three different variations of the Ideal for example). I have in my possession a couple of original engraving department daily time sheets listing the names of four engravers assigned to one gun (based on serial number). These are early time sheets when the labor rate was about 20 cents an hour for gun decoration. I also have an original Marlin era receipt dated 1950 where Marlin subcontracted an engraving project to Charles Jerred and paid him $1.50/hour (inflationary times!). I suspect that most of Kraus's actual engraving time was reserved for elaborate projects; and have been told that Kraus did nearly all gold inlay work seen on surviving Smith guns. I've also been told that Kraus signed two guns he engraved, both beneath the opening lever; but I've never seen such a gun personally, and with the name of Thomas must see it to believe. I take that position based on my research on Jerred, as Charles Jerred never signed any of his engraving prior to the work he did on Ruger pistols; and with those pieces he used only his initials, which were crafted so that they appeared to be part of the scroll pattern. Engravers from this period certainly weren't required to sign their work; as those artisians within the trade could instantly ID the work of their contemporaries.
