I'm wondering about what we are inferring from this statement:

"Consider Holland and Holland. They commenced selling guns around 1835. Their factory produced its first gun around 1890. Where do you suppose the guns for the first 55 years came from? What does pre-1890 advertising say about H&H as a gunmaker?"

H. Holland was a gunmaker, wasn't he? I don't believe it was recorded that he was trained as one, but I always thought he did make some guns himself. Maybe not.

His nephew apprenticed to him 1860 to learn "...the Art of Gun Manufacturing..." so it sounds like the old man knew something about how to use a file. Of course, maybe the whole apprentice deal was open to interpretation. Perhaps the H. Holland outsourced that, too.

Also, where does it say that the firm H. Holland never made a gun before 1890? I'm looking through the H&H book now to find this information. Does anyone know what page it is on, or where another authority has stated this?

I would like to look it up and read more about it.

Thanks for the help.

OWD

BTW: on page 49 of Nigel Brown's London Gunmakers is the following: "He (Harris Holland) probably did so (produce guns) initially using guns available through the trade, but soom made them up himself for which he showed a natural talent."

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