Field Gun

[poliphilo]

 

I had a number of these little field guns when I was a kid.

I found this example at the Tip Shop and added it to a haul that cost us £18 in all. The expensive items were a couple of boxes of glass beads at £5.00 each which we got for Mary- who likes her handicrafts...

The  gun was made by the Crescent Company which ceased trading in 1980- so it's 44 years old at the very least. Someone is trying to sell one that he admits is broken on eBay and asking £9.99 for it; I wish him luck. The paint on mine is flaky and the wheels are wobbly but it's all in one piece and it'll still fire a matchstick. I tried it out of course. The biggest thrill is to stick the matchstick down the barrel and then light it...

 My friend Stephen Pegler had an older, ginger, heavily-freckled sister who fired a flaming matchstick at me from one of these little guns. I was only a wee lad and I was terrified...

 And marked for life as you can tell....