Cabot Visits the Daisy Air Gun Museum

While exploring Rogers, Arkansas I found the Daisy Air Gun Museum. Rogers has been the manufacturing home of the Daisy BB gun since 1958!

Growing daisies?

According to the Daisy website, Daisy actually had its beginnings back in 1882 as Plymouth Iron Windmill Company, a manufacturer of windmills in Plymouth, Michigan; however, by the late 1880s the windmill business was changing and the struggling company began looking for new ways to attract customers.

In 1886, Plymouth inventor Clarence Hamilton introduced a new idea to the windmill company. It was a combination of metal and wire, vaguely resembling a gun that could fire a lead ball using compressed air. Lewis Cass Hough, then president of the firm, gave it a try and, after his first shot, enthusiastically exclaimed, "Boy, that's a daisy!"

 

The name stuck and the BB gun went into production as a premium item given to farmers when they purchased a windmill. The gun was such a huge success that Plymouth Iron Windmill soon began manufacturing the Daisy BB gun in place of windmills! On January 26, 1895 the company's board of directors officially voted to change the name to Daisy Manufacturing Company, Inc.

The sturdy little Daisy BB gun quickly became a staple with American youth and youngsters all across the land cut their shooting teeth on a Daisy. Competition was keen at the time, with guns such as Bulls Eye, Dewey, Hero, Dandy, Atlas and others appearing almost overnight and disappearing just as quickly. Over the years Daisy has continued to improve and expand our line of airguns, putting model after model within the reach of every young shooter's pocketbook and skill level.

I'm a cowboy!

You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

There is so much to see here!