Museum Director's Third Book Examines Plymouth's Air Rifle Industry

"It's a story that needed to be told."

That is Liz Kerstens' response to why she chose to write about the air rifle industry in her third book, "Plymouth's Air Rifle Industry," which was released earlier this month by Arcadia Publishing out of Charleston, South Carolina. 
 
The Plymouth Historical Museum Director suggested the topic when Arcadia came to her asking her to write a follow up to her first book, "Plymouth's First Century: Innovators and Industry."

"To me it seemed like such a natural topic," Kerstens said. "It was a big industry here and it employed so many people for a long time. They were a little hesitant because their books are usually about communities. But I convinced them because of the air rifle folks - there's a huge collector market - so it's going to be a wider audience than just Plymouth people. This is going to interest collectors from around the country." 

Kerstens said the air rifle industry is a fascinating story. The book focuses on four main air rifle companies and spans 72 years - from the very first, Markham Air Air Rifle Company, all the way to when Daisy Manufacturing left Plymouth in 1958.

"In doing the book, what came to be monumental to me was how important one guy was to three of the four companies that I talk about in there: Clarence Hamilton," Kerstens said. "It was very interesting to me in how instrumental he was in really making this area a commercial success. The ideas came out of his brain. I knew that he had invented stuff, but I didn't realize how much of an impact his inventions had, at least in the air rifle industry. That would be the biggest eye opener to me."

William “Philip” Markham and his company first received an air-rifle patent in 1887. The Plymouth Iron Windmill Company entered the competition in 1888, when Hamilton, a co-founder, introduced his prototype to the board of directors.

After firing the rifle, general manager Lewis Cass Hough declared, “Boy, that’s a Daisy,” and the Daisy air rifle was born; the company was renamed in 1895.

"If you think about it, 72 years is like three and a half generations," Kerstens said. "So there were many families who had generations of people who worked for Daisy, ultimately, because Daisy's the only one who hung around. That's a huge impact right there." 

Daisy Outdoor Products is still in operation today in Rogers, Arkansas. In fact, the Vice President of Marketing, Joe Murfin wrote the forward for Kerstens' book. 

The release of the book was planned to coincide with the Plymouth Historical Museum's upcoming exhibit, "A Red Ryder Christmas Story," which will run Nov. 22 through Jan. 19.

Kerstens will introduce her latest book on Thursday during the Friends of the Plymouth Historical Museum meeting. The talk begins at 7:30 p.m. Books will be for sale afterwards with Kerstens on hand to autograph. 

The book is also available for purchase in the Museum Store or on the store's website. 

The talk is free and open to the public. The Plymouth Historical Museum is located at 155 S. Main Street, Plymouth. For more information, visit www.plymouthhistory.org.