Squirt Gun

[jerryeberg]

They did have them back then (so says a quote of Gen. Sherman, "You might as well attempt to put out the flames of a burning house with a squirt gun.") But I can't find much information about them online at all. Is there a website or another source I could get info on it? And, WHERE CAN I GET ONE?!?! Those summer reenactments are hot!

[Dignann]

Is there a website or another source I could get info on it?
Perhaps some info that may help. Previously discussed over on the A-C -- Squirt Guns (http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6614)

Eric

[vmescher]

They did have them back then (so says a quote of Gen. Sherman, "You might as well attempt to put out the flames of a burning house with a squirt gun.") But I can't find much information about them online at all. Is there a website or another source I could get info on it? And, WHERE CAN I GET ONE?!?! Those summer reenactments are hot!

There are many references to squirt guns pre and post war. The references referred to fire-fighting equipment, medical syringes, garden sprayers, and toys. Fanny Fern even called gentlemen who spit tobacco, "self-acting squirt guns."

The first reference I found used them in a political sense in 1808. "Two paltry prints (the Bee and Albany Register) have opened their pop-guns, or rather squirt-guns, upon this gentleman [Chancellor Livingston]."

In 1856 the New York Observer included a humorous pieces about a four year old boy who was offered a gift by a minister. When asked what he wanted the boy replied, "I think I want a Testament but I know I want a squirt gun."

The American Boy's Handy Book_ by Dan Beard and originally published in 1882 Mr. Beard was born in 1850 so, to do the math, he would have been 11 years old at the beginning of hostilities. So, his experiences as a child who would play with a squirt gun predate the war. And, he adds the following statement to his discussion on making elder guns and pistols, "When the author was a very small boy he was taught by some playmates to make an elder gun ..." He doesn't make a similar statement about squirt guns but implied his experience was of a similar vintage.

In an 1883 St. Nicholas magazine there were specific instructions on how to make a squirt gun. "A 'squirt gun' was made after the same manner as a pop-gun, except that one end of the alder or bamboo was closed with a block of wood through which an awl-hole had been bored. The rammer also became a 'plunger' byt eh addition of a piece of leather or 'sucker' at the end. Equipped with this water gun, the boy was a terror of the whole school."

Another recollection that mentions squirt guns is _John Jay Janney's
Virginia_ about life in Loudoun County, Virginia, in the early 19th century. His recollections were written in 1907 so some details were probably a bit cloudy. However, he has the following to say, "Some of the 'little boys' had for amusement pop-guns, some made of the barrel of a large goose quill with a slice of raw potato for wadding, or an elder squirt [elder referring to the stalk of an elderberry which has a soft pith easily removed by shoving with a metal
rod],..."

Although I can't find specific directions for making a toy squirt gun for the pre-war years, I do have pop-gun directions and there are plenty of pre-war references to toy squirt guns so I would assume that you could use post war directions. I would not recommend using bamboo but either a elderberry stalk or alder wood.

[7thNJcoA]

YES THEY HAD THEM! The gun was a wooden or glass syringe type with a wood handle and the thumb would push in the plunger to squirt the water. I was in williamsburg not to long ago and a blacksmith there had one he was squirting the kids with it was great to learn about it. Even though he was an 18th century blacksmith he used the 19th century squirt gun but it was still quite fun to see.

[jerryeberg]

The authentic campaigner link says that I do not have enought privaleges, even after I log in. Also, a search for the word "squirt" comes up with nothing. Does it have any info on where to get them or how to make one?

[vmescher]

Does it have any info on where to get them or how to make one?

If you go to Google Books, advanced search and do a search for "American Boy's Handy Book" you will get a limited preview but then do a search within the book for squirt guns and the instructions will pop up. The book itself is still being reprinted and is fairly inexpensive on ebay and in paperback.

Although it is a post war source (1882), the author did write of playing with squirt guns in his youth and he was born in 1850. From earlier descriptions of squirt guns I read and some that I posted, I think that these instructions would work. These instructions were a bit more informative than what that I posted earlier from the 1883 publication.

[Trish Hasenmueller]

This is the entry I had on the AC under 'squirt guns'.:

Not only have I found a reference to 'squirting', I have a picture of some mischievous boys using a squirt gun to squirt their little brother and his friends through the key hole.

See the picture of page 229 of Physiology of New York Boarding-houses by Thomas Butler Gunn, 1857.

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?root=%2Fmoa%2Fmono%2Fgunn0157%2F&tif=00231.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fsgml%2Fmoa-idx%3Fnotisid%3DANY6384&coll=moa&frames=1&view=50

Trish Hasenmueller