You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!!!

The year was 1971. I had just moved to Garland, Texas from Denison, Texas with my family. I was in the third grade, and it was Christmas Eve. The family was all gathered at my Aunt Sandra and Uncle Duke's house in Irving, Texas for our yearly Christmas Eve Gift Extravaganza! (Ok, it was actually just the Christmas family get together, but to a kid, the first name seems more appropriate). I don't really remember most of what I got that year, but I do remember one item...but let me back up first.

The summer before, my grandparents had taken my older cousin Greg and myself to Arkansas. While there, we toured the Daisy BB gun plant in Rogers. I seem to remember that they had a little museum and a store, but none of it is in real sharp focus all these years later. Now, we flash back forward...

My grandfather handed my cousin and I packages that were about a foot by a foot and a half long and about three inches deep. Now these might have been shirt boxes (groan), except that they had a bit of heft to them. We ripped into them and found that we had each gotten one of the coolest gifts ever! In each box was a brand new Daisy 179 Spitting Image BB pistol!
You see, when we were at the Daisy plant, my grandfather had slipped back in as we were leaving and bought us each one for Christmas!

It has now been 46 years since that day, but for Christmas 2017, I own the gun again. You see, I had been on the lookout for one on eBay for quite a while. I needed good condition and a reasonable price. Those two things don't often go together. However, one came up and I bid, and I won! Here she is:

The Daisy 179 is a pretty good copy of a real Peacemaker.

Yep, it's a Daisy!

Daisy made the 179 from the early 1960s to the late 1980s, with slight modifications. For a gun with such a long run, they still go for a fairly hefty price, so I was lucky to find this one. As far as shooting your eye out goes, you would have to really work at it. This gun is extremely weak, and really just a target plinker. Still, it looks and feels great, plus you can't beat the nostalgia factor.

So, with collecting, you really can visit the Ghost of Christmas Past. Until next time, keep searching for treasure!