Shoot Like Your Grandpa

This shotgun belonged to my great grandfather Roy Harr. It is a 2-round German Mauser bolt action Geha shotgun in 12ga. Now there's a lot to unpack there, but let me start by tying this back in to one of my previous "Like Your Grandpa" posts. In the first post in the series "Shave Like Your Grandpa" I talked about rituals and how we (mostly men) thrive on them. That was in the context of the shaving ritual, but shooting is not really different. In fact, I would argue that for shooting or handling any dangerous object, a ritual is critically important. Shooting is a rather long and involved ritual, especially with antique weapons like this. When you first lay your hands on a weapon, the first step in the ritual is to check to make sure that it is 'clear' (that is, not loaded). Then you might inspect it to make sure it is clean and in good working order. Once you are in a safe place to fire, you would load the weapon and at this point there are a number of safety "rituals" to follow (keep your finger off the trigger, don't point it at anything you don't want to destroy, etc.). Then there is the ritual of actually aiming, firing and in the case of bolt action firearms, ejecting the spent round and chambering the next. Attention to detail and doing things in the right order are important. So this is the appeal for me. I'm not a hunter. I'm a hobbyist. I shoot paper targets at the shooting range for fun. Part of that fun is getting the ritual right and seeing a good result.

Now about this shotgun... When Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles ending WWI in 1919, they agreed to not produce military arms. They could produce 'sporting arms' though. Now they had a large surplus of Mauser military rifles, so what to do with them? Melting them down seemed like a waste of a resource, so they decided to convert the rifles into shotguns. The shotguns were sold to farmers and hunters under a few different brands, Geha being one. My great grandpa Harr probably bought this new and used it on his farm in Washington state. When it was eventually handed to me by my uncle it hadn't been fired in many decades. I cleaned it and took it to a gunsmith to have it inspected. He said it was good to fire. There are many arguements in the shotgun community as to whether these are actually safe to fire. There are apocryphal and third hand stories of catastrophic failures, but I've yet to read anything that leads me to believe that they are dangerous in any systemic way. Remember these were built to withstand the high pressures of military rifle ammunition and so are "over-built" for the lower pressure of shotgun shells. The shotgun holds 2 rounds. I like to shoot a shell with bird shot followed by one with 00 buck shot. It's fun to feel the difference in the two rounds one right after the other. Of course the bird shot obliterates the paper target, so you can't really see the spread of the buck shot after that, but it's really just about the experience. No one shoots stationary paper targets at the range to improve their accuracy with a shotgun.

• Camera: Standard Cameras 4x5 1.0
• Film: Kodak Clinic Select Green x-ray film
• Developer: DIY Parodinal 1:100 x 4 minutes
• Fixer: Sodium Thiosufate/Sodium Sulfate basic non-hardening fixer

Smoke Like Your Grandpa

There are five men that I called Grandpa at one time or another. A few of them smoked cigarettes and one smoked a pipe. I find cigarettes unpalatable and generally offensive to the senses. I have never smoked a complete cigarette. But I remember my grandpa's pipe and the smell of the tobacco. Even as a child, it smelled good to me. I was too young to really know anything about anything but I don't think he smoked the flavored (aromatic) tobacco. He was a farmer and I find it more believable that he smoked a regular 'drug store' brand. So I had been conscious of pipes from a young age. I bought my first pipe when I was 21. That was the legal age to buy tobacco at the time. This was pre-internet, so I really had no idea what I was doing. I bought a Peterson system pipe in a subtley flared 'calabash' shape and I bought some fruity tobacco that smelled great in the jar at the tobacconist. The experience of smoking a pipe was frustrating and after a few attempts, I put it away for a couple of decades. When I decided to come back and try again I had the full resource of the internet and all of the helpful pipe smokers on the Pipe Smokers Forums to advise and encourage me. What I quickly learned was that smoking a pipe is a ritual. See my post on shaving like your grandpa for a brief discussion of rituals in our lives. I quickly lost my hang-ups about being 'good' at pipe smoking and saw it as an excersize in relaxation and contemplation. I left behind the fruity flavors of aromatic tobacco and instead prefered the pungent earthy tones of English blends. I also came to appreciate the simplicity and utility of an inexpensive corn cob pipe. Briar pipes are beautiful works of art (or at least they can be) and I have a few that I enjoy very much. But a corn cob transports me to a simpler time and I find that between the ritual of packing, lighting and smoking, and the feel of the corncob pipe and the flavors and aromas of the tobacco, the experience is truly unique and satisfying. I think our grandfathers knew this as well, but they might have taken it more for granted. I could be wrong, but I think that suburban work-a-day life in the 40's and 50's was perhaps less of a burden than it often is in the 21st century. So when I smoke a pipe I try to savor the feeling of simplicity. There may come a day when tobacco in any form is no longer tolerated. I hope that day will delay for a few more decades until I am removed from this mortal coil and can enjoy a pipe with my grandpa in the next.

Standard Cameras 1.0 4x5
Catlabs XFilm 80 @ 25
My-tol 1:1 x 8.5min

Dress Like Your Grandpa

The second photo in the series is of a few of my clothing items. Now keep in mind that I am not a 'hipster', nor am I trying intentionally to be an oddball attention seeker by dressing weird. But I do strive to have some style. I think in this age when you can show up at an upscale restaurant in torn jeans, a t-shirt with some snarky slogan and a pair of flip-flops that it shows some dignity and self-respect to dress up a little. In some cases it does bring attention, but in my experience it is invariably positive and complimentary. In fact just today I was complimented 3 times on my bowtie at church. People like it because it says that I think the people I am around are worth a little more effort than just pulling on a sweatshirt. Our grandfathers did this (mine was born in 1922). They wore hats for pragmatic as well as reasons of style. Living in So. Cal. I frequently am thankful for a brimmed hat to keep the sun out of my eyes. I have short hair, so it prevents my head from getting sunburned and when the weather cools off, I appreciate the warmth of some wool covering my cranium. Trilby, bowler, homberg, pork pie, panama, I don't care. Put it on with a bit of a nasty angle and style is yours.

Here is my grandpa on the right with his two sisters and his mom and dad. He looks maybe 17 or 18 in this picture. Look at those hats! Looking sharp Gramps!

My point here is that we don't have to be so casual all the time. It's okay to put on a nice gingham shirt, learn to tie a bowtie, polish up the brogues and top it off with a stylish lid. Make some effort. The people around you will notice and appreciate it and you will feel better in your own skin. You might even see some of your friends start to step up their style game.

The photo was taken with the following:

• Standard Cameras 4x5 1.0
• CatLabs XFilm 80 pulled to 25
• My-Tol 1:1 x 8.5 minutes

Shave Like Your Grandpa

I am starting a series of posts that center around the things that I do that are anachronistic. They belong to a previous time; that of my grandfather. These are not necessarily things he did or used personally, but are of his generation (give or take a generation). The photos will be taken on film, of course, but the posts will only have the minimum of detail around the actual photo. The content is really about the particular thing I am photographing.

I do some things in an 'old fashioned' way because I think that the world of 80 or 100 years ago was less rushed, less frantic, less worried about leaping from one instant gratification to the next. That slower pace and methodical approach to life is very appealing to me these days. Don't get the impression that I am a luddite. I work for a modern software company and spend many hours a week sitting at a computer writing code and emails and whatnot just like many many others. I don't hate technology, but I think it has its place in my life and there are other places where it does not belong. For example, shaving...

Shaving is a ritual. Whether you shave dry wih an electric shaver or use a plastic disposable with a can of shaving gel, you have a process. I think most men today use either an electric shaver or a multi-bladed cartrige with some sort of shaving foam to lubricate their skin. This is a very efficient way to get through the process with as little thought, time, effort and risk as possible. It is still a ritual, just a short one. I used to shave that way, but I was never satisfied with the quality of the shave I got, nor the feeling I had when the 'ritual' was over. I shaved once or maybe twice a week because I dreaded it an a clean shave was not required for my job. I remembered that my dad used a 'safety razor', so I decided to give that a try. A single blade... how was that going to work? As it turns out, it worked pretty well. I learned the 'grain map' of my face and started getting the closest, most comfortable shaves of my life. When I decided to add shaving soap and a brush to the ritual, it became truly enjoyable and an opportunity to 'pamper' myself. The final straw that made me go 'full grandpa' was the decision to get a straight razor and learn to shave that way. Now the ritual has expanded to stropping and occasionally sharpening the blade. My shaving ritual now takes about 35 minutes every other day. I put on some good music and take my time. My world slows waaaay down and I stop thinking about all of the external troubles. This is by choice and by necessity. Putting a razor-sharp blade to your throat requires some care and focus. So that's why I shave like my grandpa.

The first photo is of my safety razor, along with my badger brush and a bowl for lathering the soap.

Next up is my straight razor (Dovo) along with a mug that my great grandpa's sister hand painted for him. He used it for lathering his shaving soap and that's what I use it for as well. The leather strop behind belonged to another grandpa. I don't use it because it is pretty worn with lots of nicks, but I keep it hanging with my new strop.

The photo details:

• Standard Cameras 1.0 4x5 camera
• Kodak Ektar 203mm/7.7
• Cat Labs XFilm 80
• HC110b x 8.75 minutes