Artistry In Motion, Inc.

08/26/2025

'The real history was gripping enough without making up lots of complete nonsense'

08/25/2025

The Washington 1792 Peace Medal
When George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United Sates in April 1789, the nation’s leaders were well aware that “peace medals” given as diplomatic gifts to American Indian leaders had vital impact. Considered to be of paramount historical significance and the highest rarity, most of the authentic engraved Indian peace medals of the Washington presidency are found in institutional collections; of the medals made in 1792, the first year they were issued and awarded primarily to Southern Chiefs, perhaps a dozen are known. Colonial Williamsburg has recently acquired one the finest of only approximately six small-sized medals currently recorded. Crafted in Philadelphia, Penn., of silver by an unidentified silversmith, this Washington Indian peace medal is 5¼ inches tall by 3-3/16 inches wide and weighs 2.7onces of pure silver.
Unfortunately, I do not know the artist that made this superb reproduction as I acquired it from the estate of my good friend Dave L. Jurgella.

08/24/2025

With origins in warfare, pike poles and hooks evolved to serve a variety of functions, including modern firefighting.

Becoming one of the most versatile of firefighters’ tools, and it has a long history in the fire service.
With its several variations and lengths, this jack-of-all-trades can be used in a multitude of functions. From the early days of stopping fire extension through neighborhoods to forcible entry and salvage techniques, it is no wonder why the pike pole is routinely put to work every single day by firefighters everywhere.

The earliest resemblances to pike poles and hooks carried by today’s firefighters originated in Europe around the 12th century. They were developed to be used as weapons for soldiers. These earliest pike poles were refined by loggers and ice fisherman hundreds of years ago to meet the needs of their industry.

In the 1600s, the modern-style pike pole was manufactured and used for the demolition of homes and businesses in order to create fire breaks to stop the massive conflagrations that routinely swept through cities. Large metal rings were attached to the exterior walls of buildings in order for these long pike poles to latch onto and tear them down. Sadly, this was one of the only effective methods to stop the spread of fire, as substantial fire pumps and water delivery methods did not yet exist.

Today’s fire service hooks are relatively young when compared to the pike poles of yesteryear. The famous New York roof hook or Halligan Hook was created in the 1950s by FDNY Deputy Chief Hugh Halligan. Other city-specific fire hooks like the Chicago Hook, the Denver Hook, the Boston Rake and the San Francisco Hook emerged within the same century. These hook variations were developed to effectively tear apart the type of building construction routinely encountered by these firefighters, such as lath and plaster or tongue and groove. How ever all of these designs trace their roots back to the early European battle fields.
This Pike Pole was re-shafted by our owner. Using an original handmade head of an unknown date and an eight-foot-long hefty inch and a half pole. Depicting a pike pole that could be used on or off the battlefield filling and job that needs its service.

08/24/2025

The SCR-536 hand-held Radio
Was a hand-held radio transceiver used by the US Army Signal Corps in World War II. It is popularly referred to as a walkie talkie, although it was originally designated a "handie talkie".
he SCR-536 is often considered the first of modern hand-held, self-contained, "handie talkie" transceivers (two-way radios). It was developed in 1940 by a team led by Don Mitchell, chief engineer for Galvin Manufacturing (now Motorola Solutions) and was the first true hand-held unit to see widespread use. By July 1941, it was in mass production. In November 1942, the SCR-536 received coverage in the amateur radio magazine QST. It appeared on the cover as well as in Signal Corps advertising and was featured as part of an article on the Signal Corps, "Smallest field unit of the Signal Corps", in which a photo caption read: "it is not much larger or heavier than a conventional handset". It was carried among the first waves to hit Omaha Beach at Normandy in June 1944 (and in Italy, Sicily and North Africa before that). Every rifle company of the U.S. 29th Infantry division had six; one for each of the three rifle platoons, two for the weapons platoon, and one for the company CO. The Germans were deeply impressed by the SCR-536 and the SCR-300 after capturing several units in Sicily. By war’s end, 130,000 of the units had been manufactured by Motorola. They were also produced by other firms.

08/23/2025

Gallager's 1860 Carbines
This weapon was designed by Mahlon J. Gallager, who licensed the design to Richardson and Overman of Philadelphia for production. On 31 August 1861 the first weapons were sold to the Army.
The Gallager was loaded from the rear with brass cases, which contained the projectile and the propellant. Covered by a disc made of greased felt, the projectile was inserted in the barrel after it was tilted up by a lever, followed by the case, and (like the concurrent muzzleloaders, such as the Springfield) were ignited by percussion cap, which was placed on the bolt face. The brass cases had a paper patch in the base, to prevent powder seepage and still allow the cap to fire the round. The weapon was 0.525 in (13.3 mm) caliber with a 22 in (56 cm) barrel.

The rifle was strongly made, but unpopular with troops. Frequently, the cases stuck due to expansion of the front part and had to be laboriously removed.

A total of 17,782 were sold to the U.S. Army.

According to the Government Procurement of Gallager Carbines, 17,728 Gallager 1860 carbines were delivered to the army by the end of 1864.

In 1865, Mahlon L. Gallager modified this carbine. He adapted it to be fed with the .50/52 Spencer cartridge. This cartridge was a rimfire cartridge, and in place of the ni**le on which the percussion cap was placed, he placed a massive firing pin, which, when struck by the c**k, caused the gun to fire. The Spencer cartridge had a rim, which made it possible to equip the Gallager carbine with an extractor and eliminate the hassle of cartridges extraction.

In 1865, the modified carbine was presented to the Ordnance Department. After the presentation, the Ordnance Department ordered the modification of 5,000 Gallager carbines with a cap lock to the new version.

According to the Government Procurement of Gallager Carbines, 5,000 modified Gallager 1865 carbines were delivered to the army by the June 1865. After being withdrawn from the US Army's armament, Gallager carbines found their way into the civilian market.

Our reproductions were made by Erma Werke in Germany and is seen with reproduction brass casings.
2 Currently Available

08/23/2025

Malacca with (faux) Ivory, Walking Stick mid 18th Century
Malacca is the name given to the cane or rattan from the palm of the genus Calamus Scipionum, native to Southeast Asia, in particular Vietnam, Burma, Malaya, Singapore, and Indonesia. For centuries, it was one of the most prized materials for making walking sticks from.

The cane was extremely lightweight, robust, and had a distinctive honey-mustard yellow colour which made it stand out from darker materials like rosewood, ebony, and oak. The handle or grip at the top of the cane was usually made of something like ivory, silver, gold, or brass. To Europeans who were used to making walking sticks out of tree-branches, a stick made of such a pale, lightweight material reeked of Oriental exoticism!

It was these exotic, far-off, distant connotations that came with using malacca cane to make walking sticks (along with its obvious physical properties) that made it so popular with Europeans.

08/22/2025

08/22/2025

This is why why it's so important to have practical props. They help not only our actors they help make great movies.

08/21/2025

Gunter’s chain
The surveyor’s chain is also called a Gunter’s chain because it was invented by Edmund Gunter (1581-1626) an English mathematician. A full chain is 66 1/2 feet or 22.16 yards long, consisting of 100 links that are 7.98 inches long. (33′ for a half chain that consist of 50 links) This chain is copied from an original 18th century chain, including the brass tags or markers that are set at 10 link intervals, one finger for 10 links, 2 fingers for 20 links.
This is a full chain (66.5 feet long) accompanied with handmade surveyors pins.
This reproduction was made by: Mathew D. Stine of Latrobe, Pennsylvania

08/21/2025

English Surveyors Compass. circa 1760
This is a copy of an 18th century circumferentor or wooden Surveyors compass on a three-legged staff which are made from maple. Dimensions of the body are 15″ long, 6-3/8″ wide and the height of sight bars are 4-3/4″ the sighting hair is black horsehair. Copied the compass card from an original it illustrates an 8-point compass rose with a traditional Fleur-de-lis at North. The needle ring is divided 0-90 degrees in four quadrants.
The glass protecting the card is Bendheim full restoration glass which is using the authentic mouth-blown cylinder glass technique. It exhibits surface distortion and the occasional air bubble, while the glazing used to retain the glass is traditional whiting and shellac, simply dewed shellac and whiting (Calcium Carbonate). Painted this compass with two coats of red milk paint, made by the Old-Fashioned Milk Paint Company and further protected it with a blend of oil and varnish. It is also provided a box to protect and store the compass in which is made from white pine and left raw. It has hand cut dovetail corners with nailed top and bottom. A simple iron handle and hasp finish out the box.

Reproduced by: Mathew D. Stien

08/21/2025

U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1917
When the U.S. entered the war, it had a similar need for rifles. The Springfield Armory had delivered approximately 843,000 M1903 Springfield rifles, but due to the difficulties in production, rather than re-tool the Pattern 14 factories to produce the standard U.S. rifle, the M1903 Springfield, it was realized that it would be much quicker to adapt the British design. Although it might have been faster to retain chambering for the .303 British military cartridge, the design was modified for the U.S. .30-06 Springfield cartridge to simplify ammunition logistics. The Enfield design was well suited to the .30-06 Springfield; it was a big, strong action and was originally intended to employ a long, powerful, rimless bottlenecked cartridge. Accordingly, Re*****on Arms Co. altered the design for caliber .30-06 Springfield, under the close supervision of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department, which was formally adopted as the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1917. In addition to Re*****on's production at Ilion, New York and Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Wi******er produced the rifle at their New Haven, Connecticut plant, a combined total more than twice the 1903's production, and was the unofficial service rifle. Eddystone made 1,181,908 rifles – more than the production of Re*****on (545,541 rifles) and Wi******er (465,980 rifles) combined. Although standardization with interchangeable parts was intended, early Wi******er rifles (including the first five thousand with a simple W on the receiver rather than Wi******er) used slightly differing parts, causing interchangeability issues with the rifles produced by Re*****on and Eddystone until Wi******er corrected the problem in later production.
Design changes were few; the stripper clip feed, internal box magazine, bolt face, chamber and rifling dimensions were altered to suit the .30-06 Springfield cartridge and the US pattern 5-round stripper clips, the stock was slightly redesigned, lightening it somewhat, and the volley fire sights on the left side of the weapon were deleted. The markings were changed to reflect the model and caliber change. A 16.5-inch blade bayonet, the M1917 bayonet was produced for use on the rifle; it was later used on several other small arms including the M97 and M12 trench shotguns.

The new rifle was used alongside the M1903 Springfield, and quickly surpassed the Springfield design in numbers produced and units issued. By November 11, 1918, about 75% of the AEF in France were armed with M1917s.

An M1917 Enfield rifle was used by Sergeant Alvin C. York on October 8, 1918, during the event for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor, as the U.S. 82nd Division's (which York was a part of) official history states the division had been issued the M1917 (Eddystone), then replaced them with the No 1 Mk III Lee-Enfield while training with the British in the north of France, then were reissued M1917 rifles (Eddystone). According to his diary, Sergeant York also used a C**t M1911 semi-automatic pistol on that day.

After the armistice, most M1917 rifles were placed in storage, although Chemical Mortar units continued to be issued them. During the 1920s and 1930s, many M1917 rifles were released for civilian use through the NRA, or were sold as surplus. Many were "sporterized", sometimes including rechambering to more powerful magnum hunting cartridges, such as .300 H&H Magnum and .300 Wi******er Magnum. It was so popular as a sporting weapon that Re*****on manufactured about 30,000 new rifles as the Model 30 from 1921 to 1940. In 1934, Honduras procured a version of the rifle chambered for 7×57mm known as Model 1934.

2 Currently Available

05/02/2025

Thirty-four years ago, my uncle Bill gave me my first Dixie Gun Works Catolog. Today, I finally made it to the store in person. I like putting faces with names. Showing my distant vendors that they mean enough to my company that I would make time to stop by personally. If not to make purchases in person. At least to show appreciation for all they do for us.