As a 10-year-old growing up in the 1950s, while other kids were playing cowboys and Indians or soldiers, my brain was in outer space. After school and weekend hours were filled with the adventures of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet; Buzz Corey in Space Patrol; and Captain Video and His Video Rangers. These and other television and movie space shows launched my interest in rocket ships, spacesuits, and, most of all, ray guns.
Some of those weapons could “freeze” you in your tracks or stun you into unconsciousness — I don’t recall ever seeing anyone killed by a ray gun. Monsters, yes. People, no. Other weapons like the Space Patrol Cosmic Smoke gun put your enemy to sleep with its quiet baby powder ballistics. And there were those wonderful designs — fins, lightning bolts, and other futuristic graphics.
IN THE BEGINNING
Ray guns began appearing in the mid-30s with the Buck Rogers XZ-31 Rocket Pistol by Daisy Manufacturing. Their second model released a year later, the XZ-38, produced a loud pop and a flint spark in its “compression chamber”. At that time, Louis Marx & Company also introduced the lithograph printed steel Flash Gordon Radio Repeater based on the Flash Gordon radio show and comic strip. Later models used the same gun with different lithography. The late 40s brought the gorgeous cap-firing Hubley Atomic Disintegrator, a true masterpiece of space weaponry. Amazingly, many of these models are still around thanks to their sturdy construction and captivating designs that were simply too beautiful to discard.
The wide use of plastic in the 40s and 50s brought a giant wave of exciting new models, some with batteries to make them buzz or light up. Many were tied to popular TV space shows and were available in stores and by sending away cereal box tops. The designs were unlimited, with the common denominator being their highly futuristic look and how they seemed to mirror the unlimited optimism of the era.
A NEW ERA
We were on the cusp of the space age and it felt like everything was possible. It was a time that encouraged unlimited imagination and here it was in our own young hands, ready to zap enemies from other planets and bring peace to the universe.
I started collecting these extraterrestrial artifacts in the 1970s when I came across one, a 1930s Nu-Matic Paper Popper — ironically, not really a ray gun. But it “triggered” me (sorry!) into ray gun and space toy collecting. At the time, this was pre-Internet, even pre-eBay, so I resorted to scouring toy magazines like Antique Toy World for auctions and toy shows. I travelled all over the country to attend these events and then dreamt about my childhood for days after. The arrival of the Hakes auction catalogue was also a thrill.
Today, the internet, eBay, and social media put ray guns and other treasures at your fingertips. All the better to stoke your passion, learn about values, and fill your collector shelves with almost anything you crave.
For me, it’s always been about imagination and nostalgia for that imagined future.
