Walloon Lake, Michigan, summer 1904. Ernest Miller Hemingway at the age of 5, posing with a break-action Markham King air rifle that then sold for about 75¢. Markham Co. advertisements pointed out that “Every live, healthy boy wants a ‘King’ Air Rifle. It’s boy nature to want a gun; to want to get out in the fields and woods, nearest to nature, and enjoy youthful life to its fullest extent. Get your boy a ‘King’ Air Rifle. It will mean health and boyish happiness—and steady nerves, keener eyesight and well-developed powers of observation.” Eyesight aside, Hemingway became a convincing testament to Markham’s claim.
