JOSEPH E. AIKEN (circa 1900-1969)

[Dietle]

Did anyone here hang around motion picture engineer Joseph E. Aiken's gun shop? His extensive obituary in the November 1969 "Journal of the SMPTE" indicates that he was also a gun collector and expert gunsmith who rebuilt antique firearms. I'm wondering if engraving or lock making were part of his gunsmithing repertoire.

[mr. no gold]

There was an 'Aiken' sometime ago who lived in Washington State? He may be deceased. Same guy?
Dick

[Dietle]

mr. no gold: This Aiken lived in Virginia, according to his obituary.

[JTR]

Bill Aiken lived in Wa State.
I wonder if Joseph was Bill Aikens' father, as Bill had a lot of old Hollywood memorabilia in his home. And Bill told me that his dad was a gunsmith and early Kentucky rifle collector.
Both were in the KRA, so maybe someone knows the history better than I.
John

[Dennis Glazener]

mr. no gold: This Aiken lived in Virginia, according to his obituary.

Any chance he lived in eastern VA? My dad had a cousin  named Aiken that lived in the Tidewater area of VA. All zi can remember was he was a big hunter and would have been about that age. We had a couple of Aikens marry into our family, I think they may have come from the Carolinas.
Dennis

[Dietle]

Dennis Glazner: He lived in Arlington.
JTR: I don’t know if Joseph had any children, but Bill sure sounds like he may be Joseph’s son, based on what you say.

[Bill Paton]

Dietel,
I never met very early KRA member Joe Aiken, but his son Bill of Seattle was a good friend of mine. I think Carl Pippert (charter member of KRA) mentored him in restoring Kentucky rifles. They collaborated quite a lot. On one of my rifles from Joe’s collection (shown in the KRA book he edited), the silver forearm inlays he made can be distinguished by the different engraver’s hand. Its stretched barrel can be noted by me only by examining the bore.

Bill’s son now has a Bedford style percussion rifle that Joe made and Bill kept on his wall.

I don’t recall Bill saying anything about Joe making locks. I owned an original flint rifle of Joe’s that he got without a lock. Bill said that Joe found an original flint lock that perfectly fit the lock mortise. That lock was not marked as a replacement. I don’r tecall if he wrote about marking replacement locks in the book he edited.

Bill passed away a couple of years ago. At last contact, his widow was still in the Seattle area. He also had a sister in the DC area who may still be alive.

Bill Paton

[JTR]

Bill,
You're right about the Aiken/Pippert connection.
I remember Bill Aiken showing me a really nice tomahawk that he said Pippert had made for his father.
I also remember seeing several rifles his father had worked on, some pretty good, and some that probably wouldn't fly well today. Not criticizing, it was a different time/different place....
Last I saw Bill was about 2001, when I quit going to that area for work.

Now, whether any of this has to do with the original question, I have no idea. 

John

[Dietle]

Bill, JTR, thank you so much for your answers concerning Bill and Joe Aiken.