Did you know that the company Samuel Colt founded is still around today? Colt’s Manufacturing Company is a firearms manufacturer and it was started to make the mass production of a revolver a commercially viable option. Colt didn’t get a good start to his business ventures, tasting failure in particular when he tried to make underwater mines. Even his initial patents that are used today in the manufacture of revolvers didn’t initially pay off until the Texas Rangers placed an order for his product.
Here’s a closer look at the contributions of Samuel Colt:
The Multiple Shot Revolver
Before Samuel Colt, the revolver was still a widely used firearm, but it wasn’t the easiest gun to use. The user had to reload the revolver after every shot. What Colt was able to invent and patent was the method of firing a gun multiple times without it needing to be reloaded. This revolving cylinder is very familiar today, but this new invention was shunned by the public for quite some time. It was only the start of the Mexican War of 1846, when the Texas Rangers ordered 1,000 units, did Colt’s business finally get off the ground.
By 1855, Colt’s company had the capacity to produce 150 revolvers per day. By the time of the Civil War in 1861, he had made the Colt revolver, called the Colt Paterson, one of the most popular and well-known firearms in the world.
Modern Marketing Methods
Many internet marketers today actually have Samuel Colt to thank for the ideas that help them make a passive income at home. Colt was the first one to use the combination of corporate gifts, celebrity endorsements of his product, and other forms of artwork to help promote awareness of his product. His work in advertising and product placement was often criticized because it seemed like his was promoting the sale of firearms through threats and bribes, but his work was effective in getting his revolver known the world over.
Maybe his most criticized move was to sell his pistols to European nations where tensions were extremely high, telling each party that the others were buying his pistols. This would secure him large orders because no one wanted to fall behind in the arms race.
What Samuel Colt did was change the way firearms were used in modern society. There was no longer the need to do the lengthy clean and reload after every shot, making the use of a firearm more efficient. It made hunting an easier prospect for families at the time and made expansionism part of the American way of live for more than two decades. His inventions led to the advent of further automatic weapons that have sparked many debates about the proper use of firearms in modern society.
What Colt did was have one good idea and then he worked hard to promote it. Even if you don’t agree with the product, his advertising principles are still used today and are a proven, effective way for anyone to make money with any product. That’s how Colt has changed the world.
Strong proponent of individual liberty and free speech. My goal is to present information that expands our awareness of crucial issues and exposes the manufactured illusion of freedom that we are sold in America. Question everything because nothing is what it seems.
