This Website Copyright ©   Mike Nichols All Rights Reserved
			AUTHOR'S PREFACE: First of all I might say that I am deeply in debt to those around the world who have generously donated their time, ideas, information and photos for the production of this website. You can find most of their names listed on the "Contributors Page" under the "Scrapbook Menu." I really don't think there is another website quite like it anywhere on the internet as one of my passions is the promotion of the antique toy hobby—ESPECIALLY the Toy Cap Gun Hobby and you dealers and collectors who make this possible! Thanks to all of you! Get INVOLVED in promoting the Cap Gun Hobby ~ before a small minority of misguided activists and some ill-advised legislators take it away from you! Here's a photo from Jamie Linford (pictured) of the sign at Nichols Green in Jacksonville, Texas. My cousin Robert donated the land and improvements of this large park to the city of Jacksonville. He used to be the mayor several years after my Uncle Talley had also been the mayor. Uncle Talley was once named the city's "Industrial Founding Father," for before he brought Nichols Industries to Jacksonville it had only had a basket factory and some sawmills and Lon Morris College, where many of my family members attended. This website is primarily the story of Nichols Industries, Inc. In telling the story, the cap pistols are the central focus and the history of the company is also included. Some of the more personal stories of the Nichols family are also included, for after all, Nichols Industries, Inc. was "Our" company. True, it was owned by the stockholders who were family, friends and investors, but it was started by our family. All text and narratives are humbly submitted by Mike Nichols, the oldest son of Lewis W. Nichols, Jr., who was the younger brother of Talley W. Nichols. Talley and Lewis, along with their wives Ruth and Phyllis (respectively), were the founders of the dream that became Nichols Industries, Inc. When I was a kid, my dad used to take me down to the plant in Pasadena where I watched the toy guns being made. I even helped on the line, though I am sure that some of the more cynical workers might have considered that I was actually "IN THE WAY!!!" My earliest memories of this time were of the small little "blockhouse" that is still in Pasadena, and then the Quonset Hut that was built off to the side. Later, Richey Street was extended to the Washburn Tunnel in Pasadena and the hut was torn down, the land sold and the street was finished. I remember when the company moved to Jacksonville, Texas. By now my father had become a Methodist minister and we were "out" of the company. However, though you may not (now) be involved in any of the decisions or creativity, there was always a sense of permanence of family pride in what those who were still involved were doing. My dad was very proud of his older brother and related to me the stories that were behind the scenes. Nichols Super Sling Shot And you thought Nichols Industries only made Cap Guns? At the time, this was the best commercial sling shot in the world. Now it might just be the rarest. And to think when I was bidding on it, I thought that nobody else would know how rare it was. Was I wrong!!! It finally sold for about 600 times the original price! I haven't even seen one of these in 50 years! CLICK ON PHOTO TO SEE IT LARGER! Photo contribution by Jamie Linford My Uncle Talley made the world's greatest toys. Photo taken in 1964. Many thanks to Troy Greenwood! Click Here To See The "Move To Jacksonville" History Pages Don't forget to see our Scrapbook Section, where all of you can put your favorite Cap Guns' photos and also photos of childhood memories or "regular" toys. We also have web pages available for you to advertise your Cap Guns and "regular" toys to sell and anything else you want. All you have to do is to contact us and it can be done! NICHOLS SUPER SLING SHOT IN BLACK Here is a super rarity! The Nichols Super Sling Shot in black. But what would you expect from Richard Strom, owner of the Nichols Cap Gun Museum? He seems to have everything. If he doesn't have it, then he will! It's disgusting for me, a family member, to realize that I was "asleep at the wheel" when you could get everything, and I didn't do it! Richard is making up for lost time. This is about all there is in a full set. I personally have never seen the holster or targets. This came out when I was about six. Photo thanks To Brittney Nichols—Robert's daughter How does Jamie get all of the luck? Well, to be fair, he goes to the shows and looks! And also to be fair, he finally sold me one of these. This particular version of the Super Sling (it doesn't say "Shot") must be a much later version or packaging. Notice that the doggone rubber band looks brand new! I wonder how many of you can purchase one for 98 cents? There were little plastic balls in the sliding door handle for ammo. Also notice that the little peep sight is not broken off. It was easy to do. I did it about 60 years ago. Here is an early ad for the Super Sling Shot in the plastic bag. It has an extra rubber band in it and also doesn't show the screw in the bottom front of the item as in the picture above. As I recall from when I was a kid, the little plastic balls came in several colors: namely, red, white and blue. Maybe this is "made up memory." By the way, the Super Sling Shot was originally made in Pasadena. Photo thanks to Robert Nichols. Here is a really great shot of one of my favorite toys of all time. This picture also shows the ammo. Most people don't know that the ammo also came in red, white and blue, but mine had those colors. Naturally, since I was 6 years old, I lost the ammo shooting at trees and such. Lost the doggone sling shot as well. Didn't have any foresight. Photo thanks to David Denton. Another great shot from David. It is quite normal for the sight to be broken off, but you will notice that this one still has it. Be sure to click on these "thumbnails" to see larger photos of the same thing. Notice that you can read "USA" at the top under the sight, "NICHOLS" next and then "PASADENA, TEXAS." Until rather recently I didn't know that Nichols produced toy cars and trucks. Richard Strom has a great collection of them, but I don't have any. This set was presented to me (photo) by David Denton of The Antique Cowboy. They produced cars and trucks and other non-cap gun toys very late in the company's history. Thanks David! Here is another example of a Nichols toy that wasn't a Cap Gun. This particular oil derrick was built in very small numbers actually. I was present at Nichols Industries when Uncle Talley showed me several prototypes and said that they were going on the market. I don't remember what possesed him to build these, except that for a period of time there they had a pretty good working relationship with FINA Oil Company and had made some other stuff for FINA and this project may have come out of that. It was in about 1959 or 1960, I can't remember. All I remember is that Uncle Talley made me feel pretty important by telling me NOT TO TELL ANYBODY as it was super secret!!! (We were in the upstairs tool and die room where Mr. Bill Simpson was KING, and he brought this out of the closet.---just like the story below) Well, of course I buttoned my lip and felt important. Now I realize that he probably only said that to make me feel important and it did the job. One of the things that you will notice about this one is that the top of the oil derrick is missing. Jamie is still looking for another one (he has 3 or so) that has the top. The top was removable, as the whole thing came as a kit. I hope to own one someday! Photo by Jamie Linford. Here's the box by itself. This kit must be very rare. I only know of 2 myself, but there's probably a lot more out there. Here's an ad for the same oil well in a magazine. I don't notice any mention of the fact that Nichols was the manufacturer. But it's certainly the same little oil well. I should have bought 100. And here's my Oil Derrick. You will notice that the main colors are reversed from Jamie's. I don't know why, but that is the same as on the Nichols Aquacar and I have both of those. Mine is 100% working and all you do is turn that little white knob on the front side clockwise and it starts pumping oil. So far I have pumped 100 barrels and have run out of a place to put them, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know. When we had a chance, we sometimes visited the plant in Jacksonville. Especially while we were living in nearby Tyler. All of my life, I guess, I have been a "True Romantic" and when visiting my Uncle Talley and having him give us a tour of the company, I was the happiest kid in the world. MY FAMILY MAKES TOYS!!! Who could ask for more? Besides, apart from my parents I thought that my Uncle Talley was the greatest living human being in the world. He would take us to the engineering department where they were making new dies for the next guns and tell me, "Now don't go telling anybody about these new projects, as they are top secret." I was sure that I was holding onto the most important secrets of humanity. I knew the people there too, like Mr. Bill Simpson, for whom I would later work in the fireworks industry. Mr. Bill Simpson was probably the second greatest human, for my dad said so. But those are warm, personal, family stories. This website is the story, as it unfolded, in "toy terms" of that company. I was helped greatly by other members of my family, especially those in Uncle Talley's family, as they are older than I and have clearer memories of these events. I was also helped by my mom, who was there from the beginning. This website is dedicated to the memories of Lewis W. Nichols, Jr. (1918-1995) (my dad - Left) and Talley W. Nichols (1914-2001) (Right) Co-Founders—Nichols Industries Brothers and Best Friends A Few Notes About Mike Nichols For pure vanity's sake, I guess I will say a few words about myself. I may as well; there's nothing going on this Saturday morning, and I haven't come up with the complete format to write The Great American Novel. First of all, there's nothing special about me at all. I have never sold a Cap Gun in my life and probably never will. I have given them away to friends and family, but that was just a little fun in my life. I enjoy GIVING and if you haven't discovered that "drug," then you have missed out on one of the great secrets of Life. I probably know less about Cap Guns than the bulk of you and am not as good a writer as a third of you. That last number would have been higher 30 years ago, but America has steadily been going downhill in its linguistic skills and penmanship. I am the oldest of four in my family ("Mike" {George Michael}, Mary Ann, Guy Lewis and Mark Andrew) and my dad was Lewis W. Nichols, who was the younger co-founder of Nichols Industries. Always remember when I say that Lewis and Talley were the co-founders (my dad and uncle), that without their wives' help there probably would have been no company at all. There were months at the beginning where it was just the twelve of them. You know...Mom (Phyllis Ruth nee Andrew), Dad, Aunt Ruth {nee Bowling}, Uncle Talley...AND...the other 8 people called Mr. Bill Simpson! But BACK TO ME! When the company was first started in Pasadena (1946) my age was minus 1 and a half. Uncle Talley already had 4 kids: Penny Nichols (actually her name is Mary Ruth, but I didn't even find that out until I was about 20 years old!), Lewis, James and Robert. I was born in 1947 just after the Silver Mustang came along. If I had been born a little earlier, then I would probably have been born throwing up, for after the initial success of the Silver Pony, the "boys" made too many of them and got into some hot water with overstock. But by the time I came along towards Christmas in 1947, then things were doing much better. Since my sister Mary Ann wasn't even born until 1951, after the Stallion 45 was already doing well, then I am the only one who remembers quite well those wonderful idyllic days in Pasadena. I remember when the Quonset Hut was built to house the newest production facilities. It was called that because it had the rounded top like one of those quickly-thrown-up army barracks in World War II. But it was a lot bigger. It was at the corner of Richey and Jensen. At that time Richey didn't go all of the way to the Washburn Tunnel. I even worked on the assembly line with the ladies and helped put together things like the Super Slingshot. I was probably in the way, but HEY...I was the boss's son! We also made cannisters for sugar, candy and flour and a fantastic water sprinkler that never caught on at all. My cousin Susan, who is a little younger than I taught me to swim in Pasadena. We would walk towards Pasadena High School (which is still there) and over to the park and zoo. There was also a public swimming pool. No black people were allowed, of course, because America still hadn't gotten its brains on straight, and we were horribly segregated. Looking back upon that factor makes me personally embarrassed for us all, even though I had nothing to do with it. Things are much better now, but still will be improved. But Susan taught me to swim—underwater at first and then on the top. I think it cost a quarter to go there. The zoo was simply a bunch of cages of animals and nothing as sophisticated as the animal parks we see today. Uncle Talley added another room to the back of the house to accommodate his flock of kids, as Dwight had now been born about the same time as my sister. The house was on a hill so the additional "Boys Room" (with bunk beds) was actually on the second floor and below was a family room that helped the house straddle the garage. The house is still there on Winona Street (Actually torn down in the 2000's) in the old part which would properly be called "Downtown Pasadena." Today there is no such thing as Downtown Pasadena and there is a freeway (225) there that used to be Sterling Street. I spent a lot of time over at my Aunt Ruth's and also got to know Sandy Simpson, who was Mr. Bill's daughter and a little older than I. Those days were quite wonderful to me, but we soon moved to Dallas, as my dad had gotten "The Call" to the ministry and went and studied to be a Methodist minister. After Dallas, we moved back to the Deepwater area in Pasadena and Daddy started a new church. It thrived and then we moved to Tyler, Texas. For me those were the greatest days of my young life, as I felt I owned that town. The other 55,000 citizens would have smiled, for I was only a very small part. Of course, I was on the very famous Ramey (later Boulter Jr. High) Elementary School Yankees, and we won everything in baseball that could be won. I made many friends and after Hurricane Carla, in 1961, we moved to Angleton, Texas in 1962. I went to high school there and made many lifelong friends. The rest of my life is merely the musings of getting married and raising a family with two kids: Amy then John. I owned a pet store for twenty years and got to know everybody in Huntsville, Texas. Or so it would seem. After suffering a couple of heart attacks, we prayed about what direction God wanted us to go and within a couple of days someone bought our store, and I went into the computer consulting business. A few years later, while driving home from work, I got this crazy idea to build a website, since I had recently been building a lot of websites for companies all over America. The website would be about Nichols Industries. It seemed all "planned out" for me and so I got started. Within a very short time Mr. Jim Manning talked me into adding all of the other companies that had been so important to the Cap Gun hobby. So...the bottom line is that I am basically the very last member of any of the major Cap Gun companies' families that remembers those "Good Old Days" and also happens to build websites. Who else is going to do it? I just hope that you enjoy reading about all of those special toys that kept us busy when we were kids. It was a different day from today, and I fondly remember quite a bit of it. Especially the part of how my family had a part in it. —Mike Nichols A rough saloon with some young desperados. The left picture on the far wall is Dwight Nichols, son of Talley W. Nichols. Notice (!!!) the Stallion Saddle Gun Model 300 with the blonde furniture that is standing on the rack on the left. It is also blued!!! Fabulously rare!!! Send me your mint in the box model and charge me $200. Photo contribution by Robert Nichols This Web Site © Copyright All Rights Reserved