Made: Approximately 10 million produced by Daisy Manufacturing Co. Inc., Plymouth MI, 1940-58. Rogers AR, 1972-97. Made in China assembled Neosho MO, 1997- 2007. Daisy Outdoor Products (1999) assembled Rogers AR, 2007 to present. Versions: No. 111, Model 40, various, 1940-55. Model 94 Red Ryder Carbine, 1955-59. Model 38 Red Ryder, 1972-78. Models 1938A and 1938AB, 1979. Model 1938B, 1979- 2016. Model 1938, Retro Red Ryder 2008-10. Then the Model 1938, 2016 on. Adult and Youth Models. Numerous anniversary and commemorative models. Original price: $3.98 US Current value: Used, $30-100. New: $79.99 Daisy Outdoor Products is the oldest and largest air gun company. Before acquiring Crosman and Benjamin/Sheridan in 2024, it produced 100 different toy guns and almost 400 BB and pellet gun models. It made BBs, paint ball, and airsoft guns, and .22 rimfires. It also organized national youth firearm safety programs for decades. Daisy, however, is still best known for its .177-calibre Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. Plymouth, Michigan watchmaker Clarence J. Hamilton, patented an all-metal vaneless windmill and founded the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company in 1882. When he offered his wire-stock air gun as a purchase incentive, company General Manager Lewis Cass Hough exclaimed “Boy, that’s a Daisy!” This Iron Windmill-made single shot proved so popular that they restructured as the Daisy Manufacturing Company Inc. in 1895. Daisy soon dominated the market. Its No. 3 lever-action repeater established its iconic design. Little Daisy Model 20 and pump-action Model 25 grew the brand. Daisy survived the Great Depression and gained international attention with clever marketing, launching models endorsed by Hollywood and comic strip heroes like Buck Rogers, Annie Oakley, Davey Crockett, and Zorro. On Oct. 6, 1939, Daisy licensed cartoonist Fred Harmon’s cowboy hero, Red Ryder. My grandson’s Model 1938-eraDaisy Red Ryder provides a terrificway to introduce firearm safetyand shooting fundamentals. No. 111, Model 40 Red Ryder Daisy unveiled the first “Western style” lever-action Red Ryder in the spring of 1940, which was made until 1941. It held 650 BBs and had blued metal parts, wooden hardware, two copper-plated barrel bands, metal saddle ring and leather thong, cast iron lever, and logo branded on the stock’s left side. Later versions featured pinched metal barrel bands (1941-42), black logo silk screened on red background, 1,000 BBs (1941-42), spot welded blued barrel band (1946), stamped logo, black painted cast-aluminum lever (1947-50), plastic stock and/or forend with molded logo and blue
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