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May 23, 2009
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Does anyone on the forum know what happened to all of George’s Paper Collection?
I was reading in the October 1981 Collector where George talks about his possession of different various WRACo ledgers and papers. The “Gun Contractor Ledgers”, factory letters of correspondence between WRACo and customers, Dealer Letters, Payroll ledgers, etc.
Did his family throw all this in the trash?
Sincerely,
Maverick
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November 7, 2015
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Could be very interesting if they survive. I haven’t read the 1981 article but I suspect he had quite a few papers few if any of us have seen or knew existed.
Mike
June 4, 2017
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I don’t think anything was destroyed. George’s circle of friends would be a good start. His brother ran a gun shop near Eau Claire, WI. Any of my contacts have passed. T/R
November 7, 2015
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One or more of his heirs is publishing at least a few of his books. I believe a family member is on this forum from time to time, maybe they’ll favor us with a response.
Mike
May 23, 2009
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TXGunNut said
One or more of his heirs is publishing at least a few of his books. I believe a family member is on this forum from time to time, maybe they’ll favor us with a response.
Mike
Did not know they were still publishing his book. Do you know who? And where?
About in 2009, I ordered my copy of “The Winchester Book” from GeorgeMadis.com. It took a couple of months to get it. At the time George’s wife Pat was handling things. My understanding is that she has since pasted away. I tried to look at the old website, but its not there any more. The Way Back Machine, shows the website domain expired on May 3rd, 2016. The old contact phone number on the George Madis.com website is “Disconnected”.
Sincerely,
Maverick
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November 26, 2014
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I too ordered one of George’s books from his wife several years ago. I had a long conversation with her on the phone. If she is still alive, perhaps she has his papers or knows where they are.
November 7, 2015
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Maverick said
Did not know they were still publishing his book. Do you know who? And where?
About in 2009, I ordered my copy of “The Winchester Book” from GeorgeMadis.com. It took a couple of months to get it. At the time George’s wife Pat was handling things. My understanding is that she has since pasted away. I tried to look at the old website, but its not there any more. The Way Back Machine, shows the website domain expired on May 3rd, 2016. The old contact phone number on the George Madis.com website is “Disconnected”.
Sincerely,
Maverick
Maverick-
Best clue I have is an offering on Amazon for his sight book. Seems to be an active publishing concern. Appears to be published by “Art & Reference House” in Brownsboro, TX in 2005. I have an unsigned copy of this book.
I was pretty sure I’ve seen recent copies of his “The Winchester Book” but a quick search online came up empty.
Yes, I’m an unapologetic Madis fan. The man studied more records and more Winchesters than I can ever hope to. He was also very observant and realized the importance of his observations. Now we know he was wrong about some stuff. Seems not a day passes that I realize I was wrong about something. I’ll venture a guess that other than the dime novelists no author has brought more collectors into the Winchester fold.
Mike
November 7, 2014
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I belong to a few winchester groups on Facebook and there’s a person that posts in the groups once in a while using the name George Madis Jr. There’s no way to know if it’s truly his son, but one thing that strikes me a odd is that he always posts about how “Mom” was the reason the dates got screwed up, and that it was all her fault that she mixed up the alignment of a few columns and didn’t catch the mistake. It obviously is BS, because there’s no pattern to the mismatch, and it happens on multiple models… but I do wonder if it’s really his son and if so, why he is willing to throw his mom under the bus.
March 31, 2009
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TXGunNut said
Yes, I’m an unapologetic Madis fan. The man studied more records and more Winchesters than I can ever hope to. He was also very observant and realized the importance of his observations. Now we know he was wrong about some stuff. Seems not a day passes that I realize I was wrong about something. I’ll venture a guess that other than the dime novelists no author has brought more collectors into the Winchester fold.
Mike
I think most of us are too, to some extent. I have all of his books. He had some short comings but these books are a must. I also have dozens of other books and use all of them to cross reference any questions I have.
We need the people that have been doing research to publish something that the rest of us can use. Especially any information that is contrary to what the books say.
November 10, 2023
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I appreciate this topic. I came across it because I was wondering if George Madis was still alive, and still able/willing to share his knowledge. I have some questions, mostly about cartridges and bullets.
April 15, 2005
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LeverGunner said
I appreciate this topic. I came across it because I was wondering if George Madis was still alive, and still able/willing to share his knowledge. I have some questions, mostly about cartridges and bullets.
I will suggest that you post your question(s) in the appropriate topic forums. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge available from the active members of the WACA website.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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