TJJohn12
Active Member
So handedness has nothing to do with arms carrying position - they are standardized by manual of arms, which are adopted at the unit or army level depending on era.
For instance, Gilham's manual of arms during the American Civil War era had shoulder arms on the left shoulder similar to how these figures are holding their sabers (support arms in Gilham's was a similar position, but with the left arm across the chest supporting the weapon in the crook of the shoulder). In opposition, Hardee's manual calls for shoulder arms to be held on the right shoulder (support in Hardee's is identical to Gilham's, so you need to transfer sides to move from position to position).
In Gilham's, shoulder is supported from the butt of the weapon; in Hardee's you support around the trigger guard (there's tons of reasons for this evolution, mostly due to weapon design advancement).
No matter if you were right or left handed, you learned one unified drill manual with your unit. EVERYONE fired right handed whether they liked it or not. The weapons issued in the 19th century were standardized.
So, we're looking for a relatively crude molded tin/lead soldier holding their weapon at shoulder arms using a manual where the shoulder position is on the left side of the body. I'd even hazard that we're looking specifically for a toy soldier that supports from the rifle butt ala Gilham's.
And my two history degrees finally come in handy for prop identification! ;-)
