Osa Johnson's 9.3x62

Bob, great to see you over here at AH!
I remember well when you bought that rifle and am still green...

It was a stroke of genius to cover the "I Married Adventure" book in zebra print.
As a kid, I saw that book a mile away in the library and like a moth to a flame, I was hooked!

Let's arrange a hog hunt and I'll bring my TypeA's - 30'06 and 10.75. We could have quite the battery there.
I'll even supply the ammo!
 
Bob, great to see you over here at AH!
I remember well when you bought that rifle and am still green...

It was a stroke of genius to cover the "I Married Adventure" book in zebra print.
As a kid, I saw that book a mile away in the library and like a moth to a flame, I was hooked!


Let's arrange a hog hunt and I'll bring my TypeA's - 30'06 and 10.75. We could have quite the battery there.
I'll even supply the ammo!

Thanks!

And the original covers of two of her books match their airplanes. My two copies:

Osa-books-640x.jpg


Cheers! Bob F. :D
 
Welcome Bob.
I feel a bit sorry for any subsequent new member Introductions...
you have truly set the bar at a new level.
Kind Regards
Spike
 
'
The photo below is one of five original photos that I purchased.

This one is from a fashion shoot for the March 1940 issue of Hollywood Magazine. (It's one of my favorite photos of Osa.)

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Notice the handwritten note on the bottom that states, "In coat made of Gazelle [that] she shot herself." You probably won't see something like that in today's fashion magazines.

I wonder if she used her Mauser 9.3x62 rifle?

Cheers! Bob F. :D
 
Fascinating posts and pictures. Beautiful rifle. Thank you and welcome to the forum, Bob!
 
These are the remaining three of the original photos that I purchased.

I believe these are publicity shots for the film I Married Adventure (1940) but I'm not 100% certain. Notice the date (12/29/1939) written on the back of the first photo so the timing is right for the release of the film.


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osa-03-FRONT-700x.jpg

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osa-04-REAR-700x.jpg



Osa had a line of children's toys and she wrote several books for children.



this one 28098 (1).jpg




Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

The Walt Disney Company was the first organization to license Johnson film from the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum for the 1976 program Filming Nature's Mysteries. Disney again licensed Johnson film as part of the "Rafiki's Planet Watch" at Disney's Animal Kingdom when it opened April 22, 1998.

The architects and Disney team developing a new "safari lodge" borrowed Johnson films from the museum in 1997 and 1998 for research and inspiration. Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge opened April 16, 2001. Included is an ongoing exhibit of 36 Johnson photographs along with an original copy of Osa Johnson's 1940 autobiography I Married Adventure in the lodge's Sunset Lounge.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_and_Osa_Johnson


Real-Life Inspiration behind WALT DISNEY WORLD
video posted to YouTube on Apr 28, 2019
"Looking at some of the real-life personalities whose stories are woven into the Walt Disney World resorts, including Martin and Osa Johnson!"
YouTube channel: BookishPrincess


Cheers! Bob F. :)
 
This is quite fascinating! BTW, can anyone post the titles of their books? Thank you!
 
That is really cool. Thank you for sharing! Great piece of history.

Also - does this mean we get to tell anyone hunting with a 9.3x62 that they're hunting with a girl's gun?
:D
 
That is really cool. Thank you for sharing! Great piece of history.

Also - does this mean we get to tell anyone hunting with a 9.3x62 that they're hunting with a girl's gun?
:D


Well, of course it does! :D But just remember... Osa was one tough gal!! (y)


08 a 662167846355_n.jpg




02 a Osa - kneeling - lion.jpg


02 z - osa-johnson-takes lion-2-b329.jpg

Osa takes a lion with her custom 1903 Springfield in .30-06.
(Photo Credit: Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum)
source: https://www.nrawomen.com/content/osa-johnson-always-in-the-thick-of-it

03 a -Osa - Springfield 30-06 yr 1928.jpg

Osa with her custom 1903 Springfield in .30-06. (1928)

03 b -Osa - Springfield 30-06 yr 1928.jpg


04 Osa 405 WInchester 1450108302661.jpg

Osa with a Winchester Model 1895 chambered in .405 Winchester.

05 Osa ridiing Zebra-68532756.jpg


06 osa-binos-b-1921.jpg


07 Osa fashion 640x.jpg



Cheers! Bob F. :)
 
This is quite fascinating! BTW, can anyone post the titles of their books? Thank you!


I'm not sure about Martin (at this moment) but you can try this link for Osa. I don't know if it's a 100% complete list but it's a good start.


Osa books.jpg


Link: https://www.washburn.edu/reference/cks/mapping/ojohnson/index.html



BTW, for an excellent biography of the Johnsons, I highly recommend this book:


71+xQS8QOfL._SY425_.jpg


They Married Adventure
The Wandering Lives of Martin and Osa Johnson
by Professor Pascal James Imperato

Martin and Osa Johnson thrilled American audiences of the 1920s and 30s with their remarkable movies of far-away places, exotic peoples, and the dramatic spectacle of African wildlife. Their own lives were as exciting as the movies they made--sailing through the South Sea Islands, dodging big game at African waterholes, flying small planes over the veldt, taking millionaires on safari.

Osa Johnson’s ghostwritten autobiography, I Married Adventure, became a national bestseller. The 1939 film version was billed as “the story of World Exploration’s First Lady, whose indomitable daring would be stayed by neither snarling lion nor crouching leopard, tropic tempest nor savage tribesman!” Heroes to millions, Osa and Martin seemed to embody glamor, daring, and the all-American ideal of self-reliance.

Probing beneath the glamor of the Johnsons’ public image, Pascal and Eleanor Imperato explore the more human side of the couple’s lives--and ways the Johnsons shaped, for better and for worse, America’s vision of Africa. Drawing on many years of research, access to a wealth of letters and archives, interviews with many who worked closely with the Johnsons, and their own deep knowledge of Africa, the authors present a fascinating and intimate portrait of this intrepid couple.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rutgers University Press; First Edition (March 1, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 313 pages
Link: https://www.amazon.com/They-Married-Adventure-Wandering-Johnson/dp/081351858X/

Cheers! Bob F.
 
Thank you! That is I guess what I was looking for. I’ll look for that book (y)
 
That is really cool. Thank you for sharing! Great piece of history.

Also - does this mean we get to tell anyone hunting with a 9.3x62 that they're hunting with a girl's gun?
:D
If you had ever hunted with one you would no that’s not the case. I have a whole new respect for the diminutive OSA. The amount of game she was killing just to feed the camp staff is staggering. The little lady had nerves of steel facing lion and rhino charges while her husband was filming. I highly recommend her books.
 
If you had ever hunted with one you would no that’s not the case. I have a whole new respect for the diminutive OSA. The amount of game she was killing just to feed the camp staff is staggering. The little lady had nerves of steel facing lion and rhino charges while her husband was filming. I highly recommend her books.


Yeah, Osa certainly kept everyone well-fed. And one time, she even had British royalty stop by for lunch!

Cheers! Bob F. :)


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Black Rhino on the ground. I believe Osa is holding a Thomas Bland double rifle in .470 Nitro Express. (A list of their rifles, while at Lake Paradise, is in her book I Married Adventure.)

m198512620313.jpg


m198512690338-fish.jpg

Osa loved fishing!

m198512690340-fish.jpg


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And she knew how to make proper use of a shotgun.

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Supplies in the pantry.

osa-cooking-george - eastman.jpg

Osa and George Eastman (of the Eastman Kodak Company) cooking together. He loved to cook; especially with Osa.

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Well, look who stopped by for lunch with Osa!
 
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You own a magnificent piece of history. They also owned a .505 Gibbs built by John Rigby & Co. I wonder what became of that one.


When I was at the Martin & Osa Johnson Safari Museum, back in 2008, they only had one rifle on display. It was a Winchester Model 94 in .30-30 Winchester. It was donated to the museum by Osa's mother.

At the time of her death in 1953, Osa had only two guns in her possession; an Ithaca shotgun and the Mauser 9.3x62.

It's my plan to eventually donate Osa's Mauser to the Safari Museum. (It's in my Will just in case.) I don't really think of myself as being the owner of Osa's rifle. I'm just the current caretaker of a piece of history. In my mind, it's still Osa's rifle. I think the rifle belongs back in Chanute, Kansas with Osa. (Both Martin and Osa are buried in Chanute.)

Cheers! Bob F.


IMG_0077-a.JPG

My photo of the Winchester Model 94 at the Safari Museum. 2008

IMG_0077-b.jpg


Osa with Win lever action and croc 1920.jpg

Notice the crocodile near Osa's feet.


martin-osa-grave.jpg

Osa and Martin Johnson's graves in Chanute, Kansas.
 
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You've made me a fan. I ordered four of them, I found them at Thriftbooks. Two of them were labeled collectible: Four Years in Paradise & Osa Johnson Jungle Friends. Can't wait to read them and add them to my collection.
 

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Good Evening Evert One.
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Ready for the hunt with HTK Safaris
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