GUNS & FUN

1920s Maxim silencer next to its mailing tube. It retailed for about $3 and could be shipped directly to the purchaser by mail.

Some history on silencers. American inventor Hiram Percy Maxim, the son of Maxim gun inventor Hiram Stevens Maxim, is usually credited with inventing and selling the first commercially successful models circa 1902 (patented 30 March 1909). Maxim gave his device the trademarked name Maxim Silencer, and they were regularly advertised in sporting goods magazines.

Both the United States Department of Justice and the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive) refer to suppressors as “silencers”. Additionally, Hiram Percy Maxim (the original inventor of the device) marketed them as “Maxim Silencers”.