EST .1905

In 1905, two Englishmen name Roy Squires and William
Bingham put up a photo print shop and merchandising firm
in the Philippines. The company established was call Squires,
Bingham & Co.
Squires and Bingham eventually expanded their business
to general trading; importing and retailing motorcycles and
sporting goods — including firearms and ammunition. By the
1930’s, Squires Bingham Co. had become popularly associated
with sporting guns. It was at this point in time that Aurthur D.
Hileman, and ex-US Army Hospital Corpsman, purchased the
store from its original owners.
In 1941, the store — referred to as the “Sportsmen’s
Headquarters” — found a new owner in Celso S. Tuason.
Unfortunately, just four months after he purchased the store,
World War II broke out and Japan invaded the Philippines!
Naturally, the invaders first order of business, much to the
dismay of Don Celso, was to confiscate all the firearms in the
store. To survive, Squires Bingham Company had to rely on its
clothing and haberdashery during those dark years.
After the war, due to foreign exchange controls, Don Celso
Tuason decided to venture into manufacturing. He focused on
the most popular and profitable item in the store — firearms
and ammunition. Like most countries after World War II, it was a
time of rebuilding. Thus, in 1952, the President of the Philippines