The Ithaca A&B was a 20-gauge break-open side-by-side shotgun with short (10") barrels. Back in the days long before Interstates, when there wasn't a Wendy's or a MacDonald's every ten miles, long-distance travelers often carried along camping gear: a shotgun was in those days by no means an unusual item of kit. Just as stagecoaches had "shotgun riders," early 20th-Century drivers needed protection. So the Ithaca A&B was useful for popping off the occasional rabbit for the pot, plus providing protection against roving criminal predators. As the ad says, "Even A Nervous Bank Employee Can Hit With An Ithaca Auto & Burglar Gun."