Hoegee was a major distributor for S&W in Los Angeles. I have a few guns in my safe that were shipped to that firm. The company started as a mining supplies company in the late 1800s and expanded into outdoor gear and eventually sporting gear. The company eventually merged with another company and became Western-Hoegee, and only 10 years ago that company was sold to Maurice Sporting Goods. Maurice sounds like a distributor/wholesaler who ordered big lots and then moved small deliveries to individual retailers. The predecessor companies probably did the same, though it is clear that the original Hoegee firm had catalogs and sold directly to consumers as well as other retail outlets. They had a gunsmithing department.

I suspect you won't find any sales records that identify individuals. A century ago you could go into any store and just buy a gun with a handful of cash and never mention your name.

Nice that you have an LA gun. It's testimony to the days when California was one of the biggest gun markets in the nation and was treated with greater respect by manufacturers and marketers. (It's actually still one of the biggest gun markets in the nation, but you'd never know that to hear the Cal bashers talk.)

You can Google or Bing "William H. Hoegee Co. Los Angeles" and build some quick corporate history from multiple hits if you're interested. That's what I did.

__________________
David Wilson