In July 1958, Carl Hellstrom, President of S&W, and several other civilians flew to Greenland and Iceland on a U. S. Air Force plane with Major General Walter "Cam" Sweeney to meet with a delegation from Denmark. The purpose of the meeting was to lay the ground work for a Nordic Free Trade Zone. At the end of the trip, General Sweeney was presented with a Narwhal tusk that was over seven feet in length as a token of appreciation. This flight also resulted in the formation of the Persona Non Grata Club later than year. As a badge of membership, each member received one of the new 44 Magnums with an 8 3/8-inch barrel with engraving and gold inlay on the side plate. Although not on the flight, General Curtis LeMay was made a Persona Grata member of the club and received PNG revolver number 5. The Narwhal was the symbol of the club and each revolver had one inlaid in gold and sivler on the side plate. In 1961, in honor of General LeMay being made Chief of Staff of the Air Force, each member received a Model 53 engraved and inlaid in a similar manner.

I had long looked for a knife to display with the PNG 5 set and finally found one a couple of weeks ago. It is a Randall with a rare handle made of Narwhal tusk legally imported from Greenland in 1954.

See post #45 for reposted photos of the PNG 5 revolvers and the Randall knife.

Bill

I love the guns and that knife is the perfect addition to the collection. Do you know who did the engraving on the knife bolster and guard?

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Richard...the engraving and gold inlay on the hilt, collar, and butt plate were done by Master Engraver Joe Mason of Brandon, Mississippi. The hilt, collar and butt plate are made of nickel silver and the 7-inch blade is made of 440B stainless steel. The knife is a Randall #2 Fighting Stiletto, designed in the early 1940s by Bo Randall, founder of Randall knives, and Colonel Rex Applegate. The knife was made in 2012.

Bill

Great find on the knife! What a nice addition to go along with the PNG guns. I can’t believe you found one with a Narwhal handle. It looks stunning! ��

That is a great combo. I can only wonder how much it is worth. JIM

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S&WHF # 602

How horrible that someone cycled the action, putting a turn line on it!!! They probably shot it too!

Ok wait.... It was probably Gen. Lemay himself.... I approve.

Based on some other information, I know General LeMay shot both of the revolvers.

Bill

Bill thank you for the color - the engraving and inlays are outstanding, perfectly complimenting the knife and its one of a kind grip. Is the butt plate engraved as well? If so, I would love to see a photo (or two) of it - if possible.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Very,very,very NICE !!!

My goodness that is a stunning revolver, and that narwhal tusk is so cool!

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SWCA 3563
10mm aficionado

Exactly so... A turn line that adds value.

(just about tweak to the, "turn line" crowd)

Now that is some history & beauty.

Umm. That's what they're for.

A very nice addition to the gun. Thanks for posting!

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

A photo of the engraved butt plate.

Bill

Thank you. That's nice...very nice.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Mr. Cross, I seem to recall that actor Andy Devine was also a member of the PNG Club ?
What was his connection to the others ? Or am I thinking about another specially engraved S&W that went to Devine ?

The Narwhal .44 and knife are absolutely stunning! Earl

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Earl Battey

Andy Devine became a member of the PNG Club and was presented a 44 Magnum, PNG 6. He did not receive a Model 53. Mr. Devine was friend of Bill Harder, Sr. who went on the flight in 1958. They became acquainted through hunting dog trials and possibly upland bird hunting they both had a strong interest in.

There are eleven PNG revolvers, six are 44 Magnums and five are Model 53s. Each revolver was engraved and inlaid with gold and silver by S&W's Master Engraver, Russell J. Smith.

Bill

Bill—you should open a museum. I am not sure there would be one anywhere to rival your collection other than the National Firearms Museum.

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Possum—The other white meat!

Good lookin' pistola.........how's she shoot?

While displaying such a beautiful and rare revolver, along with its companion knife, one needs a special cup.

A photo of my simple contribution to this thread is attached.

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IMG_1492.jpg (91.0 KB, 195 views)

OK, I must be the only one here not to know... what is the basis of the club name? “Persona Non Grata” means, if I recall my little bit of Latin, “person not welcome” or more directly “person [whose presence is] not appreciated.” What is the reference?

Froggie

Froggie...General LeMay and General Sweeney were Persona Grata members of the Persona Non Grata Club. The basis for forming the club is a long story, but to make it short...When the U. S. delegation met with the Europeans, the relationship was not as warm as expected and the U. S. members considered themselves Persona Non Grata when it came to their counterparts. In a nutshell, that is why the social club was formed (and probably so the individuals could get together and have a good time).

Bill

Are all of the PNG Revolvers sill accounted for?

The 22 Magnum (Model 53, PNG 1) of Carl Hellstrom's is unaccounted for as is Andy Devine's 44 Magnum (PNG 6). The other nine are known.

Bill

Beautiful set Bill.
I’m a big fan of Narwhal tusk.

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

Bill, thank you for sharing that most awesome piece of history - and the knife ain't bad either!

Hi there,

It is my first post in this forum.

Please let me know how many pieces of pairs (.44 Mag and .22 Mag) where produced, and what's the present value?

Thanks,

Here is your answer to number produced

City Hunter...Value to another collector is hard to estimate, but certainly in the five figure range.

Bill

Thank you very much Bill for this topic and for answering questions.
You presented General Le May's PNG 5, I have the honor to present General Sweeney's unfired PNG 4.

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GREAT POST!!! This one deserves a thread all by itself, along with some color as to its history and how it ended up in Switzerland.

Thanks for sharing,

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

PNG 4...a great set of S&W revolvers.

Bill

It’s interesting that in an otherwise “matched pair” of revolvers, the stocks of the N frame are checkered, while those of the K frame are not. I wonder what the logic was for that decision(?)

I too wonder about how General Sweeney’s pair ended up in Switzerland, but then again he traveled a lot “with his job” so I guess it’s no so strange after all.

Froggie

The 44 Magnums (PNG 1-5) are some of the earliest with this barrel length as the 8 3/8-inch was not cataloged until January 1959. The 22 Magnums (22 Jet, Model 53) were manufactured about three years later and all have smooth stocks. General LeMay's 22 Magnum was presented in honor of him being appointed Chief of Staff of the Air Force and has the date, June 30, 1961, below PERSONA GRATA. General Sweeney's 22 Magnum was presented in honor of him being promoted to full General. General Sweeney did not receive his 22 Magnum until 1965 and he died the same year. It is unknown how the pair of guns ended up in Switzerland.

In 1968, S&W (Mary Roseoff) provided a letter of authenticity on PNG 4 to a person who lived in New Jersey. Where the guns went from there is anyone's guess, but possibly to Switzerland.

In 2014, Roy Jinks and I met with the son and grandson of Joe Melanson, an original member of the PNG Club, and recipient of the PNG 2 pair of revolvers in Wolfeboro, NH. We published the complete story of the PNG Club and its members in the S&WCA Journal, Summer 2016, pages 12-30.

Bill

Indeed, I don't know how these revolvers, which are an integral part of American history, ended up in Switzerland.
But don't forget that Switzerland, along with Finland and the United States, is the country where the culture of weapons and the freedom and responsibility of the citizen are the most respected.
The freedom to own a weapon in Switzerland is part of the constitution, and it is the only country in the world where the soldier goes home with his rifle and keeps it at home.
Therefore, beautiful collections of weapons are not rare in Switzerland.

I know this thread is a bit old but I thought an update would be interesting. I have found the box for Andy Devine's .44 magnum, PNG-6. Not the revolver but the box only. It is in good shape with the brass tag and the velvet lining in like new condition. Now, if I could only find the revolver itself. One thing I noted is that the box is much heavier than a regular presentation case. For now, a regular 8 3/8" model 29 will live in there.

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	Devine 3.jpg (66.9 KB, 81 views)

What a first post for a longtime member! Good for you!

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

There has to be a story of how and where you found this nice piece of history??

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

It sold on eBay a few weeks ago. I almost bid, but decided that I would likely never find the gun either and hoped a .44 Magnum collector would buy. Glad it ended up here and congrats to the purchaser, hope you track down the gun someday.

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Beau
SWCA #3106 - SWHF #643

Andy Devine died in 1977 and his 44 Magnum, PNG 6, was sold. I have not heard anything directly about it until post #37 on December 8. I know the locations of the 44 Magnum, PNG 1, but not the 22 Jet, PNG 2, PNG 3, and PNG 5. I suppose PNG 4 is still in Switzerland, but I am not certain.

Bill

Bill,
It sure would be great if you could restore (LOTS of!) the pics for the guns and the knife!

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

What the big harry one said!

I know I read somewhere the reason for calling themselves the “Persona Non Grata” club, but can’t recall where. Does anyone recall the reason? What was the significance of Andy Devine (an actor???) being made the sixth member?
TIA for any Info!
Froggie

PS Anphibian memory sux! I went back and reread this whole thread, and of course most of my questions were sort of answered. We’re still missing the name of one of the civilian members. Also, how many of the sets got Narwhal ivory stocks? Several of this shown are checkered GA or walnut. Was there a “standard” presentation configuration? Were the Narwhal stocks made from the tusk that was presented to General Sweeney? Is there any more information available? A quick Google Search turned up nothing.

The civilian members of the PNG Club, who are designated Narwhals, were Carl Hellstrom, President of S&W, who also had the idea to form the club, Bill Harder, Sr., friend of Andy Devine who also got him into the club, Joe Melanson, Sr., General Walter "Cam" Sweeney, and General Curtis LeMay. Generals Sweeney and LeMay and Andy Devine were "Persona Grata" members of the PNG Club. Had the club continued after the untimely death of Carl Hellstrom in 1963, I am sure the Generals and Andy Devine would have become Narwhals. After Hellstrom's death, activities of the club ceased.

Click on the photos for a better look at PNG 5.

Bill