My son knows I am nuts about this vintage cop stuff, thus it should have been no surprise when this HPD billy club turned up in my Christmas stocking last week. This item completes my version of a Houston PD trifecta:
-jeweler made HPD detective badge #31,
-billy club marked HPD 488, and
-S&W 3rd model 44 (aka Wolf & Klar) marked HPD 167.
For those not familiar with the HPD story, in the spring of 1930, a robbery of the Touchy Furniture Store turned into a hostage situation. Two HPD officers, Edward Fitzgerald and William Phares were killed in the line of duty. It was noted that a number of HPD 38 cal. bullets 'bounced off' the getaway car.
To better equip their police the city of Houston ordered 350(?) of the 44's from Wolf & Kar of FT. Worth, at that time the exclusive distributor of this model. No. 167 (SN 376xx)was presumably in the first shipment of 173
guns to arrive in Houston in March of 1931. Texas justice was swift in those day, and the officers' killer met his fate in the electric chair almost 5 months before the new guns arrived.
In the interest of full disclosure I have no evidence that the bearers of these 3 items ever actually walked a beat together. However, being int he same department I would assume they had at least a nodding acquaintance. In researching this event I discovered that my grandfather worked about 2 blocks from this shootout though he never mentioned it to me.
Edward Fitzgerald
William Phares
Houston PD #31, 167 & 488 Back Together
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