With Phil's pointer to just the right editions on newspapers.com I was able to locate more articles there about Wally, including that he ran for something in Alb. called a "police judge"* in 1951 (no indication he was successful) and his military service at Kirtland Field in Alb. and in the Pacific.

Most importantly, though, I believe we then have settled that his holster-making career began when he left the military beginning in 1946 when he became first a police officer, then a deputy sheriff in Alb.

That would suggest, then, because the earliest appearance I have for the hammer guard by Myres was their 1940 catalogue -- that Wally was not its inventor/creator.

* "A job as a Police Judge falls under the broader career category of Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates"

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Red Nichols The Holstorian