Leather goods are not my thing, but I will pass along pertinent parts of a brief article which appeared in the August 2017 edition of Ranch and Rural Living Magazine published every month by our local electric co-op (Rio Grande Electric Co-op) for its members in West Texas. It may be of some interest to holster collectors. It was written about the author's inheritance from a grandfather of group of guns and holsters, among which items were two holsters stamped "A. W. Brill/Maker/Austin, Tex." The present owner did some research and found that "A. W. Brill" was August William Brill, born in Welcome TX in 1872. He moved to Austin around the turn of the 20th Century, where he was listed as a saddle maker and salesman at W. T. Wroe and Sons Saddlery. In 1896, he had a son, Arno William Brill. By 1912, August and son Arno began making holsters (among other leather goods) on their own (possibly having bought out Wroe Saddlery). Their holsters were reported to be popular among Texas Rangers. The A. W. Brill Company operated in Austin until the 1950s selling holsters and leather goods. The Brills also became active in Texas real estate and lakefront property development in the 1940s. Arno's oldest daughter was named Idanell, born in 1919, and was always called Nellie. August Brill died in 1954, followed by Arno Brill in 1968. The interesting part of the story was that in 1940, Nellie marred John Connally, later a long-time and popular Governor of Texas who was in the presidential limousine when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, and was himself wounded in the attack.

This is a link to a more complete history of the Brills: A.W. Brill Company History and Maker Marks - www.vintagegunleather.com California