. . . is inextricably entwined with Andy Anderson, whose story is somewhat less entwined with Roy Baker and Milt Sparks.

Notice I say "real" as opposed to "true" because the story has been told many times, in different ways, usually building one from another. So what's true, when even a first-person interview these legends, results in more legends of their own devising (e.g., read John Bianchi's "American Legend" book).

Anyway, Arvo's parents were from Finland (some official documents disagree about both being Finnish originally) which is worth mentioning only because his name is not Spanish, and so not pronounce "Ohala" but as "Odjalah". Mention is made in his histories of apple farming, but Arvo was an airplane mechanic in the Pacific Northwest.

The story holds that Arvo came to Hollywood in the early Fifties, bothered that the Hollywood gun handling he saw in flim and television was inadequate. And he came, to be an actor.

Instead he turned to teaching gun handling, and it was from that his holster developed. Likely he was inspired to invent his holster from seeing that of Rodd Redwing, who was a well-known instructor to Hollywood in his own right. Redwing indeed was half Indian -- East Indian, whose accent was compared in one article as being very Cary Grant (educated in England). Rodd's reinforcements were on the outside of the holster and Arvo's inside, between layers of leather.

Arvo's original holster, pictured with Marilyn Monroe, was quite crude. Arvo initially had his holster made by Ed Bohlin, and Arvo hired Andy Anderson away from Ed's shop to build his sets. Andy, too, had come to Hollywood to become an actor; he was actually a saddlemaker.

Alfonso's son, and others, have told me that Arvo never made any of his holsters himself. By the late 1950s Andy is listed as Arvo's shop manager, and Alfonso is working with him as well, having been sent to Daisy's factory to teach its factory people how to make its licensed replica of Arvo's set.

First Arvo and Bohlin had a big falling out, resulting in Arvo winning a lawsuit for unfair competition against Ed. A source tells me that Ed never recovered interest in his business after that (early 1960s). By then Andy and Arvo had a big falling out, but in this case it was Arvo who lost the suit, and in a big way -- he was legally barred from doing business in California for five years. Arvo shifted back up to Washington state and, by the time he returned to CA in the late 1960s, Andy owned the market.

Andy, though, was doomed to troubles of his own. The Sylmar quake in the early '70s destroyed his shop, he had several major strokes, and then he, too was out of business 1975. During this latter period, Milt Sparks had slipped in with his copies of Andy's products and Andy was literally powerless to stop him.

Roy Baker had a big hit with his pancake invention at just about that time; and Roy had apprenticed with Andy in the late 1950s as a saddle maker. I'm told they remained friends for life, including that they shared hardware bulk buys and Andy allowed Roy to make his trademark mag pouch. Andy, in 1980, entered into a licensing agreement with Cobra, a spinoff from JayPee by the son. Both Andy and Roy lived and died an almost identical lifespan: 1920 to 1990. Arvo literally had the last laugh, living until 2005.

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The Holstorian

I read somewhere - a long time ago - that Arvo developed the buscadero and the tie down for Hollywood westerns (as I noted in a parallel thread earlier today) and that he developed the steel lined, quick draw holster, enabling the sport of fast draw to grow into something of a Hollywood cult back in the 1960s.

One of my favorite lines from that era concerned both Jerry Lewis and Mel Torme or maybe just one of them. And I think it was Aldo but maybe someone else who described one or both of them as "kind of sudden".

Hollywood capitalized on the myth of the fast draw, face-to-face gunfight forever after.

According to an article about Arvo Ojala by Rick Hacker, he (Arvo)
was of Finnish descent.

I have read that the Buscadero rig was developed by Captain
Hughes because he had an old gunshot injury that limited the
use of his drawing hand/arm.

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In Omnia Paratus

X2 for Finnish descent. I live near several Ojala families here in the U.P. who are all Finnlanders.

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1SG, USA (Ret)

Mea culpa on Finland :-).

Why can't we get more people from Finland, instead of from those . . ., well, I'll let the President continue that thought.

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The Holstorian

3 ojala (34).jpg

3 ojala (8).jpg

3 ojala (16).jpg

As one source told me, "Arvo only made one style, while Andy made many".

He was quite a promoter, starting out with a bang with M.M. and immediately scoring Jim Arness, having a booth at the World's Fair in Seattle 1962, etc.

Arvo also moved around a bit; very interesting to track his movements in and around L.A. as he started out, then leaving California through a procession of locations, then returning by 1968 to So Cal.

We do have the details of the litigation between Bohlin and Arvo (1960), right down to the case number and citations of the case in later texts (it was not a patent suit, but rather an unfair competition case). But so far, nothing about the litigation between Andy and Arvo that led to Arvo's banishment; though that would suggest it had to do with California business practices because a patent is a Federal grant, not a State one.

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The Holstorian

And, of course, as mentioned in the 'parallel thread', Arvo neither invented the buscadero belt, nor did he claim to have; his patent was for the steel-reinforced holster that allowed the cylinder to turn in the holster.

And certainly not the leg tie-down: Tom Threepersons' circa 1920 holster has a leg tie down, not least because he wore his holster as low on the thigh as Arvo. In fact: the final design of Arvo's holster by Andy is the most like Tom's holster of any that followed the original. Right down to the wide, squared off, thick leather welt inside for the trigger guard to rest on. But whilst Tom's was designed to grasp the pistol, Arvo's was designed to let it go.

It would quite literally correct to call Arvo's sets "Hollywood" because his company, first appearing in 1956, was called the Hollywood Holster Company.

To find an early Bohlin-made Ojala, one would have to find the holster with Ojala markings but without either 'pat. pend' or the patent number; which are the most commonly seen.

1954-1956 ojala.jpg

1958 onwards.jpg

Not shown (maybe another time) is the 'pat pend' mark, which is not an oval like these two.

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The Holstorian

Whenever this subject comes up I have to post this stuff I have framed on my wall. When I ordered that rig from Ojala in '85 I told him I had a tape of "The Oregon Trail" where he spins and fast draws a Colt Walker. He said that was the only movie where he had lines and could I make him a copy. I did that and he sent me $5 and the stuff in this frame. Except the holster ad which I added.
This other Ojala holster below was found on Gunbroker for $16 and cleaned up. Then I made the belt for it. The holster was pretty beat up.

What interests me about this guy, is that he taught James Arness to fast draw and shoot, and made him a special holster to do so with. Gunsmoke is my favorite show, I notice that Arness never tied his holster down. That is why.

My last Ojala rig was made by his son Eric and shipped from Oregon. Every collector that grew up watching the 50/60s TV shows should have one.

I think I remember your Ojala rig. Wasn't it a 4 3/4" right hand version of mine? I ordered this one new in 1985 for $200 shipped. Some black ones have tan backs. This one is pure black.

Also in there somewhere for the development of the Hollywood holster - citing John MacDonald Heard - Rodd Redwing.

How is the Ojala name pronounced?

From the initial post:

which is worth mentioning only because his name is not Spanish, and so not pronounced "Ohala" but as "O-djalah".

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The Holstorian

From "Rod (sic) Redwing of Hollywood is Actor, Real Character". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 02 Aug 1949: real name Rodric Ashmed Tokaji Hokar Kar Rajpurkali, Jr.

The story goes that Rodd's mother was Chickasaw, his father Hindu, and he was educated in England; hence the 'Cary Grant' reference about his accent ("more Cary Grant than Tonto" from a 1960 article by John Lachuk).

Look closely at the M.M. cover -- Arvo's holster looks more like a Redwing than an Ojala (I'm told Arvo's was quite crude). This one's a Redwing design produced by/for/through Pony Express, a dealer in L.A. area.

4 redwing by pony express (1).jpg

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The Holstorian

Arvo, of course, had Finnish ancestors. Yet he was not Finnish in the literal sense: he was American born, 21 Feb 1920, in Seattle Washington. His brother William was born 6 years earlier, and in Massachusetts. In 1940 all three men -- father and two sons -- were working in a Washington aircraft factory as mechanics (I expect in support of the War effort).

Oddly, to me, in both the 1930 and 1940 census, though Arvo's mother is listed as having been born in Finland, his father is listed both times as being born in Wyoming. That tells us that Arvo was even further removed from his Finnish roots than being 'born of Finnish parents'.

The heavy accent (John Bianchi mentions it in his American Legend book) would have come from his upbringing in a Finnish household. But I'd say he was therefore, a Yank and not a Finn.

His tombstone reads, "Legendary Hollywood Actor and Gun Coach", so he rather saw himself differently than we did, who think of him as a holster person. Arvo actually came to Hollywood to become an actor, as did Andy.

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The Holstorian

Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing on the Redwing - 2 layers of leather only over the corset stays? Are they all like that?
Maybe better in a different thread. You've made Rodd more interesting than before.

From Wyatt Burp

Arvo Ojala, movie fast draw gun coach on "To Tell The Truth".

Attached Images

Redwing, Rod ad Holster 1959.jpg (141.2 KB, 78 views)

I never have stopped researching for the book Holstory; when the book was published one year ago, John and I were up to 1,800 source listings and that has reached 2,500 today.

Among these new discoveries are some about Arvo. He had a war bride before marrying the mother of his 5 children; speaking of his children one of his daughters was 'dating' actor Glenn Ford in the late 1980s; he served in WWII, and as an aircraft mechanic which is consistent with his being a Boeing aircraft mechanic before the war (so metal inside his holster); and he avoided jail time in WA as a 19 y/o because of his youth (so said the judge).

His heavy accent interests me because he was born in USA (he was not Finnish by birth and neither, according to the census, was his father).

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The Holstorian

I saw him at the '62 World's Fair. To say that he was fast is an understatement. Loved Gunsmoke. Too bad thay don't make TV like that anymore, same with Have Gun Will Travel.

Like Lawrence Welk who was born here but sounded like he just immigrated from Germany.
Speaking of Ojala, he fooled me. I thought I was pretty sharp noticing stuff in movies. I've often posted the video of Ojala spinning a Walker Colt in "The Oregon Trail". But someone pointed out that while he's loading a Walker,he's actually spinning and shooting a much lighter percussion Remington a minute later.

WB mine was a black right hander for a 5 1/2” and I think Mike H bought it from me years ago. I wish now I would have kept it.