DATING S. D. MYRES HOLSTERS

Sorry to whip on this old horse again. I only have 4 S. D. Myres
holsters and am trying to get approximate dates. I have read
that if the 2nd line says El Paso, Tex. that has some significance.
All 4 of mine do say El Paso, Tex.
The first one is number 614 Tom Threepersons. From all of
Red's work I know that this would be after 1929 because that
was when Brill came to El Paso and helped Myres get into the
holster business in a big way.
Then there is the model 624 which is the same Threepersons
614 style but with the "dog ear" added. Mine also has a
retention snap strap.
The Askins Border Patrol was a collaboration between Askins
and Myres in the mid to late 1930s.
I know from Bill Jordans own words that Myres made his Border
Patrol after he returned from WWII, probably in 1945 or after.
C. H. Werner of Alpine Saddlery had made the first edition of
Jordan's model before Bill went to WWII, but it was worn out
by the time he got back.
Here left to right:
614, 624, Askins BP, and Jordan BP.

The model 624 holster first appears in an early post WW II catalog, probably late 1940's. The Jordan holster does not appear in a 1950 dated catalog and does in a 1962 dated catalog, I don't have any dated catalogs in between those dates so can't say for sure when it was introduced into the Myres line. Both your Border Patrol type holsters were made for 4" revolvers with target sights, Smith & Wesson introduced the Combat Masterpiece in 1949 I believe. As you said, it is hard to date Myres holsters accurately, let's see what Red has to say.
Regards
turnerriver

Gee, I like Myres holsters, but I wouldn't want to DATE one. Have a wife already.

(Sorry Phil, you asked for it).

turnerriver said:

The model 624 holster first appears in an early post WW II catalog, probably late 1940's. The Jordan holster does not appear in a 1950 dated catalog and does in a 1962 dated catalog, I don't have any dated catalogs in between those dates so can't say for sure when it was introduced into the Myres line. Both your Border Patrol type holsters were made for 4" revolvers with target sights, Smith & Wesson introduced the Combat Masterpiece in 1949 I believe. As you said, it is hard to date Myres holsters accurately, let's see what Red has to say.
Regards
turnerriver

Click to expand...

Turnerriver is always the best man for the job, for Myres history. I can add a bit, in that I have an image of a 1959 Myres price list (so actually DATED; unlike his bloody catalogues) that lists the Jordan No. 1 holster. So with turnerriver's info -- somewhere between 1950 and 1959. I bet if I really scrutinised Phil's article (he sent me a copy of the one by Jordan) I could narrow it down even more, with the succession to Hume probably then being relevant.

(Changed my answer, I do rattle on).

Nice looking holsters! I'm always on the lookout for Myres.

Here's one I have that has the number 999 written under the flap in the back. El Paso on the second line as seen in the rectangle logo box on front. Fit's an N frame, 3 1/2" barrel.

Any idea of when it was made or put into use?

Thanks!

That's a great looking jock strap style Linda. I'll tell you what little I know
until turnerriver and/or Red comes along to straighten us out.
The jock strap style was shown as early as Myres 1925-1926 catalog.
Those marked El Paso, Tex. are older than those marked El Paso.
Through the years several different models can be found.
Ed McGivern had some that are shown in Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting.
Red said, in a post on another forum, that 999 is a replica of a Brill.
Brill spent a year or so with Myres around 1929 helping him get his holster
business revved up.

Thanks, Crazyphil!

The jock-strap stamp has only El Paso... no "Texas". Don't know which model it was made for but does fit the N frame snubbie.. mid 1930's...??

Here's my other one, stamped on the back in a rectangle "S.D. Myres El Paso". I've got one similar but has the hammer tab (?) and is marked R.E. (Tex) Wolffarth - Lubbock, Texas.

Those that have El Paso, Tex. are older than the ones that just say
El Paso, but I don't know what year or date divides them. Yours is
newer. Don't know how new, but it looks almost like new. turnerriver
and/or Red will probably have an opinion.

While we're on the subject

I've a holster that looks the same as the Jordan BP in the OP #4 picture. Only has 1 retention strap snap. Marked MYERS MADE with 22 2 underneath. Haven't found any info on it. 4" 686 fits in well

If it's MYERS made it's an imposter. Sam D. spelled his last name MYRES.

Well Phil looks like I got a well worn, well made fakerooni

A lot of makers were faking the Jordan Border Patrol, some of them were
pretty good quality. Some not so much. So, after Sam died, Bill Jordan
got a trademark on his name and gave the exclusive right to Don Hume.

At least the CS-1 it carries is the real deal, Customs Service revo in a border patrol holster.

crazyphil said:

Those that have El Paso, Tex. are older than the ones that just say
El Paso, but I don't know what year or date divides them. Yours is
newer. Don't know how new, but it looks almost like new. turnerriver
and/or Red will probably have an opinion.

Click to expand...

Turnerriver and I have puzzled about this more than once because as yet there is no apparent reason for the changeover. John points out that the stamp without the 'tex' is smaller, so it's plausible that it was created for smaller items. Yet a jockstrap Myres is not such a thing (a smaller item).

My theory, and it's only a theory, is that all the small, non-tex stamps are after Sam's death in '53. Dace Myres (nephew) took over along with Bill Myres (son). Dace died in '64 and THAT event I expect was what caused Bill to then sell to Harlan Webb, which lasted until '75 when Webb sold to James Spurrier.

Now: it's quite common to find the non-tex stamped holsters also marked with a four digit number on the backside, written in blue pen. That would seem like an ownership change and because I have several that also are marked for the Dan Wesson, I'm going to lay those markings at Webb's door '65-75.



Spurrier only owned the company for a year, yet lived for many decades afterwards (died this century). So why he took it on at all is a mystery to me. Next chap, LaCroix, spun it off almost as quickly; and current owner of the name, DuClos, may have licensed Barranti to use the name (also speculation).

There is a Myres era, that I have arbitrarily labelled its 'experimental' era, that uses the small stamp on holsters that are nearly always black and Mexican carved -- and not standard Myres items:





One is a jockstrap Myres with, instead of what Myres called a 'ranger' style body (cupped the trigger guard), a Threepersons body taken directly from the 614 model. So a hybrid of Myres designs.

It's worth mentioning that, in addition to the designs of the non-tex holsters being non-standard, the Mexican carving is also very, very different with the 'numbered' versions. The patterns chosen are distinctly different from the older ones, and are carved more deeply ('carved' because a tool called a 'swivel knife' is used to make the primary cuts; then it's stamped into three dimensions). Such changes indicate a different designer and in the craftsman who carved it (called a 'leather engraver' in that era).

crazyphil said:

If it's MYERS made it's an imposter. Sam D. spelled his last name MYRES.

Click to expand...

"Myers Made" is another brand, I believe made in Mexico. We know that Dale Myres also made a line in Mexico but used the correct spelling; so the 411 on the "Myers Made" versions has eluded us so far.

I saw a Myers Made one time in the holster box at a local gun store.
I don't remember anything particularly good, or bad, about it. Only
the spelling of the name got my attention.

Here's one of Dale's magazine ads from the mid 1970s (?)

Myers Made were from Nixa, MO and no relation to Myres. Mr. Myers was a WWll veteran and made very robust holsters in his shoe repair shop. He made holsters into the 1980s when he passed away. At least this is the info I’ve found.


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crazyphil said:

That's a great looking jock strap style Linda. I'll tell you what little I know
until turnerriver and/or Red comes along to straighten us out.
The jock strap style was shown as early as Myres 1925-1926 catalog.
Those marked El Paso, Tex. are older than those marked El Paso.
Through the years several different models can be found.
Ed McGivern had some that are shown in Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting.
Red said, in a post on another forum, that 999 is a replica of a Brill.
Brill spent a year or so with Myres around 1929 helping him get his holster
business revved up.

Click to expand...

Kinda right. The 999 appeared in Myres 1922 catalogue (dated from the several historical references throughout it including Lee Robinson's win at roping at Madison Square Garden 'last year' (which win turns out to be 1921). There are no known Myres catalogues between this one and Myres' first all-holsters catalogue that appeared in 1931. The 999 was a jockstrap holster; for Myres' Brill replica you instead would be thinking of the 666, and it first appeared in the Officers Equipment catalogue dated 1931. The 999 is still in that one, too .

calculated to be 1922

it contains only two pages

of holsters . . .

. . . despite being well over 110 pages long .

Thanks for the additional info on Myres..

Here's a close up of the handwritten numbers on the inside back flap. The backside is rough leather with 3 flat rivets.