I was going through some period pictures taken in the 1920s, and did a double-take when I saw this one. Although it's obviously a posed picture, this gun moll is packing a Colt Model 1908 .25 automatic, one of the many guns invented by John Browning. The reason I did the double take is that I have one of those little Colts, made in the same era.



Here's a shot of mine, made in 1919. As near as I can tell, the style of grips is identical to the the one shown in the early picture.



I like to collect pictures of guns that I own showing their period use. This one was perfect. And how times have changed!

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

That first picture is extremely beautiful.

My first cc pistol was a CZ 45 (copy of the Browning) wish I had kept it.

Great photo. Thanks for posting it.

Kevin

Mine is 1927. I also have a baby Browning. Either one carries good in a shirt pocket. Larry

That is awesome. Thanks for sharing?

Are there some more of it on your computer?

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Jorge

While it's going to sound like I'm bashing the pic (I'm not) her gun doesn't seem to go with her holster. Curious. I wonder what the holster was made to fit?

I noticed that, too. My guess is something like a Browning Model 1910, which was very popular in that era. It would be about the right size.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

I have a holster for a Remington 51 that looks very similar.
Made by Audley.

Sometimes they don't change that much, my wife uses this set up from Nevada Leather for her PPK.

Maybe that holster was for a Colt 32 or 380.

Three pictures and I've only noticed 1 gun!

Philip Marlowe voice:
Yeah, I knew she was trouble when she first walked in, but with a set of gams like that I was willing to chance it.

I think you mean the CZ Duo. The CZ-45 is a DA-only .25. I don't think the holster in the first pic is for a Browning 1910, if the girl is American, John. Browning didn't import them here until 1954. I think the Colt .32/.380 is most likely. But the holster might also fit the Savage and Remington pistols.

I don't think this first holster is more than a prop; I don't think she could have carried the gun it it as rigged.

I write fan fiction about a TV show set in the 1920's and have had the need to have my heroines carry concealed guns of this type. This is mostly after they've left the mysterious plateau in Brazil on which they were stranded and are living in London and at their estates in Kent and at Avebury, where one has married the Earl and become Countess of Avebury. They also had a Colt .32 on safari, as a gun for discreet carry in town. I had to figure out how they'd carry the guns to be plausible. I settled on purse carry for the Colt .32's, a Mauser .32 and a Colt .25. But when the Countess received unexpected guests one day, she just slipped a Colt .32 auto from her desk drawer, put it in her skirt waistband and donned a sweater over it. She sent the maid for her husband and her friend, Finn, whom she knew had a Colt .25 in her purse.

I don't doubt that a rig similar to the later one shown in this thread might work with a belt support and a fairly full skirt. But the idea of putting a gun in a garter isn't sound. It'd be too heavy and work loose. A garter to hold it would be too sturdy and probably cramp circulation.

One of those heroines does carry a flick knife (switchblade) in a boot, and the other has a replica of a small Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn lockblade knife that clips to the side of a bra, which is reinforced to take the wear. And the one who married the Earl used a hammerless revolver in a muff to kill a man in the two-part movie that introduced the TV series on which the fics are based. An auto pistol in a muff seems unwise. Oh: when they've carried openly, they wear S&W M&P .38's in belt holsters. (Model of 1905, 4th Change with heat-treated cylinders, although that degree of detail doesn't appear in the fics. It'd bore the average reader. ) They just rely on the small guns when discretion demands concealment.

Nice pic, though. I enjoyed it. And I'm sure that some dames of that day did indeed pack Colt .25 autos!

Showing a little leg was the sexy thing back then.

Remember that old saw about how a lady's ankle was more interesting than a tart's knee?

Just think what a thrill it must have been to see a lady's knee?
I'm glad that times have changed... in some scenic regards.

A pretty girl is animate sculpture of an exquisite order.

I've seen that picture before, but can't remember where. Colt forum maybe. Anyway I like it. And I like the little 1908 Colt .25"s they are possibly one of the most popular models Colt ever sold. (judging by the numbers still seen today)

I have carried a lot of handguns, concealed in many different ways.

And, I will admit I have never worn a dress, but I would think that a gun carried under a dress would be better concealed if worn on the inside of the leg/thigh...

The holster looks like an Audley.

Kind of looks like she's wearing a cape. Costume?

People would actually wear capes back in the 1920s. Kept the wind and rain off sometimes, other times was just a fashion accessory.

Small .25 autos used to turn up in various rigs involving garters, stocking, and "knickers" (as the British would say) in ye olden days. They also fit well in various accessories designed to carry cigarettes, small purses, etc. There's one in the Hoover Museum (in Iowa, the president, not the sweeper) that I think Eleanor Roosevelt carried. I think she carried it in her purse, though I suppose she might have put it in her knickers being how she was.

Something Old, Something New:



The Model 1908 .25 acp was made in 1914 and is original

Depends on how bowlegged you are. Larry

I've got one of those little Colt 1908's too, but I was always under the impression that most of the people that carried them did so either in a vest pocket, a handbag, or front pocket of their trousers without a holster at all.

Chief38

I think it's an Audley holster for a Colt pocket auto. I've seen
that photo before & honestly never noticed it was a .25- I just
registered the holster.



Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

What? There's a gun and holster there?

Here are two holsters for my 1903 .32 acp/1908M .380:


Made by J. Costanza

Made by my friend Sandy Morrissey

I sent the "US" holster to my friend Sandy so he could make me a belt and double magazine pouch for it; Sandy has complete poetic license to cut and sew as he wishes - I actually like the new holster and magazine pouches better then I would of liked the belt/mag pouches. Both my 1903 .32 and 1908M .380 Colt fit it like they should.

Right. And recall that women, at least back in the day, sat differently from men, keeping their knees together. On the inside would likely be uncomfy.

This fact-- different ways of sitting -- led to Tom Sawyer's unmasking when he was travelling incognito as a girl and the old lady chucks a spool of thread at his lap and he slaps his knees together to catch it. If he'd been a girl, wearing a dress like he was, per Twain, he would have spread his knes apart to catch the spool in the folds of the dress fabric.

Funny, the things one remembers...

Yeah, I recall that! It always seemed like a good way to catch a crook posing as a girl.

I also recall a comic strip where a foreign spy was caught because he didn't hold his silverware like a US diner would.

Nice Junior. They are very small, and not bad guns. You just can't carry cocked & locked. Nice backup to the backup, though.

My mom carried an Astra Firecat....a Spainish copy of the Colt .25 in your pic..........she carried it in her purse back in the 50's & 6o's. I have it now, and it is a treasured heirloom.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

I noticed that too. My bet is a Colt 'hammerless; in 32ACP, of course.

That is a risque picture for it's time but I like it. There is a women on You Tube who does gun videos that are pretty good too.

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Stan