RM Vivas
US Veteran
This rather lengthy post will be spanning a few images. I think it’s worth it, and I hope you agree.
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Within the collecting of NYPD guns probably the hardest to find, and certainly the most colorful, are Trophy Guns.
Trophy Guns are not really well-known outside the Department and even within the Department knowledge of them is rather limited. The last Trophy Gun was awarded around 1973 so there are no Trophy Gun recipients still on ‘da Job. Most of the kids on patrol now have never heard of them or if they have its usually in the context of “Oh yea, my Dad/Grandfather got one when he came on.”
The topic of Trophy guns is delightfully obscure enough -and- interesting enough that I did my undergraduate history thesis on the Bloomingdale Trophy, arguably the most prestigious of the myriad of Trophy Guns. Some quotes from my thesis (available here: https://vivasandson.com/SHOPKEEPERpdf.pdf ) explain the genesis of the Trophy Gun in general and the Bloomingdale Trophy in particular. If you look at the thesis, please be kind; I think my writing and research has improved since then!
From my thesis: Trophy Cops: The Finest’s Finest
From 1917 to 1973 the New York City Police Department (NYCPD) awarded engraved revolvers to members of each graduating Police Academy class. Over the 56 years that this practice spanned, these awards, known as Trophy Guns, were awarded for a variety of accomplishments during training.
Of the various Trophy Guns awarded, the earliest, most consistently awarded and most prestigious was the Bloomingdale Trophy. Sponsored by Hiram C. Bloomingdale of Bloomingdale department store fame (later Federated Department Stores), the Bloomingdale Trophy was the first Trophy Gun awarded. Unlike some of the other Trophy Guns that came later and whose criteria changed with political winds, the Bloomindale Trophy remained consistent in its eligibility requirements: it was to be awarded to the top member of each graduating class who had the highest combined scores in “...physical and mental studies...”. It was for all intents and purposes a valedictorians’ gun.
…..
Hiram Collenberger Bloomingdale (1875–1953) was one of two sons of Lyman Bloomingdale, founder of Bloomingdales Department Store (later Federated Department Stores). Aside from his business acumen, Lyman Bloomingdale was known for his philanthropy. Hiram Bloomingdale shared this trait and was active in numerous philanthropic organizations including the Policemen’s Benevolent Association (PBA), a fraternal organization/union that represented the interests of NYC patrolmen. There is very little data available on who served in the Police Reserves and in what capacity, however a period newspaper article describes Bloomingdale as a CPT in the Police Reserve.
Available evidence suggests Bloomingdale was a supporter of the Department. He donated generously to the PBA, continued his involvement in the Police Reserve Association post-WW1, and most importantly, he endowed the creation of a Trophy Gun in his name. As a man of some means, he was uniquely positioned politically and financially to endow a suitable Trophy for the best man in each graduating class.
The earliest known reference to a Bloomingdale Trophy (sometimes called the Bloomingdale Prize) is found engraved on the side of a Trophy Gun presented to Probationary Patrolman Arthur A. LEMPKE on May 22, 1925. Engraved on the side of the revolver presented to LEMPKE is an inscription indicating the award was established July 10, 1917.
The 1930 Annual Report of The New York City Police Department observed:
The Bloomingdale Trophy, a .38 Regulation Police Revolver, suitably engraved, is donated by Mr. Hiram C. Bloomingdale, a prominent merchant in this city, to the Recruit in each graduating class who attains the highest general average in the combined Mental, Physical, Firearms and Swimming Courses. This creates individual rivalry among the Recruits and is a great incentive to hard work on their part.
Hiram Bloomingdale died in 1953 but his son, Lyman (1912-1999) (namesake to Hiram’s father), continued the practice of supporting the awarding of a Trophy Gun until the Department did away with the practice in 1973. The Bloomingdale family’s philanthropy did not end there however, as they simply recast the award as a scholarship instead of a revolver.
The number of Bloomingdale Trophy guns awarded is likely 175-200. Given that the Department purchased roughly 125,000-150,000 revolvers during the Trophy Gun era, one can see that they are rather uncommon.
So why bring this topic up?
A few week ago I was contacted via email by someone who had a Bloomingdale Trophy and wanted more information about it. We spoke and, fortunately for me, he was the sort of fellow who understood that while the revolver would be an interesting conversation piece in his collection, it would be star in mine. So we hemmed, we hawed, we did the little dance and the gun arrived a couple of days ago.
Trophy Guns could be any model of a Colt or S&W that was in use by the Department at that time. I’ve seen them as S&W M&P/M10, Chief Specials/M36, .32HE, Terrier. Colt DS, PP, PPS and OP.
This particular gun is a S&W .32 HE #520705 and appears in the NYPD Equipment Bureau Book 46-48 age 108 as having gone to Patrolman Robert RABEN, shield #5388.
So lets see what we have……….
OK, a pretty unremarkable S&W .32 HE. Cute little I-frame gun. However, when we turn it over……
Oooo…… an inscription! What do we have here?
“BLOOMINGDALE TROPHY / PRESENTED TO / PTL ROBERT RABEN / DEC 5 1946”
So, lets look the gun over. Other than the engraving, which I will talk about in a wee bit, lets hit the usually important parts.
The gun has all matching numbers: frame, cylinder and barrel with 2-line patent dates.
Unlike on-duty guns which required that ones shield number be stamped on the gun, off-duty guns had no such requirement. The result is that the backstrap on this one is unblemished.
The stocks are not too bad. Theres a chunk out of the right grip. They do not appear to be serial numbered to the gun, so I suppose that if I really wanted to, I could put replacements on. But I won’t.
What do I know, so far, about this gun and its owner.
Well, the gun appears In New York City Police Department Equipment Bureau ledger Book 46-48 on page 108.
The entry shows gun #520705 going To Patrolman Robert RABEN, shield #5388, on 07JAN47 even though the award date was 06DEC46. What gives?
One of the things you may notice about the engraving is that it is on the sideplate rather than the actual frame. I’ve seen this on many, but no means all, Trophy Guns. Byzantine and restrictive licensing laws in New Yor require licenses for handguns. For the guns to be suitably engraved, they would have to be taken to a jeweler and left there until the work was done. Rather than deal with the licensing headache, I suspect the Department would simply remove the sideplates and drop them off to be engraved while retaining custody of the rest of the revolver.
Makes sense.
As for the delay in dates…..
Supposedly, not all guns that were presented were engraved. In many instances, the unengraved gun would be presented at graduation, a photo taken of the recipient and the person making the award, and then the gun would go back to the Equipment Bureau or the Police Academy who would then make the arrangements for the engraving and then when done, book it out to the recipient.
This makes a good deal of sense, as the photo op was a very important part of the ceremony. If one looks VERY closely at some of the various photos of graduates showing off boxed Trophy Guns, one will see that the guns are actually wired in place in the box so that when the box and gun are held up for the photo, the gun doesn’t fall out!
Figure December holiday time is pretty busy for jewelers and it makes sense that it took the guy a month to get his piece.
The reason for this delay, the need for a photo op, is one of the things that makes Trophy Guns a delight to collect and document: there is usually a photo of the gun being presented!
So far I have not turned up a photo of Patrolman RABEN getting his Trophy Gun but I strongly suspect if I go through the 1947 SSPRING 3100’s (Department magazine) for the first quarter of 1947, I’ll find one. Unfortunately, my digital library here at Firebase Vivas doesn’t have those issues BUT the NYS Library in Albany does have a pretty complete set of hardcopy Spring 2100’s and I plan to go there and see what I can find. As to the rest of Patrolman RABEN’s career……
RABEN took and passed the Patrolman exam and appeared on the Eligibles list that was published in The City Record on 26JUL46. His score was listed as 87.066, placing him 1,885th on the list. This may seem pretty low down and unlikely to get called up, but the postWW2 classes were H-U-G-E, so he was o.k.! His address was listed as 6330 84th Pl., Forest Hills West, Queens, NY. His entry is appended (VPC) indicating that he applied for Veterans Preference Credit on his test. His entire class had VPC, not surprisingly.
He seems to have done well because he was appointed a Patrolman-On-Probation 21SEP46 and started his training.
He had the second highest score in his class. Since the Bloomingdale Trophy was for the highest score in a class, you may ask why the number two man got one. As I said, the post-war classes were huge. Some had over two thousand men in them. In the larger classes, the Department would sometimes break the class into multiple companies and give awards to the highest man in each company. Thus if there were 4 companies, there might be four Bloomingdale Trophies for the four valedictorians. In one notable class in the 1920’s, there were -TEN- Bloomingdale Trophies awarded in one exceptionally large class.
RABEN proceeded up the ladder, ‘raised up’ several times, and ultimately retired in 1984 as an Inspector in Patrol Services assigned to Brooklyn. He died in 2002.
One thing I found interesting is that before Patrolman RABEN started his NYPD career he graduated from NYU with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and went into the Navy. When he separated from the Navy in 1945, he was assigned to the USS Intrepid (CV-11).
In 1982, the USS Intrepid was opened in New York City as a museum ship. While I have no proof of it, in my mind I’m pretty sure that when the ship opened for the first time there was an RMP illegally parked (of course!) at the foot of the dock and Inspector RABEN, in a uniform that would cow anyone below a CPT, strode along the dock with his driver, went up to the flight deck and undoubtedly contemplated the vagaries of life that had him as an officer, again but of a different kind, on the Intrepid.
One of those guns that my estate will have to deal with because this one is not going anywhere on my watch!!
Best,
RM Vivas
Edited to add: Note that the engraving makes no mention of a department or agency affiliation. This rather odd omission of some elemental information had resulted in some folks who stumble across these little jewels not knowing their marvelous background.
============================================================
Within the collecting of NYPD guns probably the hardest to find, and certainly the most colorful, are Trophy Guns.
Trophy Guns are not really well-known outside the Department and even within the Department knowledge of them is rather limited. The last Trophy Gun was awarded around 1973 so there are no Trophy Gun recipients still on ‘da Job. Most of the kids on patrol now have never heard of them or if they have its usually in the context of “Oh yea, my Dad/Grandfather got one when he came on.”
The topic of Trophy guns is delightfully obscure enough -and- interesting enough that I did my undergraduate history thesis on the Bloomingdale Trophy, arguably the most prestigious of the myriad of Trophy Guns. Some quotes from my thesis (available here: https://vivasandson.com/SHOPKEEPERpdf.pdf ) explain the genesis of the Trophy Gun in general and the Bloomingdale Trophy in particular. If you look at the thesis, please be kind; I think my writing and research has improved since then!
From my thesis: Trophy Cops: The Finest’s Finest
From 1917 to 1973 the New York City Police Department (NYCPD) awarded engraved revolvers to members of each graduating Police Academy class. Over the 56 years that this practice spanned, these awards, known as Trophy Guns, were awarded for a variety of accomplishments during training.
Of the various Trophy Guns awarded, the earliest, most consistently awarded and most prestigious was the Bloomingdale Trophy. Sponsored by Hiram C. Bloomingdale of Bloomingdale department store fame (later Federated Department Stores), the Bloomingdale Trophy was the first Trophy Gun awarded. Unlike some of the other Trophy Guns that came later and whose criteria changed with political winds, the Bloomindale Trophy remained consistent in its eligibility requirements: it was to be awarded to the top member of each graduating class who had the highest combined scores in “...physical and mental studies...”. It was for all intents and purposes a valedictorians’ gun.
…..
Hiram Collenberger Bloomingdale (1875–1953) was one of two sons of Lyman Bloomingdale, founder of Bloomingdales Department Store (later Federated Department Stores). Aside from his business acumen, Lyman Bloomingdale was known for his philanthropy. Hiram Bloomingdale shared this trait and was active in numerous philanthropic organizations including the Policemen’s Benevolent Association (PBA), a fraternal organization/union that represented the interests of NYC patrolmen. There is very little data available on who served in the Police Reserves and in what capacity, however a period newspaper article describes Bloomingdale as a CPT in the Police Reserve.
Available evidence suggests Bloomingdale was a supporter of the Department. He donated generously to the PBA, continued his involvement in the Police Reserve Association post-WW1, and most importantly, he endowed the creation of a Trophy Gun in his name. As a man of some means, he was uniquely positioned politically and financially to endow a suitable Trophy for the best man in each graduating class.
The earliest known reference to a Bloomingdale Trophy (sometimes called the Bloomingdale Prize) is found engraved on the side of a Trophy Gun presented to Probationary Patrolman Arthur A. LEMPKE on May 22, 1925. Engraved on the side of the revolver presented to LEMPKE is an inscription indicating the award was established July 10, 1917.
The 1930 Annual Report of The New York City Police Department observed:
The Bloomingdale Trophy, a .38 Regulation Police Revolver, suitably engraved, is donated by Mr. Hiram C. Bloomingdale, a prominent merchant in this city, to the Recruit in each graduating class who attains the highest general average in the combined Mental, Physical, Firearms and Swimming Courses. This creates individual rivalry among the Recruits and is a great incentive to hard work on their part.
Hiram Bloomingdale died in 1953 but his son, Lyman (1912-1999) (namesake to Hiram’s father), continued the practice of supporting the awarding of a Trophy Gun until the Department did away with the practice in 1973. The Bloomingdale family’s philanthropy did not end there however, as they simply recast the award as a scholarship instead of a revolver.
The number of Bloomingdale Trophy guns awarded is likely 175-200. Given that the Department purchased roughly 125,000-150,000 revolvers during the Trophy Gun era, one can see that they are rather uncommon.
So why bring this topic up?
A few week ago I was contacted via email by someone who had a Bloomingdale Trophy and wanted more information about it. We spoke and, fortunately for me, he was the sort of fellow who understood that while the revolver would be an interesting conversation piece in his collection, it would be star in mine. So we hemmed, we hawed, we did the little dance and the gun arrived a couple of days ago.
Trophy Guns could be any model of a Colt or S&W that was in use by the Department at that time. I’ve seen them as S&W M&P/M10, Chief Specials/M36, .32HE, Terrier. Colt DS, PP, PPS and OP.
This particular gun is a S&W .32 HE #520705 and appears in the NYPD Equipment Bureau Book 46-48 age 108 as having gone to Patrolman Robert RABEN, shield #5388.
So lets see what we have……….
OK, a pretty unremarkable S&W .32 HE. Cute little I-frame gun. However, when we turn it over……
Oooo…… an inscription! What do we have here?
“BLOOMINGDALE TROPHY / PRESENTED TO / PTL ROBERT RABEN / DEC 5 1946”
So, lets look the gun over. Other than the engraving, which I will talk about in a wee bit, lets hit the usually important parts.
The gun has all matching numbers: frame, cylinder and barrel with 2-line patent dates.
Unlike on-duty guns which required that ones shield number be stamped on the gun, off-duty guns had no such requirement. The result is that the backstrap on this one is unblemished.
The stocks are not too bad. Theres a chunk out of the right grip. They do not appear to be serial numbered to the gun, so I suppose that if I really wanted to, I could put replacements on. But I won’t.
What do I know, so far, about this gun and its owner.
Well, the gun appears In New York City Police Department Equipment Bureau ledger Book 46-48 on page 108.
The entry shows gun #520705 going To Patrolman Robert RABEN, shield #5388, on 07JAN47 even though the award date was 06DEC46. What gives?
One of the things you may notice about the engraving is that it is on the sideplate rather than the actual frame. I’ve seen this on many, but no means all, Trophy Guns. Byzantine and restrictive licensing laws in New Yor require licenses for handguns. For the guns to be suitably engraved, they would have to be taken to a jeweler and left there until the work was done. Rather than deal with the licensing headache, I suspect the Department would simply remove the sideplates and drop them off to be engraved while retaining custody of the rest of the revolver.
Makes sense.
As for the delay in dates…..
Supposedly, not all guns that were presented were engraved. In many instances, the unengraved gun would be presented at graduation, a photo taken of the recipient and the person making the award, and then the gun would go back to the Equipment Bureau or the Police Academy who would then make the arrangements for the engraving and then when done, book it out to the recipient.
This makes a good deal of sense, as the photo op was a very important part of the ceremony. If one looks VERY closely at some of the various photos of graduates showing off boxed Trophy Guns, one will see that the guns are actually wired in place in the box so that when the box and gun are held up for the photo, the gun doesn’t fall out!
Figure December holiday time is pretty busy for jewelers and it makes sense that it took the guy a month to get his piece.
The reason for this delay, the need for a photo op, is one of the things that makes Trophy Guns a delight to collect and document: there is usually a photo of the gun being presented!
So far I have not turned up a photo of Patrolman RABEN getting his Trophy Gun but I strongly suspect if I go through the 1947 SSPRING 3100’s (Department magazine) for the first quarter of 1947, I’ll find one. Unfortunately, my digital library here at Firebase Vivas doesn’t have those issues BUT the NYS Library in Albany does have a pretty complete set of hardcopy Spring 2100’s and I plan to go there and see what I can find. As to the rest of Patrolman RABEN’s career……
RABEN took and passed the Patrolman exam and appeared on the Eligibles list that was published in The City Record on 26JUL46. His score was listed as 87.066, placing him 1,885th on the list. This may seem pretty low down and unlikely to get called up, but the postWW2 classes were H-U-G-E, so he was o.k.! His address was listed as 6330 84th Pl., Forest Hills West, Queens, NY. His entry is appended (VPC) indicating that he applied for Veterans Preference Credit on his test. His entire class had VPC, not surprisingly.
He seems to have done well because he was appointed a Patrolman-On-Probation 21SEP46 and started his training.
He had the second highest score in his class. Since the Bloomingdale Trophy was for the highest score in a class, you may ask why the number two man got one. As I said, the post-war classes were huge. Some had over two thousand men in them. In the larger classes, the Department would sometimes break the class into multiple companies and give awards to the highest man in each company. Thus if there were 4 companies, there might be four Bloomingdale Trophies for the four valedictorians. In one notable class in the 1920’s, there were -TEN- Bloomingdale Trophies awarded in one exceptionally large class.
RABEN proceeded up the ladder, ‘raised up’ several times, and ultimately retired in 1984 as an Inspector in Patrol Services assigned to Brooklyn. He died in 2002.
One thing I found interesting is that before Patrolman RABEN started his NYPD career he graduated from NYU with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and went into the Navy. When he separated from the Navy in 1945, he was assigned to the USS Intrepid (CV-11).
In 1982, the USS Intrepid was opened in New York City as a museum ship. While I have no proof of it, in my mind I’m pretty sure that when the ship opened for the first time there was an RMP illegally parked (of course!) at the foot of the dock and Inspector RABEN, in a uniform that would cow anyone below a CPT, strode along the dock with his driver, went up to the flight deck and undoubtedly contemplated the vagaries of life that had him as an officer, again but of a different kind, on the Intrepid.
One of those guns that my estate will have to deal with because this one is not going anywhere on my watch!!
Best,
RM Vivas
Edited to add: Note that the engraving makes no mention of a department or agency affiliation. This rather odd omission of some elemental information had resulted in some folks who stumble across these little jewels not knowing their marvelous background.
...Ben
