Victory Model WWII "Sweetheart" Grips

-db- · Apr 21, 2012

I found these stocks in a small lot of various grips I picked up the other day. Commonly referred to as "sweetheart" grips, lore has it these were hand-crafted during WWII from aircraft canopies and GIs would place photos of loved ones, pin up girls, etc. behind the plastic to customize their pistols. Usually made for 1911s, sometimes you'll see them on other period pistols as well (see the set I have for a Beretta below). This example for a Victory model S&W is a bit different in that instead of just a couple slabs of plexiglass replacing the stock panels, the maker modified the wood from the original stocks to serve as a backing for the plastic. Both the Beretta and Victory sets I have came without photos, I added those you see for effect.

guitar1580 · Apr 21, 2012

Well there's something I hadn't seen before. Very interesting, especially the ones that saved some wood. Thanks for showing them.

Josh P

DWalt · Apr 21, 2012

Some years back, I attended a gun show where one of the exhibitors had a fairly large collection of M1911s having such grips

Rugskipper · Apr 21, 2012

-db- said:

What an awful place to put a grip screw!

opoefc · Apr 21, 2012

American GIs weren't to only ones who did this. Gun shows after WW2 often had Lugers, & Nambus with see-through stocks show pictures of lovely ladies , children, dogs, military unit emblems, etc. Pieces of broken airplane canopies, etc., were used for all kinds of jewelry and trench art, as well as gun stocks. Ed.

vrichard · Apr 21, 2012

Had these on my 45 in Germany(long time ago)
Dick

pilgrim6a · Apr 21, 2012

I've seen grips like this before. I see many more theater knives.
The normal story is they were made by USN Machinist Mates. Stacked metal and plexiglass.
My Dad had a USN Mk1 that the hilt had been replaced with a 20mm casing. I wish I had it now.
These things never brought a lot. Few bought them but for those who like to hold history in their hands and think of their fathers.

zaleskb1 · Jan 21, 2014

-db- said:
I found these stocks in a small lot of various grips I picked up the other day. Commonly referred to as "sweetheart" grips, lore has it these were hand-crafted during WWII from aircraft canopies and GIs would place photos of loved ones, pin up girls, etc. behind the plastic to customize their pistols. Usually made for 1911s, sometimes you'll see them on other period pistols as well (see the set I have for a Beretta below). This example for a Victory model S&W is a bit different in that instead of just a couple slabs of plexiglass replacing the stock panels, the maker modified the wood from the original stocks to serve as a backing for the plastic. Both the Beretta and Victory sets I have came without photos, I added those you see for effect.

Are you interested in selling a pair of these victory sweetheart grips?

Chukar60 · Jan 21, 2014

I have never seen anything like those stocks. Best part of this forum; you just never know what you will see and learn. Thanks a lot for showing this.

DWalt · Jan 21, 2014

I remember seeing lots of WWII era handguns having such grips back in the 1950s and 60s. But it's been a LONG time since I saw the last one. I'd love to find a box of them. I put them in the same class as WWII aircraft nose art.

Iggy · Jan 21, 2014

I remember seeing some of those back not long after the war.

dflippo · Jan 21, 2014

Very neat! Thanx for sharing!

fat tom · Jan 22, 2014

Rugskipper said:
What an awful place to put a grip screw!

Well after all,it IS an UPPER body shot.

f.t.

rsl · Jan 22, 2014

grips

Saw a pair on a Colt SA years ago..They had a pix of a cow... Now I know they are called Sweetheart Grips it scares me if this was a cowboys sweetheart..

Retired W4 · Jan 22, 2014

Those are wonderful pieces of our history. Thanks once again for posting them.

-db- · Jan 22, 2014

zaleskb1 said:
Are you interested in selling a pair of these victory sweetheart grips?

Sir, if you've got V31493, the stocks are yours, gratis, otherwise I'd like to keep them in my collection. It took a fair bit of work rescuing and making them presentable.

ordnanceguy · Jan 22, 2014

Neat stuff, DB. Thanks for the post.

All of these pics appear to me to be of pin-up girls/models/actresses. The Beretta grips sport a pic of Austrian-born American film star Hedy Lamarr. Here is another pic of her wearing that same fur. She led a very interesting life.

DWalt · Jan 22, 2014

ordnanceguy said:
Neat stuff, DB. Thanks for the post.

All of these pics appear to me to be of pin-up girls/models/actresses. The Beretta grips sport a pic of Austrian-born American film star Hedy Lamarr. Here is another pic of her wearing that same fur. She led a very interesting life.

And patented the use of radio frequency hopping for jam-proof torpedo guidance systems.

-db- · Jan 22, 2014

ordnanceguy, yes, I picked some '30s-'40s Hollywood gals for the images. I figured they're period-correct and similar to what might have been enjoyed by the guys back then.

alwslate · Jan 23, 2014

I've seen them on various WW2 era autos at gun shows but never
before on a revolver. One clown behind a table at a gun show tried
to tell me the ones on a 1934 Beretta he had that I was looking at
were factory original rare special edition.

Victory Model WWII "Sweetheart" Grips

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