1950 Model Box...More Box Trivia

[Retired W4]

First off, the box is, or was blue. The only blue left is the bottom side walls. It looks brown with silver embossing and gray corners. Embossed on both sides as follows:

Smith & Wesson

1950 Model

44 Target Revolver

6 ½ Inch Barrel Blue finish

SN and TH in white grease pencil. W/TS, TS, TH in a slightly different white grease pencil.

In the box is a packing slip (express) and invoice from a LE equipment company in Berkeley to a LE guy in Placerville, dated mid July 1955.

Now for the strange part. The invoice says Target Hammer, Target Stocks. Unfortunately, the gun, with Target Stocks will not fit in the box which makes me think it was shipped from Springfield with magnas and the dealer installed targets as ordered by the customer
.
It’s too bad this box is not numbered to my Model of 1950 from about one year earlier. Anyway it’s a pretty cool box with some interesting provenance So I thought I would post this. I’ll take some pictures of it in the morning.

 

[rct269]

There was no such thing as target stocks for the bulk of my collection (of target guns only), and I have no recollection of any of the others noted as shipped with target stocks. (Read as I don't know what I'm talking about!)

That said, were any guns shipped with target stocks with the stocks not rattling around loose, but detached from the gun(?), and while it seems unlikely, were there two different size boxes?

"Inquiring minds want to know."

Ralph Tremaine

 

[Retired W4]

I am curious also Ralph. I will not spring for a letter just to learn how it was originally shipped. Except for being sun bleached, the box is in pretty good condition. I'm fairly certain George F. Cakes Co. added the targets and mailed the gun and box to Assistant Chief Kiker with the gun NOT in the box because the gun will not fit with those stocks installed. I might contact Cakes Co. to see if they still have the original magnas.

 

[fleabus101]

Just my no nothing thought. I've found, even for my narrower Gold Pre 17 22 Masterpiece Smith Box, a set of un-relieved Target Stocks will fit in the box off of the Revolver. It's a tight fit, but they can be placed
in the box along with the normally supplied Magna grips installed.
FWIW, Randy..

 

[Model19man]

There was no such thing as target stocks for the bulk of my collection (of target guns only), and I have no recollection of any of the others noted as shipped with target stocks. (Read as I don't know what I'm talking about!)

That said, were any guns shipped with target stocks with the stocks not rattling around loose, but detached from the gun(?), and while it seems unlikely, were there two different size boxes?

"Inquiring minds want to know."

Ralph Tremaine

Mine was. Here it is laying on top of its original box. I don't think the box is any bigger and it takes up all of the room inside.

 

[austintexas]

Boxes

Don't know about M 1950s but I have a M-17-3 box that is noticeably deeper than normal 17 box and marked shipped with target stocks.
SWCA 892

 

[Speedo2]

Here are some early K-frame boxes. The one with the target stocks has 5 rivet corners vs. 4-rivets for the magna-stocked revolvers. I suspect that N-frame boxes were similar. -S2

 

[Targets Guy]

4 lug boxes and 5 lug boxes


restaurants in hampstead nc

 

[Retired W4]

i did a little research on the dealer on the invoice, George F. Cake Co. It seem Mr. Cake was a pretty interesting person in the field Law Enforcement Equipment. See article below.

George F. 'Jim' Cake -- police tech pioneer

 

[JSR III]

I seem to recall an earlier thread discussing this topic. My recollection is that it was thought that the target stocks were removed for shipping as they would not fit in the originally designed box. I do not recall if the discussion included the difference between calibers. Since for example an N frame revolver would normally come in a deeper box as opposed to a K frame. The old adage is that the early S&W company did not waste anything. If it required removing the target stocks to ship them with the gun then they would do that as opposed to having to use a larger box. It however could also be possible for them to use a different caliber larger box and merely hand mark the change on the box end flap. Whatever worked.

S&W was all about making money and shipping out inventory. Not as much concerned about how we future collectors would deal with guns shipped in strange boxes.

 

[handejector]

I have seen a couple of Masterpieces that were built when Target Stocks first became available. They were shipped in the regular Gold Box with the grips detached from the gun and wrapped in brown tissue. They would simply write "TS" in black grease pencil on the end and the bottom. S&W quickly acquired some deeper/longer blue/black boxes that have 5 lug corners with NO printing so the guns could be shipped with Target grips attached. They labeled the boxes with the white descriptive labels which were probably printed in-house like Speedo2 shows above---

They quickly acquired the same deeper/longer blue/black boxes that were printed on the tops with the border and S&W logo like Speedo2's. They continued to use the white paper labels specific to the model and features.
Later, when the boxes were printed for specific models, they could not halt production if they ran out of boxes, and they could not let guns lay around un-boxed. So, when necessary, they would use blank boxes again with white labels glued on.
I have a 1950-44 Taarget that is still NIB and unfired, with Nox-Rust paper, Helpful Hints, and unused tools wrapped in brown tissue. It is in the S 1468XX range. It is in a bright blue box with NO printing on the outside. It has the Instructions printed inside the lid in English and Spanish. It has the 1955 Warranty printed inside the bottom. It has a white descriptive label glued to one end. The serial number is on the bottom in white grease pencil.
Now, this S 1468XX five screw did not ship till Nov, 1958.
I owned another 1950-44 Targ # S 146180, no box, shipped Dec, 1955.
I also own one # S 14660X, (less than 300 off 1468XX) no box, shipped Jan, 1956.
By 1958, the 44 Special guns were overshadowed by the 44 Mags and sales had slowed. It is possible that they had run out of boxes for the 1950 Target 44s. It is also possible that they were only building them to order at this time, and simply did not not order more boxes printed specifically for them, relying on the white descriptive labels.

 

[Retired W4]

This one has the Nox-Rust and tissue paper.

 

[Retired W4]

More box trivia

An additional note indicating this was a very new box that S&W used. Shipped from G.F. Cakes JUL 27, 1955.

The Warranty and Statement of Liability printed on the inside of the box is dated April 15, 1955.

Too late for my 1954 shipped 44.

 

[rct269]

I am curious also Ralph. I will not spring for a letter just to learn how it was originally shipped. Except for being sun bleached, the box is in pretty good condition. I'm fairly certain George F. Cakes Co. added the targets and mailed the gun and box to Assistant Chief Kiker with the gun NOT in the box because the gun will not fit with those stocks installed. I might contact Cakes Co. to see if they still have the original magnas.

Well, so much for target stocks and boxes!

I also will "-------not spring for a letter just to learn how it was originally shipped." I will spring for a letter (65 of them in collection #2) just because I regard a letter as frosting on the cake. Then again, there was this one letter----told about WHO it was shipped to---just like all the rest of them. That letter (and its gun) sold when I sold the rest of that collection for something on the order of THREE TIMES the amount I paid for the gun----and way more than the cost of ALL of the letters---even including all the letters for collection #1---but they were in the good old days when letters cost lunch money.

I think the bottom line here has something to do with "Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you." This was one time I ate the bear-------and had plenty left over for the next day----and the day after that----and the day after that----and the day------------. It was a shocker!!-----one of those things you'll never forget----ever!!

Ralph Tremaine

Edited to add: I let out a shriek when I read that letter! The Boss Lady came in to see what all the fuss was about. She asked, "Crappy letter?" I said, "Quite the contrary, my dear----quite the contrary!!"