A Wally Wolfram holster question

[Ol' Drover]

I recently lucked onto this Wally Wolfram, Wolf/Albuquerque branded holster for my 2" Model 10 and its condition gave rise to a question I hope the holster experts here can help me with.

From what I've read, Wally used the Wolf/Albuquerque mark from about 1946 to 1952. When he left the Bernalillo Co. Sheriff's Office and Albuquerque for the Monrovia, Ca. PD, he switched to using the Blazer brand.

After he sold out to S&W in 1967-69 he returned to Albuquerque and resumed his old job as a deputy sheriff for another 8 years or so. My question is, did he also resume making holsters under his old Wolf/Albuquerque brand at that time?

My holster appears to have led an active life. It's stained with what looks like sweat and/or blood and has been repaired or reinforced with a copper rivet. Despite all that, it does not look old enough to have been made in the late Forties. Could it have been made in the Seventies or even Eighties with that mark?

 

[dobegrant]

Can’t answer your question, but that is a really cool looking holster

 

[rednichols]

I recently lucked onto this Wally Wolfram, Wolf/Albuquerque branded holster for my 2" Model 10 and its condition gave rise to a question I hope the holster experts here can help me with.

From what I've read, Wally used the Wolf/Albuquerque mark from about 1946 to 1952. When he left the Bernalillo Co. Sheriff's Office and Albuquerque for the Monrovia, Ca. PD, he switched to using the Blazer brand.

After he sold out to S&W in 1967-69 he returned to Albuquerque and resumed his old job as a deputy sheriff for another 8 years or so. My question is, did he also resume making holsters under his old Wolf/Albuquerque brand at that time?

My holster appears to have led an active life. It's stained with what looks like sweat and/or blood and has been repaired or reinforced with a copper rivet. Despite all that, it does not look old enough to have been made in the late Forties. Could it have been made in the Seventies or even Eighties with that mark?

Much of what you've written about Wally you'd've gleaned from my writings. There is no evidence that Wally continued after selling out to Bangor Punta and it's almost certain that conglomerate would've insisted on a non-compete from him. Given especially that he had also been making Colt's gunleather; and Colt's was forced to find another supplier (i think Hunter).

Can't accurately judge total age from what you see. Here's another Wolf that looks new, I have many such images:

 

[Ol' Drover]

Much of what you've written about Wally you'd've gleaned from my writings. There is no evidence that Wally continued after selling out to Bangor Punta and it's almost certain that conglomerate would've insisted on a non-compete from him. Given especially that he had also been making Colt's gunleather; and Colt's was forced to find another supplier (i think Hunter).

Can't accurately judge total age from what you see. Here's another Wolf that looks new, I have many such images:

Yeah, maybe so, Red, but I'm having trouble believing that all the holsters with that brand that are still available on the market today are the production of one man working full time as a deputy and turning out holsters on his days off for just five or six years. And what percentage of those would survive for 70+ years?

If Wally was like most cops I've known, it would have taken more than a few lawyers in far-off Massachusetts to stop him from making holsters for his friends and fellow cops marked with his own brand. What would they have done if they found out? Tell him to stop?

Also, he lived nine years after Bangor-Punta sold their holster business.

 

[rednichols]

Yeah, maybe so, Red, but I'm having trouble believing that all the holsters with that brand that are still available on the market today are the production of one man working full time as a deputy and turning out holsters on his days off for just five or six years. And what percentage of those would survive for 70+ years?

If Wally was like most cops I've known, it would have taken more than a few lawyers in far-off Massachusetts to stop him from making holsters for his friends and fellow cops marked with his own brand. What would they have done if they found out? Tell him to stop?

Also, he lived nine years after Bangor-Punta sold their holster business.

I agree with all that . Wally could've kept the old Wolf stamp and continued on. For example all three of the original S.D. Myres stamps have survived into the present day, as well as his predecessor saddlery J.K. Polk; all of which have been re-used to make contemporary gunleather.

My role as a holstorian is to work out the most likely outcomes because even the living makers lie either to us or themselves. I've one who's decided he is "Jr" to his father's "Sr" despite their middle names being different! And no official records matching the claim.

I heard from a Wally descendant some years ago -- I didn't know Wally but he and JB were good buds while I worked for the latter -- who provided a few bits and bobs for our info. More than I show here:

 

[Ol' Drover]

I don't think Wally was above stretching the truth occasionally, either. In this 1956 article I found about him wearing cowboy boots while on patrol with the Monrovia PD, he claims to have done so "since he quit going barefoot back in Albuquerque."

You have to admire the cojones of a man born and raised in Massachusetts who can cite his cowboy heritage with a straight face to justify wearing boots in uniform. I think I would have liked Wally, I'm sorry I never got to meet him.

 

[rednichols]

I don't think Wally was above stretching the truth occasionally, either. In this 1956 article I found about him wearing cowboy boots while on patrol with the Monrovia PD, he claims to have done so "since he quit going barefoot back in Albuquerque."

You have to admire the cojones of a man born and raised in Massachusetts who can cite his cowboy heritage with a straight face to justify wearing boots in uniform. I think I would have liked Wally, I'm sorry I never got to meet him.

Thanks for that article. Back to when your holster was made: be aware that Wally made not only Wolf but Blazer and Colt and S&W gunleather. All of which have survived in large numbers and esp. Colt's can be found on eBay any day of the week. So let's assume he didn't work alone and I never had the impression that he did. JB even worked alongside him and likely built some of them for him: most Blazers are marked 'W' for Wolfram yet some appear marked 'B'.

Wally used a very special size and model number on the backside of his holsters. When identically configured holsters appeared, if they were for different pistols then the NUMBER changed; sometimes sequentially. Or not if the fitment was added after the early number had been allocated. Yeh, odd I know.

You know what's odder? No one but Wally used that system . . . except when Tex Shoemaker opened his operation same year that Wolfram closed: Tex made identical designs with the identical numbers on their backsides! So an old Wolfram dealer could order what had historically sold well without even needing a new Shoemaker catalog, I suppose.

 

[SG-688]

As with Captain Hardy, research for the book raised my respect for Wally.

As with Wally, how did Texas cop Oliver Ball turn out so many holsters while serving full time?

 

[Onomea]

Fun thread. Very cool holster.

I have a question about the fit of the holster and the 2" Model 10 as shown in the original post above: I note that the trigger guard seems about a half inch or so above the lip/edge of the holster pocket. I initially thought the holster must have been designed for a shorter bbl, but an M10 with a bbl shorter than 2" seems unlikely.

Is that gap unusual? Seems to me the trigger guard should rest on the holster edge for a good fit.

 

[Ol' Drover]

Good eye! I think the copper brad was added to tighten up the holster and it is a snug fit. I just failed to fully seat the gun when I took the picture.