A Worn-Out A. W. Brill Holster by N. J. Rabensburg

[arabensburg]

Recently, I bought this worn-out A. W. Brill holster by N. J. Rabensburg. Due to its condition, I thought it might be an early make, but it appears to have suffered as well from the elements and poor storage. Probably a garage sale item. I did call the seller and left a message. I hope that he can tell me more.

Much of the stitching is gone and with a few yanks, the entire holster might pull apart and expose its innards. One of the ends of the cuff came loose at one time and was reinserted between the liner and the rear flap of the holster. Some of basketweave has unfortunately been rubbed away possibly due to storage and perhaps the inside wear of an ejector rod.

I am grateful to have it and reminded again about Rabensburg's move to Austin from Llano, Texas on August 31, 1932. During the following month, he started a new career with the A. W. Brill Company, which lasted under that name for a short 3 years.

Rabensburg bought out the A. W. Brill Company in about September 1935 and renamed it after himself. However, he chose to keep the A. W. Brill maker mark on his holsters until his death. Why?

 

[Onomea]

I've noticed some folks prefer to keep vintage holsters, well, um, vintage, and others prefer to restore them. A personal choice, of course.

If you were to prefer the latter option, Doc Barranti, a member here and a professional, superlative, holster maker, is a good fellow to engage.

Good to see you posting again.

 

[wheelgun610]

... Rabensburg bought out the A. W. Brill Company in about September 1935 and renamed it after himself. However, he chose to keep the A. W. Brill maker mark on his holsters until his death. Why?

Given that that acquisition occurred in the midst of the Great Depression, and with the A.W. Brill Co. being a well established and successful brand name, he probably felt it made more sense to stick with the Brill name than to gamble on changing it. That would be my best guess...

Mark

 

[arabensburg]

Your guess is my guess

Your guess is my guess. I was composing my thoughts the other day and wrote almost the exact same words, that is, the Depression and the importance of the A. W. Brill name to its customer base. No use in changing a name when name recognition is important especially during hard times.

I have some additional thoughts about Rabensburg's relationship with the A. W. Brill Company, and it may have been much longer than we think.

Since I am known for stirring up the ants, I will wait another day for that thought.

 

[Venom6]

WAY cool holster. Wish it could talk. Kinda looks like my current duty holster.

 

[JJOG]

There's nothing like the craftsmanship of a Brill holster!
Brill holsters look equally good with a single action as they do with a double action!

 

[arabensburg]

Brill holsters are now appearing without the A. W. Brill mark

I have seen both a Charles W. Kluge and a N. J. Rabensburg holster now on the Smith and Wesson Forum without the A. W. Brill maker mark. What does this mean?

The answers, which could be multiple, may be very important.

There is also a holster out there, which I saw tonight , which is touted as an A. W. Brill but without the maker mark. It looks like a Kluge, but the stitching pattern on the back is not the same.

Well, this holster is a very close look-a-like. Did the A. W. Brill Company during the 1920s have an "expert leather worker" for holsters not only in Austin but in Llano or Mason, or Junction or Brady or Taylor or Georgetown or New Braunfels?

These towns, according to the Austin Statesman newspaper in a lengthy article dated May 18, 1924, about the successes of the A. W. Brill Company in 1923, were part of a network of leather makers working with the A. W. Brill company, presumably, as wholesale suppliers. The successes touted in 1923 are based on the efforts of suppliers in 1922.

Guess who is in Llano, Texas in 1922?....N. J. Rabensburg. Actually, he established his headquarters of the N. J. Rabensburg Company there two years earlier in 1920. Rabensburg was also a student of the wholesale trade and studied that phase of the business in Dallas, Texas starting in 1909, according to the La Grange Journal newspaper.

Arno W. Brill is the head road representative for the A. W. Brill Company and is noted as such in the Austin Statesman newspaper article of 1924. Arno and Rabensburg, as an "expert leather worker", thus, hooked up in Llano, Texas probably during the early 1920s. This means that A. W. Brill was in business with N. J. Rabensburg not in 1932 but a decade earlier in 1922.

 

[rednichols]

The research outlined in my Chronology tells that none of that is a valid reading of the sources I have. And I have thousands of sources.

 

[AJ]

I've noticed some folks prefer to keep vintage holsters, well, um, vintage, and others prefer to restore them. A personal choice, of course.

If you were to prefer the latter option, Doc Barranti, a member here and a professional, superlative, holster maker, is a good fellow to engage.

Good to see you posting again.

I would recommend Doc Barranti also. He repaired a holster for me and it is perfect. Restitched the entire holster and you can not tell that it was done.

 

[arabensburg]

This holster will be a challenge

I would recommend Doc Barranti also. He repaired a holster for me and it is perfect. Restitched the entire holster and you can not tell that it was done.

I will make the effort and see what Doc Barranti says.

Also, I bought another A. W. Brill by Rabensburg yesterday from a gentleman here in Texas. It came from a collection in San Antonio. A basketweave.

I told him I was the grandson of the maker, and it was not A. W. Brill. He enjoyed my story and waved the shipping costs. As soon as it arrives, I will post it on the Forum.

I may be off to Fredericksburg to shop, however, to find another Hill Country Rabensburg without the A. W. Brill maker mark. Lee Erickson does have a treasure, as I said before. He has the missing link for the 1920s.

Remember, the 1920s is where everything was happening. The 1930s, is sort of after-the-fact. We talk a great deal about the 1930s, but, the good stuff was going on a decade earlier.

The expert leather workers, who had the necessary business acumen and managed to survive into the 1920s, were picked by a very smart Arno W. Brill in seven peripheral towns of Austin.

We should be studying those towns, namely, Llano, Mason, Brady, Junction, Taylor, Georgetown and New Braunfels, to see who these people were. We know the one in Llano and that was N. J. Rabensburg. New Braunfels supplied the shoes so that one may be easier to identify. There could have been another "Brill" holster maker or two in that bunch as well.

What a neat story that could be. It was a two-way street back then. A. W. Brill needed a network of wholesale suppliers to make it a regional retail seller. Both company and group were unable to make it without the other.

It all lasted until 1929, and then all bets were off. The end of times. N. J. Rabensburg and Charles W. Kluge may have been the only two of this original group to go at it until death. The A. W. Brill Company made into the mid-1930s, but it finally gave up the ghost as well. Rabensburg took up the slack and made it to 1961. He had another 10 years to go, but fate intervened.

Neale Rabensburg

 

[StrawHat]

…The expert leather workers, who had the necessary business acumen and managed to survive into the 1920s, were picked by a very smart Arno W. Brill in seven peripheral towns of Austin.

We should be studying those towns, namely, Llano, Mason, Brady, Junction, Taylor, Georgetown and New Braunfels, to see who these people were. We know the one in Llano and that was N. J. Rabensburg. New Braunfels supplied the shoes so that one may be easier to identify. There could have been another "Brill" holster maker or two in that bunch as well…

What a neat story that could be. It was a two-way street back then. A. W. Brill needed a network of wholesale suppliers to make it a regional retail seller. Both company and group were unable to make it without the other.

Neale Rabensburg

As I remember there were about 3 dozen makers of that scabbard, located in a circle around Austin. Likely they saw what the Rangers were preferring and copied it.

Kevin

 

[arabensburg]

Captain John R. Hughes of the Texas Rangers

As I remember there were about 3 dozen makers of that scabbard, located in a circle around Austin. Likely they saw what the Rangers were preferring and copied it.

Kevin

Kevin,

You are correct.

According to Red Nichols, the radius was 200 miles and that Captain John R. Hughes of the Texas Rangers made the circuit around Austin using his "Sunday" scabbard as the "go-by".

Nichols also says the number of makers, who copied, was closer to a dozen.

 

[arabensburg]

Red, a clarification, please.

The research outlined in my Chronology tells that none of that is a valid reading of the sources I have. And I have thousands of sources.

Red,

Thank you.

I would ask for a clarification. Are you objecting to my interpretation or the sources? It appears to be the sources.

Neale Rabensburg