Brill-style Scabbard by Charles Kluge

[rednichols]

A reminder that the saddlers of old were not necessarily some old man in a corner building saddles. This is W.T. Wroe, the 'other' saddlery with Kluge Bros. in the 1906/07 Austin city directory. I see roughly three dozen men in the image, which is undated but turn of the last century because Wroe appeared in an article with far fewer 'hands' at the very end of the 19th, and became a car/truck sales company by 1915. Wroe, like Kluge and Brill, was a wealthy man.



Among such large saddleries we can count Lawrence and Heiser in the very early 20th century, from the articles and images I have on hand.

This all pales in comparison with Emerson Gaylord whose company made saddlery and gunleather for the North during the Civil War: I've a bio on Gaylord stating his peak workforce for leather harness etc was 450 men.

 

[boykinlp]

A reminder that the saddlers of old were not necessarily some old man in a corner building saddles. This is W.T. Wroe, the 'other' saddlery with Kluge Bros. in the 1906/07 Austin city directory. I see roughly three dozen men in the image, which is undated but turn of the last century because Wroe appeared in an article with far fewer 'hands' at the very end of the 19th, and became a car/truck sales company by 1915. Wroe, like Kluge and Brill, was a wealthy man.

Among such large saddleries we can count Lawrence and Heiser in the very early 20th century, from the articles and images I have on hand.

Red, were Kluge Brothers and W.T. Wroe Saddlery anywhere close to the size of the big 3, Heiser, Lawrence, and Myres? I had always thought Heiser was the largest, not sure where Lawrence and Myres fall in, but would have thought Kluge and Wroe were a tier down from them at least? And since you mentioned Heiser Saddlery, and I haven't had the chance to post some pictures of my vintage Heiser Saddle in quite a while, here they are.
Larry

 

[rednichols]

Red, were Kluge Brothers and W.T. Wroe Saddlery anywhere close to the size of the big 3, Heiser, Lawrence, and Myres? I had always thought Heiser was the largest, not sure where Lawrence and Myres fall in, but would have thought Kluge and Wroe were a tier down from them at least? And since you mentioned Heiser Saddlery, and I haven't had the chance to post some pictures of my vintage Heiser Saddle in quite a while, here they are.
Larry

The saddle is great of course. It is my expectation, as yet unproven, that western saddles with the shearling lined skirts are 20th century because that's when saddlers first had the mighty expensive harness stitching machines for sewing them. Otherwise I find it hard to imagine the expense to the saddler of hand sewing all that distance which far exceeds that of a lined gunbelt, for example.

Myres was incredibly small by comparison with Wroe, for example. I have images of the inside of his shop at various times, and news articles stating his employment is 25 in 1955 which according to his son Dale (who was S.D. Myres Jr) was the company's peak year. No images of Heiser that show the shop floor but do have this of Lawrence:



Notice especially all the machinery. Undated, from a current YouTube video that contains an interview of the last Lawrence, Bill Lawrence III who I knew from the trade shows of the 70s and 80s. I captured several images from that YouTube appearance.

So the 'big three' you speak of are from a gunleather collectibility standpoint, but they were not the largest saddleries by far. Remember that after Myres got into gunleather the field had shrunk considerably because of the automobile. When I joined Bianchi Holster in 1970 (in business since 1966) it already had about as many employees as Wroe did circa 1910, while by 1990 it had 300 employees and was not ever a saddlery.

As with JB, the Wroes and Heisers and Lawrences and Brills were money men; they did not themselves make leather products. For that they employed many men in order to generate the net profits that gave the founders their wealth.

 

[rednichols]

It surely has to appear that I'm simply an opinionate designer/maker, but I draw my hlstorical knowledge from thousands of obscure references. Here's one of them, the 1913 hearings on tariff schedules involving the harness industry and the notion of protective tariffs against imports from England:





Now notice there the testimony that there were 25,000 'retail saddleries' which refers to shops that make and sell direct; and the value of saddlery sales in USA -- and because of gold prices then, multiply that value by 100. Absolutely huge numbers.

 

[boykinlp]

I found another Kluge Brothers tidbit online. Apparently Charles and his brother Henry believed in supporting local groups like the local high school. They bought advertising in, The Comet, a monthly journal of Austin High School. It contained news articles submitted by students and other information of interest to readers. It had a circulation of 700 copies, cost 25 cents per term, or 10 cents for a single copy. Here are pictures of the cover of the journal, the beginning of the first story titled "Greater Texas", and the advertisement page from the June 1910, Volume 9, Number 8.
Larry

 

[wheelgun610]

Since a few members weren't able to see the photos in my earlier post in this thread, I removed it and am finally getting around to hosting them where I know they'll be visible to all members here.

Anyway, I believe it's safe to think that this holster was made by the Kluge's prior to their time with the AW Brill company. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, feel free to set the record straight. I've had this holster for over 15 years, having purchased it from our own turnerriver via ebay. This one is a perfect fit for a fixed sighted five inch N frame.

Mark

 

[boykinlp]

Since a few members weren't able to see the photos in my earlier post in this thread, I removed it and am finally getting around to hosting them where I know they'll be visible to all members here.

Anyway, I believe it's safe to think that this holster was made by the Kluge's prior to their time with the AW Brill company. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, feel free to set the record straight. I've had this holster for over 15 years, having purchased it from our own turnerriver via ebay. This one is a perfect fit for a fixed sighted five inch N frame.

Mark

Mark, so glad you came back to post pictures. I can see them now, and your holster is beautiful, and definitely made for a thinner belt. As you know, since some these were being made for the Texas Rangers, and were to be more concealable, I suppose they would wear them on thin pants belts instead of the much thicker gun belts.

The floral carving pattern is assuredly the same as mine, and done by Kluge. Since I am a righty, I wish mine was like yours, but that is OK, I can wear 2 guns using it. Thanks again for posting.
Larry

 

[boykinlp]

Did one of you folks get this Kluge holster today?
Larry

 

[Papa Lee]

A.W. Brill

I looked at it.

 

[rednichols]

Did one of you folks get this Kluge holster today?
Larry

I corresponded w/ the seller and told him what he had; he should've stuck to his guns on price, he gave it away .

FYI, this is the earliest known of the Brills; one attributed to Butch Cassidy that appears to bear no Brill marking (but the auction page claimed one anyway in which case it didn't belong to Butch). Butch was killed 1908 and the scabbards appeared 1905 w/out the Brill marking. The carving of these earliest Brills is unique from the later Rabensburgs:



Either the cuff has been moved later -- the cuff is meant to be up around the frame -- to fit a wider belt (we have many photo examples of this surgery) or Charles Kluge was just beginning to perfect his design. The perfected version always has the cuff at the frame and then the fold moved further from the holster for a wider belt.

This one for the wider belt is Jerry Campbell's so very late 1930s when the future FBI agent was at Oklahoma City P.D. with Jelly Bryce.

View attachment 588080

Both men joined Treasury 1934 and are better known for their Myres Threepersons holsters. This is Jelly:

View attachment 588081

 

[Papa Lee]

Black Brillalike for a Colt SAA

My friend Drexel Doran of Kerrville tells me that there were no black holsters made in the A.W. Brill shop. This is a pretty well made unbranded copy of the Brill style of indeterminant age for a Colt SAA.

 

[rednichols]

My friend Drexel Doran of Kerrville tells me that there were no black holsters made in the A.W. Brill shop. This is a pretty well made unbranded copy of the Brill style of indeterminant age for a Colt SAA.

It is a very good rendition of what we call a 'brillalike'. Copies then abounded because it was 'standard issue' for the Texas Rangers and accordingly, for other Texas agencies. I've counted 24 or so Texas saddleries that made them with their mark, and an equal number w/out a mark (but all w/ different construction details). A true brillalike would have a half lining on the fender that extends into the holster pocket, but even Sam Myres' version had no lining.

How does he know that no scabbards were made with the Brill mark in black? He appears to be wrong; this is January 1930 and Kluge was August Brill's scabbard maker beginning 1912 (made without a mark from 1905) and until he worked alongside Rabensburg from 1932 until his retirement 1940.



This Brill was Ranger Trimble's and is black:



And this one can't have been dyed after it was made because its cuff sewing is still white:



Ok maybe not the perfect image because that's only the lining but I do have others, black with white sewing. Can't add here without another post.

Convince me . No one left alive, I reckon, to have 'been there' because Rabensburg died 1961, Arno Brill 1964 and Arno had left the biz for Brillville after WWII, 1947 I think?

 

[Papa Lee]

Black Brills

I suspect that Drexel may be mistaken in his statement that there were no black A.W. Brill holsters. I will ask him next time I talk to him why he believes that. Pictured is a Brill for a 1917 S&W that looked almost black to me when I acquired it in Kerrville several years ago. I sold it about 4 years ago to a member of this forum.

 

[Papa Lee]

Another Sessums

This Sessums scabbard is for a Colt SAA 5 1/2" Barrel.

 

[bruce5781]

I suspect that Drexel may be mistaken in his statement that there were no black A.W. Brill holsters. I will ask him next time I talk to him why he believes that. Pictured is a Brill for a 1917 S&W that looked almost black to me when I acquired it in Kerrville several years ago. I sold it about 4 years ago to a member of this forum.

My first thought was: "that looks familiar".
But after a while, I guess they all do.

Regards,
Bruce

 

[Papa Lee]

The only A.W. Brill that I have ever sold.

My first thought was: "that looks familiar".
But after a while, I guess they all do.

Regards,
Bruce

At this point, I kind of wish that I had not sold it.

 

[StrawHat]

I suspect that Drexel may be mistaken in his statement that there were no black A.W. Brill holsters. I will ask him next time I talk to him why he believes that. Pictured is a Brill for a 1917 S&W that looked almost black to me when I acquired it in Kerrville several years ago. I sold it about 4 years ago to a member of this forum.

Nuts, wasn't me! I have a few that would look spiffy in a Brill-a-like!

Kevin

 

[bruce5781]

At this point, I kind of wish that I had not sold it.

I'm kind of glad you did.

Regards,
Bruce

 

[StrawHat]

Bruce,

Is that retention strap original to the holster or an add on?

Kevin

 

[bruce5781]

Bruce,

Is that retention strap original to the holster or an add on?

Kevin

Kevin,
It is original.

Regards,
Bruce