Sweetheart Grips For My Sweetie

[quinn]

At the local gun show earlier this month a guy I usually deal with on carved vintage holsters had these tucked in a corner of his display case. We visited for a few, and I walked on. My son said, "What?!?". I did a U-turn, and these followed me home.

Traditionally, Sweetheart grips were theater made from crashed aircraft windshield and used to display a photo of the soldier's girlfriend. They are sometimes seen on 1911s, both persuasions of 1917 and on Victories.

I think these are the real deal. The plexiglass/perspex/? has some age on it but does look more molded than carved, though. The 'ladies' have been carefully cut out of B&W photos and wear 40's type clothing. The profiles are glued onto thin, whte card stock of some sort.

The Colt 1911 has been my companion since 1967 when I got her from the NRA for $60. The gun was manufactured in 1917, arsenal refinished around WWII and surplused after Kore and in the middle of Vietnam.

 

[gnystrom]

Stunning on that firearm. Congratulations on your find.

 

[crsides]

Nice Randy.

 

[DWalt]

I think that someone should put together a picture book on Sweetheart grips. I have seen some that had pictures of subjects other than sweethearts. Mothers, dogs, horses, etc. Back in the 1960s-70s they were common at gun shows. Not so today.

 

[Bakebfr480]

Very nice! Was the gun show in San Antonio?

 

[6actual]

A very nice piece of history, thanks for sharing it

 

[quinn]

Very nice! Was the gun show in San Antonio?

Yes, it was the show held the first weekend of every month on the west side of town.

 

[ladder13]

Nice package Randy.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

I wonder about the guy who first put them together. You are paying tribute to a long lost soldier we'll never know. In lonely dangerous places he would take solace looking at those pictures. And what a perfect gun to put them on. It reminded me for some reason of an old dollar bill my friend showed me that was his dad's from WW2. It had a list of guys signatures on it. I then realized it was a "short snort" bill signed by friends promising each other to come back alive and have another drink together.