Revisiting the "Catalogue" Holster: Wyeth Hardware in MO

Reproduced from my original post on Coltforum.com recently. By all means look on this blog for my post "What Do Wyeth Holsters Look Like" and recently expanded. My post is far too long but please keep looking along it because the post is packed with info. Let's also not discount the impact of the macroenvironment on gunleather because it was long rifle cartridges like the 45-70 adopted by the USA in 1873 that led to 3" wide Mills belts and the Scout belts of the Texas Rangers, which led to the need for wide belt loop tunnels as with the Olive holster (read one). We know this style appeared by the early 1870s from a book by a wannabe cowboy speaking of his in circa 1875's Cheyenne, acquired from Meanea who was partnered with Gallatin there. And we know the many photos of the Texas Rangers we have today are from the 1890s because cameras and film were only perfected in the late 1880s. We do have them from the early part of the 20th century, too, with the Rangers wearing the wide belts but these were only permitted when they were riding the trail; on patrol in cities such as Austin they were required to wear the Kluge scabbard on a narrow trousers belt (with loops on pants appearing circa 1904). I suppose when I do the research on magazine fed rifles that the dates will also show us why the narrow belts persisted for such forays as the capture-by-bullets of Bonnie and Clyde using such as the Remington semi-auto rifle.

"The book Packing Iron is ostensibly about gunleather of the old west, which era is defined as being late 19th century and most notably as before 1890 when the west was pronounced 'closed' (no new lands left to be settled).

Above, from the book "Packing Iron" as 'maker unknown' -- but it's a Wyeth. 'Notice' is too weak a word for the trademark 'horseman' embossed into the holster pocket, and the unusual 'leaves' bordering the fender, and the special rolled border pattern that all frequent the surviving Wyeths in collections today. That symbol in the centre I reckon is for the Masons, of which many Westerners were members including all the saddlers; who themselves were largely Germans -- and Confederates during that conflict.

"It was seeing this image in Packing Iron, and some correspondence with a Friend of Holstory in Canada (about all that's left of the Four Musketeers who put together my book Holstory), that made me realise that nearly ALL gunleather of that era in the West, came from Wyeth Hardware. Until now I've been thinking of Wyeth as an also-ran; but they made few holsters with their own mark but MANY holsters have survived that are obviously made by Wyeth but either with no name on them, or the name of a mail order retailer like Wards, and even with 'name' brand makers' names on them. "The Olive" pattern holster, 1870s:

"In support of that, well known makers like Heiser didn't enter the gunleather market in any substantial way until the first decade of the 20th century. This was cause, in Heiser's case, by the death of Hermann himself in 1904 and his sons taking over, and the introduction of the Model T in that decade which ruined the demand for saddles; with some saddles selling for substantially more than the Ford in that time. And Heiser included in its new range, what Wyeth called the Olive and Heiser called the Mexican loop. (p.s. I don't include 'cuffed' holsters as being the Olive/Mexican Loop; that is, a separate cuff or strap or straps added to the fender vs. being slit into the fender like an Olive).

"But Myres, which company began its offerings in earnest in the mid-1920s, did not ever offer the Olive. And I"m thinking that by then it was passe, not least because the city folks who carried as a result of gentrification of cities like Austin, were beginning to carry on the then-new trousers belts which ALSO were introduced in that first decade of the 20th century. And here is a Wyeth, in the Olive style, whose owner has slitted the backside of the fender for a trousers belt. Not uncommon to see this 'custom' alteration. We know it is a Wyeth by its numbered fender, by its use of an engraved plate on the holster body, and even the lacing is consistent with a Wyeth; as is the fact it has no maker's mark on it. The slits are a reminder that the wide scout belts for which the Olive was created, were no longer used by Westerners in the cities of the early 20th century: if they carried, like the Texas Rangers of that period they needed to carry small pistols on trousers belts and without displaying large amounts of ammunition on the belts. Indeed in such places as Texas a citizen could not be caught carrying "hand weapons" -- so, like the Rangers of Austin in 1904, their pistols and gunleather were concealed.

"Notice also that an embossing plate for a shorter barreled holster has been used. I doubt any consumer ever noticed or objected. An important secret of mass production that survived until the end of the 20th century.

"My theory is not wishful thinking. Wyeth added its saddlery in 1872 and Mr. Wyeth chose St. Joseph MO, at the foot of the Rockies, specifically to serve the wagon trains moving settlers into the West. It was a mail order house itself, and supplied all the mail order houses you've heard of including the more specialised maker that was Audley (with Olive style holsters). This one is the earliest such we know of, 1894. Now notice the Olive at lower left."

Above an undated Wyeth catalogue. Catalogue retailers began to offer what are obviously Wyeths to the trained eye, as early as that 1894 page shown prior and 1898.

Long forgotten until I resurrected his story, Huston Wyeth was the man behind this giant mail order hardware operation (guns were classed as hardware, hence the use of the term for guns in old western films and books). This is 1914:

Below from Wyeth, "PISTOL HOLSTERS OUR OWN MAKE":

A collector will spot all these models, above and below, scattered around eBay on any given day -- in the early 21st Century!

No small operator, Wyeth stories dominated St. Joe's newspaper (this is but one). This is 1915 and Wyeth went out in a blaze of glory in 1959, with the company not only closing its saddlery that year but this particular newspaper devoting most of its pages to its history.

Below, another writer's very complete coverage of the Wyeth family history:

2011 04 13 wyeth bio.pdf

Download PDF • 407KB

And below, a more compact telling of the Wyeth story. The family lived in a mansion!

Below just a few of the marks you'll see on Wyeths, and often erroneously attributed to the marked 'maker' in many/most textbooks prior to Holstory, including (but I can't prove it) Lawrence's earliest holsters circa 1930 that were prior to their big move into gunleather in 1937. Prior their emphasis was on fishing creels and related.

Wards below -- do youngies today know of Montgomery Wards? My grandparents in 1950s Reno NV often sent me toy capguns from Wards while I lived overseas:

Below, HS&BC's mark on a Wyeth, which also was a catalogue company of the late 19th century:

Below, only Wyeth stamped the style name 'Olive' into its holsters and I have dozens of these holsters in my photo files.

Below, "Rev-o-noc" was 'Conover' spelled backwards:

Below, the many faces of Wyeth in the holster book titled "Packing Iron". The author commits himself to inadequate sourcing by stating in nearly all image captions that the 'maker unknown' and many Wyeths are among his images.

Below, we've seen this Wyeth holster before, with its Masonic symbol but a different background:

Above and below, Wyeths favoured this rosette imprint, too.

The holster maybe; but the belt, for sure! Notice its border matches the best-known Wyeth holsters.

Below, Wyeth's hallmark 'horseman' in the leftmost holster, and Wyeth's peculiar border rolling on the rightmost one:

Below is identified in Packing Iron as being an original El Paso Saddlery from the late 19th Century; and its owner as being Phil Spangenberger who was (he died recently) an authority on old west gunleather. I tried for many years to reach him on that topic but my efforts were in vain; I wanted to see an original EPS marking (which I have since found on my own) that should have been on it. But this holster is NOT an EPS, despite it coming from the estate of Bobby McNellis who so-identified it; it is a catalogue holster by Wyeth -- which is why Bobby had to guess (wrong) because Wyeths are rarely marked!

Yes, below it's marked Al. Furstnow; which isn't to say it is not a Wyeth that Furstnow stamped with his name. These men were saddlers and focused their attention saddles that brought in hundreds, even thousands of dollars each, while holsters sold for only a few dollars.

Below, that faint imprint at centre is Montgomery Wards':

Below, this particular border rolling has been sighted on Wyeth-stamped holsters and belts:

To read more about it all in my book titled "Holstory -- Gunleather of the Twentieth Century

-- the Second Edition", click on the new link at top of page.