Thought it was awesome to get my hands on this little guy lately:



An Allen and Thurber No. 9 Bar Hammer. This would be from early in their Worcester factory production. .28 caliber double action only percussion.

It actually manages to make the tiny Smith and Wesson No. 1 look on the large side....



Only thing I am not sure of would be the practicality of actually carrying this little guy ready to go with a cap in place. Makes worrying about the Sig 320 seem silly in comparison!

It showed up right in the middle of Allen and Wheelock research, good timing!



Bill R

Cool ! Thanks for showing it !!!

Very cool! Yeah, the idea of carrying that thing with a cap installed is kinda terrifying!

OK, stylophiles, this one's for you.

On page 110 of Geoffrey Ward's book The West - An Illustrated History is a photograph which bears the description "The anonymous portrait...is believed to be the only one to show a Texas Ranger in battle dress."

This is a Daguerreotype, the first commercial photographic process. Daguerreotype images are reversed, like looking in a mirror, so I've flipped the image for correct orientation.

This is a remarkable image, utterly fascinating to me due to its uniqueness. The Daguerreotype process was introduced to the world (in France) in 1839 but it took a couple of years for all but the most advanced hobbyists to master the technique of creating these images and for the process to begin being used commercially. This particular image was created no earlier than 1841 or 1842 (unlikely, but possible) and probably no later than 1847 or 1848 and I would guess it would have been made in the high end of that range. One finds few Daguerreotype images made in America before 1845.

It shows a dashing man, seated, holding a Bowie knife in his gloved right hand (exposure time for this image was probably somewhere between 45 and 90 seconds, so the tip of the knife appears somewhat blurred because it's difficult to remain completely motionless for so long) and wearing a double buckle belt high on his waist. Above his left hand, a pistol can be seen tucked into his belt. I feel strongly that this is an Allen & Thurber pepperbox, first available in 1837. Examination of the detail shows the rounded butt of the pistol with the silver oval escutcheon on the right side of the grip, and the bottom of the trigger guard.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
OK, stylophiles, this one's for you.

Henry’s book on Allen and Wheelock features several images of mid-century through Civil War era individuals with their firearms, but I would think, those would more likely more modern glass negative type process…

I am finding the history of this company in its many iterations to be fascinating. Maybe even more interesting is the significant number of manufacturers and individuals who got their start or were associated with the Allen & Co. as it grew:
Daniel Wesson
Sullivan Forehand and Henry Wadsworth of Forehand and Wadsworth fame
Charles and Samuel Hopkins of Hopkins and Allen

It’s like a starter list for the huge development of the inexpensive revolver market in New England once the Rollin White patent expired.

Anyway, thanks for that great image!

Bill R

quote:

Originally posted by stylophiles:
Henry’s book on Allen and Wheelock features several images of mid-century through Civil War era individuals with their firearms, but I would think, those would more likely more modern glass negative type process.

Correct. Most Civil War-era images are Ambrotypes, which are glass plate negative/positive images. Because the substrate is translucent, Ambrotypes (unlike Daguerreotypes, which used a silver-coated copper plate) could be flipped over to eliminate the reverse image. (The way Ambrotype images are actually displayed is a subject for another thread)

By the time of the Civil War, the Daguerreotype process was on the way out.

In the case of the image I've provided, it's not just that the subject is shown bearing arms; it's the age of the image and its proximity to the origins of photography. These very early images are as close to a time machine as we're ever likely to get.

Does "anonymous portrait" mean the photographer is unknown, the subject, or both?

You're certainly a collector. I can appreciate your appreciation of such things including having the knowledge necessary to enjoy it.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Does "anonymous portrait" mean the photographer is unknown, the subject, or both?

In this case, it means both.

Something else which ties into the subject of the various photographic processes, that members may find interesting-

After the Ambrotype came the Ferrotype, commonly known as the Tintype. Like the Daguerreotype, the Ferrotype used an opaque substrate and was- unless copied after the fact- always a camera-original positive, meaning the image was reversed.

The famous photo of Billy The Kid is a Ferrotype, and therefore a reversed image, and this is where the myth of the "left-handed gun" originated.

Why it took so long for savvy gun people to point out that Winchester lever actions don't have a loading gate on the left side of the receiver, I don't know.

Here's a good shot of the original Ferrotype image and you can actually see the bent and clipped edges of the metal plate.

Working on getting a portable studio lighting setup back in action, it's been a while since I had to take down the full studio setup, and I've been missing good lighting and a SLR!



Not perfect yet, it's a bit tough meeting the "portable" requirement, but getting there...



This one is also kind of cool. It's British made, marked with the name of a Philadelphia retailer, probably sold sometime in the mid 1800s. Very high quality. Unfortunately it was "fixed" at some point in the past, and the action no longer works. I've had it apart twice and haven't figured it out yet.

Bill R

Another Allen & Thurber pepperbox, this time in a gold rush-era daguerreotype dating from the early 1850s, shown with a Bowie knife in a leather veneer sheath (the embossed decoration on the front of the sheath reveals this), and a muzzle loading rifle. All daguerreotypes are mirror images, so I have flipped it over for correct orientation.

Just picked up this nice little Allen & Thurber Pepperbox. This seemed like the right thread to share it in.

Completely awesome!

I missed out on one the other day due to complete negligence on my part… bookmarked on one laptop instead of the one I use at home. Anyway, it had a unique hammer design that almost looked like it might have been SA/DA.

Anyway, these Pepperbox revolvers are definitely cool!

Bill R

Mark Twain went out West in the early 1860's and wrote about his adventures in his book "Roughing It." He also wrote about the Double-Action Pepperbox his traveling companion George Bemis carried:

He wore in his belt an old original "Allen" revolver, such as irreverent people called a "pepper-box." Simply drawing the trigger back, cocked and fired the pistol. As the trigger came back, the hammer would begin to rise and the barrel to turn over, and presently down would drop the hammer, and away would speed the ball. To aim along the turning barrel and hit the thing aimed at was a feat which was probably never done with an "Allen" in the world. But George's was a reliable weapon, nevertheless, because, as one of the stage-drivers afterward said, "If she didn't get what she went after, she would fetch something else." And so she did. She went after a deuce of spades nailed against a tree, once, and fetched a mule standing about thirty yards to the left of it. Bemis did not want the mule; but the owner came out with a double-barreled shotgun and persuaded him to buy it, anyhow. It was a cheerful weapon—the "Allen." Sometimes all its six barrels would go off at once, and then there was no safe place in all the region round about, but behind it

quote:

Originally posted by stylophiles:
Completely awesome!

I missed out on one the other day due to complete negligence on my part… bookmarked on one laptop instead of the one I use at home. Anyway, it had a unique hammer design that almost looked like it might have been SA/DA.

Anyway, these Pepperbox revolvers are definitely cool!

Bill R

Thanks! I was fortunate enough to find this one for a very good price.

It has what is called "bar hammer." As you pull the trigger the hammer raises and the barrels rotate to align the next percussion cap & barrel with the hammer. It's DA only.