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I got a day off a few weeks ago and decided to metal detect my old homesite which I’ve been digging for several years now. It was definitely exciting to see a gun come out of the ground. I’m not exactly sure the maker but I’m leaning towards it being made by the Kenton Manufacturing Co of Kenton Ohio possibly from somewhere between 1915-1930. I thought it could possibly be a cap gun but I’m now thinking it’s a 22 blank pistol. Any thoughts on it would be greatly appreciated. I also found a few buttons from the past couple of digs I can’t figure out. One is an Allen overall company button. Just a google search brings up an Allen overall company that made buttons for military gear during the Vietnam era. I am not sure when this company started and if this is the same company since my site is older but people were visiting the old cabin site for many years afterwards. The next button is from the WC Graichen Glove Company. The only thing I’ve been able to find about it is an old bill from 1901 with the company’s logo. It looks the company is out of Virginia. Another Graichen glove company appeared with a search FA Graichen possibly a relative’s glove start up company. I’m about halfway done cleaning up the pistol. Thanks for the look everyone and any thoughts or additional information would be greatly appreciated! Oh yea almost forgot one more button well I think it a button? I can barely read it and I think it says H. P.. O. Co. Nothing came up with a search? I believe I’ve found one of the blank cartridges which says something on it but my microscope aka my kid is out of town so I’m not sure what it says? I also found what I believe might be a BB cap cartridge could it have actually fired a BB?
N.C. from the mountains to the sea -
N.C. from the mountains to the sea -
real nice finds , well done .WyomingComment
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You know I’m no help but that gun had to be fun to find!South CarolinaComment
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I know what you mean about old buttons. I started out looking only for pointy rocks and glass. Now a cool brass button gets me just as excited. Thanks for sharing pics.Headwaters of the Little Miami, OhioComment
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I am Barney Fife with a gun, hence I don’t own any. But if I did, and lived 100 yrs ago, that little pretend gun would be perfect. Looks like fit nicely ladies delicate drawstring silk purse or tucked into garter belt!Digging in GA, ‘bout a mile from the Savannah RiverComment
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Best of luck trying to find the manufacturer for the little pistol. I am leaning more towards it being a Cap gun. The reason is that there is no firing pin on that hammer. That does not mean it was not used as a starter gun. It was obviously a single shot pistol and could have used a much larger "cap" than we are used to seeing.
Bruce
In life there are losers and finders. Which one are you?Comment
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Good point on the hammer not having a firing pin. I think I might have found an almost exact match. I’ll add a pic of it. The ones I looked up by the Kenton manufacturing company all have that same hammer but state they use a 22 blank. The one blank I found is 22 sized but is a center fire cartridge not a rim fire. Yea not sure but your probably right thanks for the info.
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N.C. from the mountains to the seaComment
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Neat little gun and becoming rather collectible in nice condition. I believe you’re correct that these were made by Kenton, although they don’t carry a maker’s mark. The ‘S’ and the ‘W’ in the roundels at the top of the grip are just a ‘nod’ to Smith & Wesson, as a bit of fun. And that’s what the gun is… a bit of fun for ‘making yahoo’. They were produced in three sizes from about 1915 onwards through to at least the 1940s and sold in drugstores and hardware stores. Some sources call them ‘cap’ pistols but they took a .22 short blank cartridge without the full charge. They have a bore that’s too small to accommodate a .22 slug and, although I’m not sure if it was the case from the outset, the later ones are designed to prevent a BB pellet being propelled through the barrel. The bores running from each end of the barrel aren’t straight and only partially meet in the middle, via a window that’s about half the size of a BB.
For the buttons:
The F.A. Graichen Glove Company was started by Fredreich Graichen Sr in the 1850s in Winchester, VA. He died in 1896 and left the business to his eldest son William, then becoming “W.C. Graichen”. William died in 1915 and his younger brother, Fredreich A Greichen Jr tried to hold onto the business but he was ill-equipped to do so and the premises were soon taken over by the Owen & Trenary Glove Company sometime between 1916 and Fredreich Jr’s death in 1925.
The “Allen Overall Co.” (of Monroe, NC) who supplied combat jackets during the Vietnam War isn’t well documented, but they don’t seem to appear in trade directories before about 1956. In that same year the military archives note that they had a contract for flying jackets “in progress” and were later awarded contracts for weatherproof field jackets. Your button looks rather earlier and I’m inclined to believe it might relate to Carl S. Allen of Cincinnati, OH who filed patent no. 1,410,541 for a “simplified construction of straps for overalls” on 18 December 1919 (granted 28 March 1922). He’s also poorly documented, but with no obvious connection to the later military contractor.
The “H.P.Co.” item doesn’t ring any bells. The uprights for the ‘H’ look splayed outwards to the extent I could believe it might be a ‘W’, but that doesn’t ring any bells either.Last edited by painshill; 08-22-2021, 09:02 AM.I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.Comment
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Thanks so much Roger I really appreciate it! Interesting that the Allen Overall Co from the 50’s was in Monroe NC it’s just on the other side of Charlotte from this site. But as you stated this button looks older which would would make since for this earlier homesite. I can’t believe how many artifacts I’ve dug here. I’m probably on horseshoe no 30 and my second five gallon bucket of nails. I also thought the H. P. O Co button could be a W but just couldn’t make it out enough to be sure of letter. The blank “starter” gun is definitely one of my favorite finds! Again thanks for being an awesome asset and inspiration here! Going to research Carl S. Allen today!
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