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Colt 1908 Vest Pocket .25 ACP serial number 357140 - pistol is
factory gold
plated and has factory mother of pearl grips with gold plated flush
medallions. The gold plating was rather delicate and is very thin on
this example as gold finish remains mostly in
protected areas.
Factory letter confirms these features and indicates
that this gun was sold to Hall Hardware Company (address unavailable)
and was shipped to Shapleigh Hardware Company, St. Louis, Missouri on
October 22, 1925. It was processed on Colt Factory Order number
10516/1.
HISTORY OF THE HALL HARDWARE COMPANY
The Northwestern Hardware Company was organized on February 8, 1913 in
Minneapolis by and for retail hardware dealers of the Northwestern
states, to buy and sell hardware and related products wholesale to
retail hardware and general store merchants.
The directors of the Northwestern Hardware Company met with several
prominent Minnesota hardware men on May 15, 1913, and agreed to organize
a wholesale hardware company. On June 9, 1913 it was decided to
incorporate the company under the name of Hall Hardware Company, and it
was agreed that all subscriptions of hardware dealers taken under the
name of the Northwestern Hardware Company would be received into the
Hall Hardware Company. Incorporators included George E. Hall, of Fargo,
North Dakota, and G. H. Reeves and Fred N. Furber, both of Minneapolis.
Subscriptions for the capital stock of the corporation were invited from
persons engaged in the retail hardware business in the Northwest. By
1933 Hall Hardware supplied 450 retail hardware stores in Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. In 1949 the
name of the firm was changed to Our Own Hardware Company.
The Hall Building Company was incorporated in 1918 as a holding company
to finance, construct, and operate a building in Minneapolis under lease
to the Hall Hardware Company. Securities were offered for sale to
members of the Hall Hardware Company, their clerks, relatives, and a few
other individuals. The directors of the Hall Building Company were the
same as those of the Hall Hardware Company.
Source:
http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00440.xml
Colt 1908 Vest Pocket .25 ACP serial number 357140 - gold present
inside the trigger area.
Colt 1908 Vest Pocket .25 ACP serial number 357140 - right side
Colt 1908 Vest Pocket .25 ACP serial number 357140 - gold plating
on frame above grip safety. |
