1916 holster

[browningautorifle]

I have a standard 1911 holster here that's marked "Bridesburg 1915". It's quite unlike any other Govt' holster I've seen as it's very thin material and very light colored. I have no info on this maker. Has anyone got anything for sure?

Information

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[lenb]

Any chance of getting a few pictures of it posted so some of the holster experts here can see what you have?

Len

[browningautorifle]

I don't have it right now, I was hoping the makers mark would get it going. I'll try to post pics in a day or so.

[Pattern14]

This may be far fetched but outside Philadelphia PA there is a town called Bridesburg where Frankford Armory contracted to produce 1861 Civil War muskets . Early in the 1900's Bridesburg hosted a Neatsfoot Oil refinery and nearby in Frankford there was a leather works company called Foerderer's. I don't know that this is same Bridesburg on your holster but the area has a long association with armaments and war material.

[browningautorifle]

I sort of got the same info through investigation. The trail seems long ago and "current" holsters aren't mentioned. I originally thought it said 1945 and I thought it had been made by a craftsman in Germany after the second war for a military contract. That didn't work however. The real strange thing is a 1916 pattern holster marked 1915.

[browningautorifle]

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[browningautorifle]

Any help with this one???

[Badger]

Any help with this one???

I'm not a holster expert, but some googling turned up this:

Bridesburg marked M1861 muskets were made by Alfred Jenks & Son of Philadelphis (Bridesburg is part of Phila.).

Maybe a common factory that did a lot of things?

Regards,
Badger

[lenb]

This holster looks similar to the M1916 GI holsters, but it seems to be different than most. The leather is a light yellowish color that I've not seen before, though it could just be the lighting or the photos. Also, it seems that the leather is a very soft, thinner variety than most GI holsters. And the seam at the rear and bottom show that the leather pieces aren't trimmed evenly (one piece is larger than the other and has excess visible). The most telling feature is a lack of the "US" embossed on the front of the flap. It makes me wonder if this holster was made as either a copy for the civilian market, or perhaps as a costume or stage prop. I was hoping some of our holster collectors would weigh in here as well.

Len

[browningautorifle]

That's what I thought Len, I told the owner it was a copy. It's soft as a mouse's ear and half the thickness of a military model. It has NO ridgidity at all. Yes, almost yellow. The stitching is wide and crude. The rivets are not standard.

Yes, Doug I googled Bridesburg and thought maybe they were like RIA and made a little of everything. I personally think it's bogus but the owner's trying to find out so I thought we might be able to sort it out here. I still think someone will show up with something definite.