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Well, Gene Autry was about as famous a Cowboy as
you could possibly get. "The Singing Cowboy" he was called. And he did sing
"Rudoph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" that we all love. But he was more than that to
millions of kids. To them he was an icon of Saturday mornings and a force for
Good on the Silver Screen.
When our heroes like Gene Autry disappeared
from TV and the movies, then the Cap Gun industry was DOOMED!!! It took awhile
to realize it, but finally we noticed that the kids who were playing with Cap
Pistols were getting younger and younger, and companies that made the guns were
making them smaller and smaller, for the younger set were not as discriminating
as the older ones had been.
The next thing you knew, the Cap Gun
companies were going out of business. Now they are antiques and some of us
older folks are wondering, "Why in the world didn't we take more care of those
wonderful toys of yesteryear?"
Several different companies made Gene Autry Cap Guns,
like Kenton, Buzz Henry, Leslie-Henry, Marx and the Keyston Brothers made
holsters. Maybe others...I'm sure you will tell me. And, of course, send me
some wonderful photos!
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TODAY'S FEATURED ITEM
ON THIS WEBSITE!
There are
over 5,000 pages (including those from thumbnails—and the site is still
growing!) on this website that will give you more information plus BIGGER
PHOTOS!
Rare Hubley Cowboy
Classic Set
CLICK ON THIS THUMBNAIL TO GO TO THE
PARENT PAGE FOR THIS ITEM.
(then go find it!) |
| WE HAVE LOTS OF BRANDS OF CAP GUNS BESIDES
JUST NICHOLS ON THIS WEBSITE. |
Here is Gene Autry in the Kenton
Hardware Plant, August 8, 1938 with Monette Whitmore. She is showing him how
the gun was assembled. Bob Bailey now owns the gun in the picture.
Gene Autry and a molder at the Kenton Hardware
Company on August 8, 1938. His grandson, Leonard Shaw, tells me that the molder
in the photo is none other than his granddad, Guy Chamberlin. My guess is that
it was hot in there and Gene didn't stay long.
Photos thanks to Hardin County Museums
and Sondra Bixler
Elliot, daughter of Lewis Bixler, Jr., treasurer of the Kenton Hardware
Company.
CLICK ON PHOTOS TO SEE FULL
PHOTOS
Another photo of the Singing
Cowboy
Thanks to
David Denton of The Antique Cowboy
One of
our many advertisers!
(CLICK ON
PHOTO FOR ANOTHER PHOTO!)
Isn't this a wonderful double holster set
from Ed Manes? Now I know why I seldom see nice holster sets in antique stores.
It's because people like Ed and Steve Arlin have hoarded them all. And the
funny part is that most antique dealers don't even know anything about Cap Guns
and holsters. We have them all over Huntsville, and I have yet to find a store
that has any decent Cap Guns! Amazing! Notice that this set has Gene's name
engraved on the pocket and his picture too! This set must be worth a small
fortune.
Most of you will never see a
display like this one, much less the gun itself. It is a Kenton, as it says,
"MFG. BY KENTON HARDWARE CO., KENTON, OHIO, U.S.A." Remember when the USA
actually used to manufacture things? I'm old enough to remember. Because my dad
and my Uncle Talley actually did! Notice the beautiful grips with no signature
on them.
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Gene Autry Cap
Gun by Leslie-Henry
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Be Sure To Click On The
Thumbnails!
All photos thanks
to David Denton of The Antique Cowboy
One of our
many advertisers! |
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| This is one of the
most valuable Gene Autry Cap Guns that there is! Made by Leslie-Henry around
1950-1960, we all just wish we had been smart enough to buy a few cases!
Beautiful gold finish and high-relief black grips with a horse's head on them.
Truly a wonderful find and if that isn't enough, then there always the box,
which is worth more money than most people's collections these
days! |
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And how's this
for a nice Gold Gene Autry Leslie-Henry Cap Gun and holster? This one is
furnished to us by our friend Scott McCollum of Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of our
advertisers.
See his website:
Cap Gun Treasures
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Gene Autry Cap
Gun by Kenton
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The "Singing Cowboy" probably
had more Cap Guns made for him than any other TV and Western star—except
for Roy Rogers.
Here is a signed example of a gun made by Kenton. You will
notice that this gun was submitted by Mike Sadzo of Belgium. This shows that
the Cap Gun hobby is really an international hobby and has collectors from all
over the world! |
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Be Sure To Click On The
Thumbnails!
All photos thanks
to Mike Sadzo of Belgium! |
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Here's a photo of this nice
Gene Autry Cap Gun in the dark finish with a really nice box, but this one has
the special signed grips.
Photo thanks to our good friend
Jim
Manning, one of our many advertisers.
"The Singing Cowboy" photo
submitted by
Jim Manning of JM Cap Guns & Toys.
Thanks!
(One of our
advertisers!)
Here's a genuine
Gene Autry Hunting knife (made out of rubber).
from Doug
Hamilton
Now here's a mighty nice set
of Leslie-Henry Cap Guns and a fine double holster set!
David Denton of The Antique Cowboy.
Thanks!
(One of our advertisers!)
This is a beautiful and
awesome "Gene Autry" Buscadero Double Holster Set. These Premium sets were
produced during the mid 1950's and cost most of our parents half of a day's
wages to purchase. This set can be seen with Leslie-Henry "Gene Autry" cap guns
in Department Store Christmas Catalogs from the 1950's such as Sears &
Roebuck, Montgomery Ward and Spiegle. This Premium set is one of the fanciest
sets offered at any time during the 1950's and makes a great looking center
piece for any collection.
photos thanks to
Rich
Hall One of our advertisers
Here's a similar set
that has the famous "Flying Al Ranch" logo on it. Again, a couple of
Leslie-Henry guns to top it off.
photos thanks to
Rich
Hall One of our advertisers
Here are 3 different variations of Gene
Autry Rifles. The top 2 are from Leslie-Henry (1955-1960's) and both are cap
shooters. The bottom one is from the 1950's, made by West Hollywood Craft Shop
and it's a pop gun.
Here's some
serious close-up detail of the two cap-firing rifles above. These must be rare
as the Dickens.
The Leslie-Henry MOC on the
left is super rare with the elliptical grip insert. And the Kenton Cap Guns and
boxes on the right are no slouches either! Two of them are fully engraved.
These kinds of boxes get rarer by the day. The slightest thing and you degrade
them. And there's no turning back!
Rare Keyston Gene
Autry holster set. It's all complete and be sure to notice the mint Gene Autry
decals along with a fully-engraved Kenton cast-iron Gene Autry Cap Gun. Notice
the motto on the front of the book? "Keep 'em HAPPY, HEALTHY and BIZZY." Today
it might be, "Keep them on Prozac or Ritalin and give them all of the video
games they whine for."
Here's a close-up of that fine Kenton Cap
Gun.
This shows a rare Gene Autry
pretty blue Keyston holster along with 2 Kenton cast-iron Gene Autry Cap Guns.
NOTE: On the black gun it has the rare Gene Autry name on the grip in a special
position. It's UPSIDE DOWN!!!
Here's a close-up
of the guns and a nickel plated version to show how the grips normally look.
All have their original pearl grips (beauties!) and the bottom one is the last
silver painted version.
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Gene Autry Gun
by Leslie-Henry
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This excellent Cap Gun appears to be what Jim
Schleyer calls the GA-24 in his wonderful book, Backyard Buckaroos.
However, the box doesn't have the same scrollwork as the gun!
I still wish I
had one!
Nice photo thanks to Dan Morphy of Morphy Auctions.
Thanks! |
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Gene Autry Cap
Gun by Kenton
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Kenton made the same gun in
several styles with a few variations here and there.
Here is
another one of that series of guns, submitted by Robert Runge. |
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Be Sure To Click On The
Thumbnails!
All photos thanks
to Robert Runge |
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Leslie-Henry
Gene Autry .44
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Now here's a "Dirty Harry" gun
before there was a "Dirty Harry." (I love Clint Eastwood movies!!!)
A
Leslie-Henry Gene Autry .44.
Actually the .44 was a common size gun, even in the
old days. It just didn't have the serious Smith & Wesson power you are
thinking about. But Leslie-Henry made a fine Cap Gun. |
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Be Sure To Click On The
Thumbnails!
All photos
thanks to Larry & Marilyn Tanneberg. Thanks!!!
Below we have the Singing Cowboy and our
.44 |
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Here's
a nice "Ranch Outfit" boxed, double holster set featuring a pair of the
Leslie-Henry .44 Cap Guns. Gene's horse Champion is on the grips.
Kudos and thanks
to Jim
Manning, one of our advertisers on the Dealers Page!
In his own words, "I
happened to be in Kenton, OH last week on business. Took a picture of this nice
painting of Gene Autry on the side of a building there."
Thanks to Glenn
Marx for this nice photo
It would probably be wise to
save anything having to do with Gene Autry. A good investment!
Thanks to
David Denton, one of our advertisers on the Dealers
Page!
Here's a really nice Gene Autry model
bicycle. It's a 1950 Monark. Pretty fancy.
Photo contributions by Ed
Manes
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| We will be
happy to list toy shows and the like (free), if you will please send them to me
at: . |
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| Should you
have some nice photos and/or some text, please send them to me at:
. |
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