[5150]

A buddy of mine gave me a January 1940 edition of Crime Detective. An article in it had a pic of what looks like a .38 cal. revolver that was used in a San Francisco bank robbery in November 1936. I have never seen one like this b4 and was wondering if anyone knows what it is?
On a side note, the article stated that the robber's mask was a paper bag with holes cut out for the eyes and mouth. Kinda reminds me of The Unknown Comic from the '80s.

Sent from my Commodore 64 running Windoze 95

 

[Digger]

Looks like an H&R where you pull the center pin to remove the cylinder for reloading. Never caught on for some (obvious) reason.

 

[BDM1]

Interesting old gun for sure, i like snubbies (2" barrels). They always remind me of old detective stories and movies. Not to derail your post, but maybe you or someone could answer this: why did most robbers and other assorted criminals wear suits and ties, they usually did in the movies and early tv shows. Entertaining stuff!

 

[BlackBat242]

Because at that time, every male who didn't work "blue-collar" wore a suit&tie for work and going to the store etc... and those "blue-collar" types usually cleaned up and put on a suit if they were going anywhere other than to the neighborhood grocery or hardware store.

The criminals wanted to blend in with the majority of citizens - makes it harder to remember what they looked like, or to pick them out of a crowd of other suit-wearers!

 

[Adirondacker]

Never caught on for some (obvious) reason.

Actually, this H&R model (The American) must have caught on pretty well among those who couldn't afford a S&W, since many thousands are still around. In a real-life self-defense situation, it's very unlikely you'll have time to reload anyway (despite what you see in the "tactical" videos!), so pulling the cylinder pin is not the disadvantage it might seem. Here's mine:

 

[Adirondacker]

Because at that time, every male who didn't work "blue-collar" wore a suit&tie for work and going to the store etc... and those "blue-collar" types usually cleaned up and put on a suit if they were going anywhere other than to the neighborhood grocery or hardware store.

Absolutely right! Countless movies made from the '20s through the '40s featured blue-collar characters--factory workers, mechanics, even farmers--who ALWAYS "dressed up" when out on the town. Except they wouldn't really have considered it "dressing up," because suit & tie were simply considered normal men's wear when not on their jobs. Lots of movies of that time showed scenes at movie theaters, circuses, fairs, prize-fights, horse-races, etc., & virtually every man there will be wearing a suit or at least a tie. And this wasn't just "in the movies," as newsreels show the same thing.