Page 174 - 4095-BOOK2

172
LOT 1171
Attractive and Historic Pair of Wilbur
Glahn Factory Engraved Colt Police
Positive Double Action Revolvers
Attributed to Controversial Los
Angeles Detective and San Diego
Chief of Police Harry J. Raymond
with Factory Monogrammed Pearl
Grips, Holsters, Factory Letters,
and Book -A) Colt Police Positive
Revolver - Serial no. 175275, 38 S&W
cal., 5 inch round bbl., nickel finish, pearl
grips. Manufactured in 1928, this matching pair
of factory engraved Colt Police Positive revolvers are an incredibly
attractive example of the work of Colt factory Master Engraver Wilbur Glahn, and also represent two
of a very limited number of factory engraved Police Positives. R.L Wilson notes on p. 592 of “The Colt Engraving
Book Vol. II” that of the total Police Positive production between 1904 and 1943, only approximately 170 specimens were
factory engraved, making these examples very scarce, and quite possibly the only matching pair. An included factory letter
for each revolver essentially lists them the same apart from the serial numbers, confirming .38 caliber, 5 inch barrels, nickel
finish, factory engraving,
and pearl grips with
monogram “HP” in blue
enamel (a factory
notation error as
the grips bear “HR”
monograms). Both
revolvers are also
listed as shipped to
Harry Raymond on 8 October 1928, in
order number 15479/2 as a two gun
shipment, with no address listed.
Though unconfirmed, the recipient
of the revolvers listed in the factory
letters is believed to be Harry J.
Raymond of Los Angeles and San
Diego, California, a colorful detective
and chief of police during the Great
Depression and Prohibition Era.
The revolvers feature about 50% coverage, beautifully executed, factory
floral scroll engraving, which is undoubtedly the work of Master Engraver Wilbur Glahn. There are
flourishes of scroll on all of the major components of each revolver and the patterns are clearly illustrating that they
were intended as a pair, despite the distance between the two serial numbers. The tops of the barrels are marked with the
standard two-line address and patent dates, while the left sides have the model and caliber markings. The left side of the
frames are stamped with the Rampant Colt surrounded by scrollwork. The matching serial numbers of each are marked on
the frames and cranes. They are fitted with blade front sights, frame-top groove rear sights, and the very attractive, factory
documented pearl grips, with all four panels having a carved, circled “HR” monogram filled with dark enamel at the bottoms. Each of the
revolvers includes a matching, attractively tooled, leather holster with Heiser marked snaps on the retention straps, and the back sides having
a “VL.&D.” marking featuring a duck, as well as “38 PP 5””.
Harry J. Raymond is a law enforcement character, like many during the Prohibition Era, that is hard to define, with many sources indicating that,
at times, he used unconventional methods in the pursuit of organized crime, corruption, and vice. Raymond arrived in Los Angeles in 1909 with his wife,
younger brother, and widowed mother, where he immediately began working as a private investigator, helping to make his first big arrest in 1912 involving allegations
against the L.A. city prosecutor, Guy Eddie. The L.A.P.D. investigator assisting Raymond in this case was F.W. Loyd, who was himself arrested later that year on charges of
extortion. By late 1914 or early 1915, Raymond was working directly with the L.A.P.D. as a special investigator. In November of 1917, he was abruptly made chief of police
for Venice, which was not yet an incorporated part of Los Angeles, a position that was shortly after made permanent.