Need help for story

[Harry]

I currently writing a sort of story set in the thirties in the style of the old pulp horror fiction magazines of the era, Lovecraft, Smith, Howard, etc., set at the moment in the early Spring of 1937. Being a big fan of the era, as we all are, I'm trying to outfit the main characters as accurately and stylishly as I can, whether its clothes, cars, guns, accessories, drinks, and entertainment. At the moment there are three main characters:

Ralph, an expert gunman and FBI special agent acting on a limited salary that he unfortunately spends mostly on firearms and ammunition (he collects high-end Smith & Wessons and Winchesters and the like). He doesn't have much money to spend on suits, but is still very fashion-minded. He's loosely based on combination of real period gunmen, one of whom is Delf Bryce, who was notorious for this. He's a war veteran, an avid shooter and outdoorsman, and knows that if he dresses badly, J. Edgar Hoover would have his badge. I'm giving him a three-piece black suit based off an old photograph of an FBI agent I've got, and I'm probably putting him in a military surplus trench coat as well.

Ian, a very wealthy British gentleman, Oxford graduate, with a penchant for pre-1931 Bentleys, Brough Superior motorcycles, and bespoke British game guns and shooting sports. He's got all the money in the world to spend do to a rather pincely inheritance, and dresses like he wants to make the Prince of Wales look like one of the Marx brothers. Savile Row is like a vacation place for him. I'm going for a tweedy, polo-coat-sporting sort of look.

Jack, Ian's driver/pilot, formerly an Indianapolis racecar driver, WW1 flying ace, barnstormer, and finally cab driver during the depression. He has dreams of owning a Duesenberg, drives any vehicle he can get Ian to pay for, and wears a bomber jacket for nostalgia and utility. I'm going for a tough guy, Cagney-type character with him. He's doesn’t care about what he’s wearing so much as he cares that he’s in a very stylish car.

So supposing you could put yourself into any of these characters and outfit yourself with whatever was available in the period, within reason, any suggestions for brands, styles, materials, that sort of thing? No detail is too intricate, at least to research.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Hi Harry, welcome to the Fedora Lounge!

Unfortunately, I'm on the wrong continent to help much, but I'll provide you with what limited assistance I can.

Luckily, the very highly esteemed FL member Mr Marc Chevalier posted a listing of Golden Era clothiers in the Suits forum back in April. You can read it here:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=7966

Marc's post is the fourth down the page.

I would imagine Ralph's suit would be from one of the ready-to-wear manufacturers, the first seven in Marc's list, while Ian would be more likely to have paid a visit to a custom tailor or a shop like Oviatt's. I imagine Ralph's suit would be basic, perhaps a faint stripe in the material, but Ian would be more for the glen plaids and fleck tweeds, perhaps a beltback drape with pleated patch pockets, a bit more of a peacock.

Hopefully, some of our American counterparts will be able to assist you further. Best of luck with the story, please keep us abreast of its development, there's a lot of us here who'd love to read the finished product!

-Benny

 

[Story]

I can suggest some weapons -

Ralph
His primary sidearm is the .38 Super Match – this pistol is like the Super .38 but had a hand-honed action and match grade barrel. Manufactured between 1935 and 1946, there were both fixed and adjustable sight variants. The .38 Super is the best choice for zipping through the rudimentary body armor of the period, or those heavy car doors. Ralph might have gone for the flashy nickel finish and ivory grips (pearl is for pimps).

You'll have to research it more, but when military surplus 1911s were going for $11-13 the National Match pistols started at $40 and rose quickly. That's like toting a $1,500 pistol around on duty today.

In 1933 Colt started offering a "National Match" pistol from the factory, little more than a slightly tuned 1911A1. They were most likely found in the cabinet of a well-to-do gentleman or the holster of a LE officer who was also an astute gunman. The .38 Super was introduced in 1929 in the famous Colt Government Model 1911 auto pistol. At the time of its introduction the .38 Super was the most powerful auto pistol cartridge in the world. Gordon Liddy remarks on this in the appropriate chapters of his book "WILL".

Ralph's backup? S&W had been making five-shot revolvers in .32 S&W Long (1896) and .38 S&W (1917) on its small I-Frame since the dawn of the hand-ejector era. The snubnose .38 S&W Terrier version introduced in 1936 was wildly popular with plainclothes police.


Ian would eschew revolvers, particularly Webleys, as they're bulky, ungainly and inelegant things. A .25 Baby Browning slips nicely into a pocket without marring the lines of the outfit. For more serious social encounters, a Mauser-made 9mm Luger 1908 parabellum (British-proof marked, of course) does the job. The Lugers were running around 60RM from the factory in 1936, still a heft price before any special finishing.

Jack, being a pilot, knows that a revolver is more suited to his kind of work. An automatic takes two hands to cock and load, which isn't good when it's pretty likely you could break an arm during a crash. And as a driver, you can shoot and keep one hand on the wheel. The World War One surplus Colt or Smith & Wesson .45ACP 1917 revolvers were cheap enough then.

PM me if you have any additional questions.

 

[Harry]

I have the firearms well worked out already, actually.

Ralph carries two Smith & Wesson "Registered" .357 Magnum revolvers, with 3 1/2-inch barrels, King "gold bead on reflector ramp" sights, and custom Kearsarge stocks. They're worn on a pair of SD Myers #666 Threeperson's holsters and he fires a handloaded Phil Sharpe hollow point that he makes himself using a Hensley bullet mold. He doesn't use an automatic for the same reason as the late, great Ed McGivern. He can operate a double-action revolver faster than an automatic can operate itself. Also, and you may already know this, but the Super .38 cartridge of the era was notorious for innacuracy, even in Super Match form, because it headspaced on the rim rather than the case mouth as it does now. It made an excellent combat weapon, but not until recently has it been accepted as a target shooter's arm.

As a long arm, he carries a Winchester Model 71, Deluxe model, often considered by Winchester collectors to be finest lever gun they've ever produced. He also carries a Scagel knife he later picks up at the original Abercrombie & Fitch.

Ian, who frequently shoots at the matches at Bisley, has a Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver, purchased from the Army & Navy store, as well as a Charles Lancaster custom Hoodah pistol on seldom occasion. (perhaps I should have mentioned that men aren't the enemy in this story, but something a little thicker-skinned). As a long arm he weilds a variety of custom Britsh best double-rifles from Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, and Purdey. His most commonly used one is a H&H Royal model in .375 H&H Magnum, engraved as a sort of an easter egg with a famous scene from H.P. Lovercraft's Call of Cthulhu.

Jack's, just like you suggested, is a Colt M1917, but with a King ventilated sight rib, a gold bead front sight, and a white outlined rear sight for better visibility at night.

I'm satisfied with these, for now, so the question really is about clothing. Ralph starts off in a black, pinstriped Sears, Roebuck suit with serious wear inside the lining from the hammers of his revolvers, and Bass shoes. Later, he upgrades, right now to a Brooks Brothers and Aldens, when he starts traveling with Ian in New York. He smokes a Chesterfield that he lights with a Varga-girl decorated Zippo lighter, and he drinks Old Forester bourbon.

Ian wears a bespoke tweed suit made by his tailor on Savile Row, over a sweater vest, with I guess Lobb shoes. He smokes a Dunhill pipe and drinks Hine. He owns a 4 1/2 liter Bentley and a Bough Superior SS-100.

Does this all seem decent enough? When clothers go out of business, they tend to become pretty hard to research with a search engine alone. Does anyone with any vintage literature or actual vintage clothing, or anyone simply better informed than I, have any suggestions?

 

[Eliot]

cars...

Hi friends!

Sorry for opening an old thread, but I have to ask.

Maybe it's interesting for you, but my film project was cancelled. :rage: We've lost our sponsor...

Anyhow, thank you for all your help and support.

Now my question is this. What kind of vintage car would be fit best for a 1930's pulp FBI special agent? Maybe I'm going to write a story, instead of making a movie...

It should be the "ultimate vintage FBI cruiser"...

Many thanks for your answers!

S'long,
Eliot

 

[Story]

1936 Packard 120.
Here's the 1938 brochure
http://www.tocmp.com/brochures/Packard/1938/index.htm

 

[Eliot]

Thank you very much for your reply!

Five or seven passenger sedan?

All best wishes,
Eliot

 

[ledsled]

Ford

I think the answer to your Packard question is to know how many FBI agents would need a ride! If they were going to bust a gang then the more the merrier, or if doing a routine assignment then the smaller model.

Your question about cars reminded me of a History channel documentary on Bonnie and Clyde. I don't know the years they were robbing banks and have not searched for the information... but suspect it was in the mid to late 30's. What I recall is that they used a Ford because the V-8 could run circles around the cop cars. The other reason they used Ford is because it had thicker sheet metal than other cars. It provided them an extra measure of bullet protection! I do not recall the gun that was used to bring them down (a "tommy gun"?), but I think it was fairly new and was able to pierce the metal better than other guns.

 

[Story]

Ledsled,
Good points.
Perhaps you're thinking of the 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (and it's civilian sales models, like the Monitor). The .30-06 rifle rounds tend to ventilate autos pretty good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Automatic_Rifle

 

[carebear]

At (Texas Ranger) Frank Hamer's direction the lawmen were also using the then new Remington Model 8 semi-auto in .35 Remington.

Here's some pictures of Barrow's captured weapons, including some wicked cut-down models as well as the weapons of the lawmen.

http://texashideout.tripod.com/guns.html

If only we could still buy Colt Monitors and Tommy Guns at Sears....

 

[raiderrescuer]

weapons...

Not all weapons are guns.
How about a good lead-weighted Sap and a set of Brass Knuckles or maybe even a fine Italian Switchblade ?