Where did those names come from?

[Professor Marvel]

Since the question was asked on another forum in which I occasionally participate, I thought I would share my little babblings here as well:

Q: How did the Colt 1873 single-action Army revolver come to be called the Peacemaker?

Funny you should ask -
I was reading about this very thing in the Fall 2010 issue of "Guns of the Old West"

in the article by Bob "Jayhawker" Argenbright titled "1892 Colt SAA .45 LC" he writes about the "Colt Allies"

paraphrasing his article -
the "Colt Allies" was a consortium of 5 very large retailers that became Colt's 5 Major Distributors. The Colt Allies received special pricing and in return produced all of Colt's major adverting at no cost to Colt. Large deliveries of Colt firearms were delivered directly to these "Allies" who then sold and delivered them to retailers all over the country.

Apparently the names Peacemaker (for the 1873 SAA) ,  Rainmaker (.32 1877 DA), Lightning (.38 1877 DA),  Thunderer (.41 1877 DA),  and Omnipotent ( .45 1878 D.A. in), etc were names given to Colt guns by the Colt Allies in their adverts.

I found the following here http://rock-island-auction.ammoland.com/3670.html about the Omnipotent:

""OMNIPOTENT" designation was created by Benjamin Kittredge of Cincinnati, Ohio who had Colt apply the marking to .45 caliber Model 1878 revolvers sold by his firm. The "Omnipotent" etched panel deserves distinction as the only non-caliber marking ever etched on any Colt model other than the famous "Colt Frontier Six Shooter" which referred to the 44-40 caliber.Colt shipped .45 caliber Model 1878 DA revolvers with "OMNIPOTENT" markings to Kittredge from August 1878-May 1882 and this revolver was in the first of 5 nickel plated revolvers shipped to Kittredge in August of 1878. An estimated 154 Model 1878 DA .45 caliber revolvers were manufactured with these unique markings. Surviving "OMNIPOTENT" marked Model 1878 revolvers are rare and very desirable. The acid-etched "OMNIPOTENT" marking is in an oval panel on the left side of the barrel"

It seems Kittredge was responsible for other terms as well.

The "allies" apparently disbanded sometime around 1880. After that many of the major hardware stores purchased firearms directly from Colt then resold to smaller stores.

an internet search finds they were
Schuyler, Hartley and Graham, New York
H & D Folsum, New York
J.P. Moore's & Sons, New York
Spies & Kissam, New York
B. Kittredge & Company, Cincinnati

yhs
prof marvel

[Major 2]

Professor
here is abit more irony...

Benjamin Kittredge & Co of Cincinnati, Ohio was a merchant who was the principal agent for the Frank Wesson rifle, a breachloading metallic cartridge firing competitor to the Henry Rifle.  Apparantly Kittredge had an agreement with Bennett to manufacture and sell Cartridge Boxes produced under the Bennett Patents as an accessory to the Wesson rifle.  Since Kittredge's name is stamped on the box, Bennett's name was lost to history.  The 44 Henry cartridge, also metallic, was also adaptable to the Kittredge Box and was used as an accessory to the Henry Rifle.  The irony in the latter association, as noted in Wiley Sword's book, is the fact that Oliver Winchester, principal stockholder in the New Haven Arms Company that produced the Henry Rifle, refused to sell Henrys to Kittredge because of his promotion of  the Wesson Rifle.