Line Snaps - safety straps -how early were they used?

[bedbugbilly]

On page 187 in "Packing Iron", there are two Heiser Mexican loop holsters that have "safety straps" that attach with "line snaps".  The one on the top of the page is dated 1905-1915 and the other one is dated 1920 - 1930.  I've tried Googling "line snap history" and several other search phrases but have not come up with any history on the "line snap", when it was invented and when it became popular.  I'm not really sure what is classified as the "Cowboy years" - I imagine that there are a whole lot of theories and thoughts on that.  Certainly in 1905 and later (even today) there were working ranches - Arizona didn't become a state until 1912, etc. so a holster with a safety strap and line snap would have been very late (I'm guessing?). 

While I don't like the looks of 'em, I've usually put safety straps on some of the other holsters I've made (especially on semi-auto holsters for open and concealed carry).  As careful as a person is, picking up a belt and holster always presents the possibility of the pistol slipping out and doing an "ouch" on the ground or floor - especially a heavier pistol like a Colt or Vaquero, etc.  I sometimes carry on the farm back in Michigan as well and prefer to have a safety strap so I don't have the pistol drop out when I'm getting on equipment, etc.  The next holster I want to make will be a loop with a full skirt.  I'm torn between using a line snap, a Sam Browne "button" or one of the brass "acorn" studs such as was used on Civil War cartridge boxes, holsters, etc. for fastening the safety strap. Can some of you shed some documented light on the history of the line snap and when it was used as well as your thoughts on "safety straps"?  I have used a leather thong through two holes in the holster top in front of the hammer that will go over the hammer and can be pulled down tight but it's never been a varorite of mine.  Many thanks for whatever suggestions and info you can provide and share.   

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

 All I can tell you is, Line Snaps were invented in 1886, by a German, in Germany, I don't have the paper work, but I remember reading this and it was true, heck if I kept documentation on everything, I'd have to have another whole  building.


                      tEN wOLVES  

[bedbugbilly]

Thanks Ten Wolves -  that tells me a whole lot more than I knew before!  I know what you mean on the "documentation" - I have files and files filled with almost 50 years worth - much to my wife's dismay!      I was thinking that I've seen line snaps on items produced in the late 1800's but I've seen a lot of things in my collecting over the years and unfortunately, I can't recall what I saw them on other than they were non gun related.  If they were invented in that year, then I am guessing it would not be out of line to use them on a holster that would have been around int he 1809's?  The two holsters in "Packing Iron" show the safety straps over the back of the triggerguard and covering the trigger cut-out.  I'm thinking of puting a slot in the back of the holster pouch and running the strap over the frame behind the hammer.  The strap would be "captured" in the slot - i'e. the end "flared" to prevent it from pulling out but yet when it is unsnapped, it could be "slid" down in the slot and would be inside the belt loop out of the way.  When I make it, I'll post photos of what I'm doing.  I'll stick to a plain snap - probably brass plated - if nothing more, if someone comments on it I can always reply - "If they had had 'em, they'd have used 'em".   

I try to examine old holsters when I see them but I really haven't run across any originals that date back to the late 1800's with safety straps.  The last two years I've had a chance to see some nice originals at the Tucson Old West Round Up in January.  I'm going to take a camera this year and ask permission to take photos if possible.  Maybe I haven't been lucky enough to run across any with safety straps but I can't believe that some of the cowpokes didn't utilize some sort of safety strap to keep from losing their pistol when riding and working.   Or am I just too anal on this??? 

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

     bedbugbilly, I think you mean 1909, the article I remember reading, stated that although the snap was invented in Germany in 1886, it wasn't seen in the US until the mid to late eighteen hundreds, so I would think it wouldn't have taken long for gun leather company's to figure out how to use/apply those snaps, IMHO
    There is nothing wrong with wanting to be authentic and as period as possible, and thankfully to all the great books available to us, we can get very close if not right on with a lot of these items.

                                   Good luck with this holster pard, and be sure to post a picture when finished.

                                                    tEN wOLVES 

[bedbugbilly]

Ten Wolves - as usual, my fingers typed faster than my brain!     Actually, instead of "1809s like I typed, it should have read "1890s".  If they were invented in Germany in the late 1880s - I'm guessing their use here for various applications would have starting to have been seen in the 1890s?    As I thought about what I had seen them on, I realized that one of the things was my great grandfathers 'money belt".  He was born in Ireland in 1830 and died in Michigan in 1917.  It is made of very soft buckskin colored leather of what appears to be possibly "lambskin" that is a buckskin color.  It almost looks like braintanned buckskin but the texture is almost the same as my lambskin Masonic apron.  It has about three pockets and a cloth "tape" attached that went around the waist and fed through a gripper buckle that allowed it to be tightened.  If I remember correctly, each of the pocket covers has a "line snap" fastener measuring about 5/16" in diameter.  I'm in AZ for the winter and it resides in my safe at home in MI so I cant take a photo of it to post.  From several property tax receipts that were in it, I'm guessing that it dates to the eaqrly to mid 1890s as the receipts were dated in the mid 1890s, but that is conjecture on my part as they could have been placed in the pockets at a later date.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

      That sounds about right bedbugbilly, I would believe line snaps would have been seen in the states by the 1890's, you're lucky to have a piece like that, that's one to pass down for sure.

     tEN wOLVES