Old-fashioned Belt Buckles

[Cooleemee Edd]

The buckles I refer to are the type that are sometimes seen in Civil War and earlier times. They didn't have the regular square buckle with the tongue that goes through round holes, but was a belt that had "keepers" and a metal fastener that the buckle hooked into. I have several varities of such buckles.

- The oldest is a Napolenonic Wars "Snake Buckle," that has keepers, and a "hook and eye" buckle. The "Snake" acts as the hook.

- The second is a big brass belt buckle from the Union Pacific Railroad. I have been told that it is an original; however I've also seen copies of it more recently. I bought it about 30 years ago and it still had faint traces of enamel on it. Anyway it has a flat, elongated hook on the back of it. When I gave it to my father years ago, he had a belt made for it that had slots punched into it for holes. It wasn't until I got into Civil War reenacting that I discovered for myself that these old belts had metal keepers and metal belt-ends that the buckle hooked into.These buckles are usually brass stampings that are lead-filled.

- More recently I've come across old Soviet military belt buckles, also solid brass. When I find the entire belts, no matter what the condition of the leather, I buy them if the price is right. I don't care for the "hammer and sickle" very much, but not all of them have this emblem. I have several navy models that have a simple anchor on them and these are very attractive. I think that you could grind and polish the hammer and sickle off of those that have them.

- I've also seen modern police gunbelts that have a fake regular buckle and have the keeper and hook system for getting the belt on and off quickly.

At any rate, I was thinking that this style of buckle would be attractive and distinctive. Have any of you used this type of buckle on a gunbelt?  If so, I'd like to see some photos of how this looks. When I get home, I intend to try this myself and see what comes about.

[Trailrider]

There are a bunch of belt plates that fasten similar to this.  Tim Parsley of Art Brass (www.civilwarbuckles.com) makes a bunch!  Check them out!