dalbert Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 All, I'm curious what comments board members may have about the Thompson cases pictured below. Both cases are uncommon varieties, and both currently house Colt Thompsons. Case #1: http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/Thompson_Pictures/Case_Web.JPG Case #2: http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/Thompson_Pictures/Case2_Web.JPG I have the answers, and will post them later in the week... David Albert dalbert@sturmgewehr.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Ploughboy Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 David, The first one looks like my daughter's alto saxophone case. Please return it. She needs it for band next week when spring break is over. IIRC, without looking it up the second one looks like the type of case E.E. Richardson made for transporting Thompsons on his sales runs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Fliegenheimer Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 Homemade cases that owners have adapted, some more successfully than others, to fit their TSMG's have turned up for the last fifty+ years. At least the lid on top one won't fall over backward when removing the TSMG from the case. The bottom one is identical to an artist's case looking like an Indiana case, and the top one probably started out as any luggage type case that never needed a provision for a lock and key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giantpanda4 Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 Before I read the previous post my thoughts were alto sax as well! There were many different instrument cases that could have been stripped and used. My thoughts on the lower one were a GI handmade one similar to one Z3 bought about a year ago from a Brit. His looked nicer.... picture Z3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Mills Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 Not to go off-topic on this one, but the pics of the St. Valentine's guns that were taken at the Berrien County Sheriff's Office show a trombone case near the rack of weapons! I know trombone pickers don't get a lot of work http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/wink.gif but I wonder what was in that case when they confiscated it. That case #1 is pretty cool. I can't hazard a guess as to its origin, and look forward to DA's revealing (and the Oscar goes to...) later in the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1921 Gangsta Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 The bottom case looks like a Indiana but without the fancy velvet and contoured wood to hold the gun secure. Top looks like a very old vintage Sax case like other members have said. Are these actual "factory" production Colt Thompson cases or historically significant gangster cases? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 QUOTE What Kind Of Cases Are These? Expensive and more expensive.... http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/laugh.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Mills Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Phil, I didn't know you were a horn picker! I don't think even a soprano would fit in #1 correctly. OK the suspense is building, DA. Kinda brings to mind how many different cases were made up in the early days of the Thompson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalbert Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 All, Merry Ploughboy, I believe you were the quickest and closest to the correct answers for both cases. I appreciate everyone's interest in them, and know they are quite a bit different than what is normally encountered, so that's why I posted them. The first case is a tenor saxophone case that was modified by the owner about 35 years ago to accomodate the '21A that resides within. It's a pretty cool case, and had a lot of work put into it. The case had room for an M1911, so that was added for fun. It has a compartment for parts underneath the TSMG. http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/Thompson_Pictures/Case_Web.JPG I said I had the the details for both cases, but my answer for the second case may not be what most will call definitive. I have been told this case is either an Alabama case, or an Indiana case, and is closer in design to the latter. The existing records and passed down historical accounts for this case and gun indicate the Colt was shipped to the PD that owns it in the case in 1928, and that is where it has remained since. http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/Thompson_Pictures/Case2_Web.JPG David Albert dalbert@sturmgewehr.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1921 Gangsta Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Does the Indiana style case pre date the FBI & Police style cases? 1928 seems real early , i thought all styles of the cases were not made before the 1930s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1921A Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 David: The second case more closely resembles the Alabama prison cases. They were made to hold the gun with the butt stock attached. One of the board members has one. Maybe he will post a picture. My guess is that it's a homemade plywood box that just happened to end up holding a Thompson. I've found several homemade boxes holding Colt Thompsons in PDs. Usually they are quite crude and falling apart. All the Indiana cases I've seen looked like an oversized briefcase. They were almost identical with the exception of the brass corners and handles. Greg Fox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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