To Clear up the "Ruso Cruso issue

H

Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
I have finally located the Mfg on the Cruso. It was a tradename used by Stevens. This could also mean that it was a carry-over from Crescent or Folsom.

HJN
 
Hi, Harley,

Sorry, but I don't think so. Take a look at:

http://www.thckk.org/ovb-hist.html

and you will see that the "Cruso" trademark belonged to Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. from 1902 on. Scroll down and you can even see the rooster with "Cruso" on its side and the trademark indication. I could find no reference to "Ruso" and it appears to have been a misreading of "Cruso"; on an unclear mark the "C" appears to be part of the rooster's tail. While Stevens may have made guns sold under that tradename, the name itself clearly was registered to HSB, not Stevens.

BTW, HSB also used "True Value" as a trademark. They were bought out by a company that uses that as its corporate name, True Value Hardware, and presumably the "Cruso" trademark now also belongs to them.

Jim
 
The issue, I think, is that HSB did not mfg guns, but had someone put their trade name on the guns that were made for them. In SXS's of the World 2K , by Charles Carder, Stevens lists a Cruso, in that era and in all prbability made that gun for HSB. This is speculative on my part, but it would seem to make sense.

HJN
 
Hi, Harley,

Very possible. My point was that Cruso was not a Stevens trademark in the way that "Ideal" or "Crack Shot" were. None of those companies like HSB, Sears & Roebuck, Western Auto, Montgomery Ward ever made anything, but they did own the tradenames used on products made for them. We all know that Marlin made some "J.C. Higgins" guns for Sears, but the "J.C.Higgins" name is not owned by Marlin, while "Glenfield" is.

So Stevens may well have made some guns for HSB using the Cruso tradename, but other companies may also have made guns using that tradename, just as "J.C. Higgins" guns were made by several companies.

Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top