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ORIGINAL BRICK FROM THE COLT FACTORY ARMORY
BUILDING ca. 1867 – AS SHIPPED FROM THE COLT FIREARMS
COMPANY WITH THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTATION AND
PACKAGING: Best described in the 1994 Colt
Firearms Company advertisement:
“When Samuel Colt’s
original Hartford factory fronting the Connecticut River
was almost destroyed by fire in 1864, his widow,
Elizabeth, did not hesitate a day. She
ordered the buildings restored exactly as her husband
had left them.
Early in 1867, work
was finished on the redbrick Armory that would produce
the world’s finest quality revolvers, pistols and
rifles, including “the gun that won the West”, the
legendary Colt Single Action Army; the Colt .45
Automatic….and the Colt M16 Rifle…
Sadly, the magnificent old plant’s firearms
manufacturing days are over. But now you can own a part
of Colt history with the collector’s limited edition
(500 only) Colt Historic Brick which has been preserved
as an artifact from the Huyshope Avenue factory
building.
Each brick bears the serpentine Colt “C”….has been
authenticated by the Colt Custom Gun Shop, and is
mounted on a handsome display base.”
In May of 1994, during the Colt Company’s financial
reorganization, the famous Colt Armory Building in
Hartford was closed and subsequently underwent a
restoration project in an effort to save the building
and it’s historic context in the community. During this
process, these bricks – a total of 500 – were salvaged
to produce these very special mementoes of the Colt
Armory.
This particular brick, Number 24, was recently acquired
from an old collection where it was preserved intact
with all of the documentation, the original shipping
invoice, the Colt Custom Shop adhesive tag, the Colt
Company presentation box with the gold foil Colt Company
logo, and amazingly enough, the original Colt Company
shipping box – this set will represent exactly what you
would have received had you ordered one of these bricks
almost 20 years ago.
The brick, measuring 8 1/8" long by 2 1/4" wide by 3
5/8" high, has the Colt serpentine “C” embossed in one
end, apparently done when these bricks were manufactured
in the 1860’s, and is mounted with a brass plaque
detailing the historical significance of the brick. The
original plastic protective sheet is still in place on
the plaque and in the photographs below, this plastic
sleeve gives the plaque the appearance of having a
frosted finish. The brass is polished bright and has
been protected by the plastic.
One side of the brick still has remnants of the original
cement that held it in place during the building
process.
The number of the brick, Number 24, is matching on the
brass plaque, the shipping invoice, the Colt letter and
the Colt Custom Shop adhesive tag.
As you can imagine, the initial offering of these bricks
did not last long before they were all sold and the Colt
Company no longer has any remaining in stock. While the
other 499 pieces reside in private collections around
the world, I doubt seriously that many have survived as
intact with all of the paperwork and the boxes in which
they were shipped, such as this one has. This is rare
opportunity to acquire a very special Colt collectable
for your collection. $550
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