The Forum at Handcuffs.Org

RCS Plug 8

14 visible archived posts · 14 preserved total · topic ID 2420

John Hollar 26 Jan 2008

With regard to these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=005

Are these true ones, or just ones made for collectors in the 1950's?

lauher 26 Jan 2008

As I understand it, RCS started making these on a contract for the military during the 1930s. I have a nice marked one from 1941. After the main market may well have been collectors and/or the escape artist trade. Patterson Smith has these listed in his catalog for collectors at that time.

My question is the plating. Does anyone know if RCS sold these cuffs plated?

Joe

joe tanner 26 Jan 2008

JOHN -- JOE & ALL :::: i suppose that i am opening up a can of worms here, but my records tell of a couple of senarios.......

the 1st being that (RCS) RUEBEN CRADDOCK & SONS --- NEVER made any cuffs... they instead just simply marked HIATT etc made cuffs to market under their name...............................

2nd being that PATTERSON SMITH -- MADE THEIR OWN BOER WAR cuffs or had them made as they are somewhat smoother in finish & are move rounded & PLATED them.....................................

3rd that PATTERSON SMITH took the HIATT etc made items, smoothed them down & had them PLATED & sold them...............

HIATT was still making STEEL/IRON cuffs up & into the 1970's or at least the late 1960's.... RCS & PATTERSON SMTIH were doing their thing from ?? 1940's -- late 1960's --early 1970's ? ....

lauher 26 Jan 2008

Joe

I can't agree with you about RCS selling Hiatt cuffs. There simply is no evidence for that. All sorts of evidence that the RCS cuffs were unique. The RCS cuffs of styles are quite different than anything the Hiatt ever made.

On the other hand I could easily believe that Patterson Smith took cuffs and plated or otherwise modified them.

Joe

Unknown / guest 26 Jan 2008

Hi Joe

Sorry, I can't agree with you about RCS selling Hiatt cuffs. There simply is no evidence for that. And there is all sorts of evidence that the RCS cuffs were unique. Some were quite different. The RCS swing through cuff in particular.

The RCS cuffs of styles are quite different than anything the Hiatt ever made. I dont't think RCS made any cuffs after the 1950s. Most of their Darby cuffs were dated and the latest date I have seen s 1956.

On the other hand I could easily believe that Patterson Smith took cuffs and plated or otherwise modified them.

Joe

Stan Willis 26 Jan 2008

Joe:
While I can't say your staements are or are not true, I wonder if R.C.S. never made cuffs, who made the daliesque swing thru cuff marked "R.C.S."? Most of the other RCS cuffs are very similar to Hiatt's, but Hiatt never sold this style of cuff.
Stan

Stan Willis 26 Jan 2008

Maybe someone who knows Mr. Smith could ask him.

joe tanner 26 Jan 2008

HI !! ALL: i will be the 1st person to say that what i have said is only conjecture & it is based on many different letters etc that i have from great people like my father in law ( PRYNCE WHEELER ) -- POP RENO -- DICK NORMAN -- RAY MCKEE -- THE WIZARD -- DICK SMYTH -- FRANK ROSHON & many others..... we will never know for sure on many many theories of who did what & when etc etc..... could the daliesque swing thru cuff be of FRENCH origin ??? who knows.... or could it be the design of PATTERSON SMITH ??? or RCS ???? or IAN's relatives !!! just kidding...... BEFORE IAN - Who made the FISHER & the so called PEERLESS thumbcuffs, the PISTOL GRIP come a long or the HANCOCK handcuffs... just some thoughts for the younger collectors to maybe research.... joe

cuffman69 27 Jan 2008

Hi,

The picture shows the 3 "Boar War plug 8's which I have in my collection.

The top example is marked RCS 1944, 2, and 199. Obviously RCS is the maker 1944 the year 2 probably refers to size and 199 may be the key number.

This pair has a polished finish. Joe L. You asked if anyone new if RCS sold these cuffs plated ? The RCS advert on page 101 of your invaluable book on British cuffs refers to both a polished finish and a Nickel plated finish and that they were available in 3 sizes. I assume that this top pair is the polished version so the plating on the eBay pair may well be correct.

The other two pairs have no makers marks which I find unusual as RCS always seemed to mark their cuffs. Also the domed head on the hinge pin in the top pair is smooth while the lower to pairs are hammered. Unfortunately the image in not so clear but there are also differences in the hinges themselves, however these are only minor. Hiatt and SM&Co also made heavy weight plug 8's so they may be either of these.

The dates on these cuffs have also had me thinking over the last few years. My 1944 pair do not show the Broad Arrow mark used to show Crown property and I cannot truly see why anyone would want such a cuff for operational purposes. In the UK we had Darby cuffs which were much quicker and easier to apply. The plug 8 cuffs are much more difficult to apply to a non compliant detainee.
It's also hard to understand why during war time were these cuffs made at all. All spare manufacturing capacity was used for war time production. For example in the States I believe that Singer Sewing Machines produced 1911 Colt style semi autos and many other companies will have done likewise to help the war effort. This is why I think we see during WW1 companies like SM&Co and SF&Co producing handcuffs then fading into obscurity while WW2 sees RCS, JG and MCI producing more cuffs, than it appears, during any other period. My theory was that Hiatt was put to more important war time production while smaller companies took over the manufacture of more mundane items.

Joe T while I respect your knowledge and background in the cuff collecting world I think RCS did undoubtedly manufactured cuffs for a wide market but ultimately lost out to Hiatts dominance.

Maybe the polished and plated cuffs just had a little extra time spent on them. Polishing alone could account for the smoother edges and better finished and I would imagine that plated cuffs would receive a polishing prior to plating. Cuffs supplied unpolished or unplated or as you may say left in the white or bare metal may account for the rougher examples that turn up.

One day I dream of finding an old box and inside rather than having a nice mint Bean giant it is full of answers to the questions that collecting cuffs raise.

RMP(Mark)

joe tanner 27 Jan 2008

#10

RPM-MARK & ALL::: good thinking, so lets keep it up.... does ANYONE out there have any R.S.C. company advertising ???? i do mean company advertising such as brochures, catalogs, etc & not just LISTS like PATTERSON SMITH, ROSHON, myself & others use to do..... i believe that IF there is, that would really tell us alot..... joe

Franklin 27 Jan 2008

#11

Hi All:

I readily confess virtually no knowledge, let alone any expertise, of these sorts of British cuffs.

But, I would like to suggest one thing to any of you out there who wish to research them.

Do not limit yourself just to patents, trade advertisements and the like. Also, don't restrict yourself just to the folks who applied them, the law enforcement types.

Go talk with some criminals. Try to find the people who were on the receiving end of these items. After all, for every cop out there, with whatever type of cuff used, that one guy used them many, many times on many individuals.

Yes, trying to interview a prison guard from Parkhurst in 1942 will be next to impossible today; but trying to find and interview one of the many incarcerated there at that time might be a more realistic approach, and perhaps more introspective.

After all, if it weren't for those criminals, why have handcuffs? By being cuff collectors, we owe a debt to those criminala; were it not for them, we would have nothing to collect. So, why not find them and talk to them?

In my own experience, quite honestly, I've found ex-convicts to be a much more entertaining bunch to be with than Sunday School teachers, university professors or insurance salesmen. And they're easier to find, being more plentiful; well, other than insurance salesmen.

Franklin

Joe Lauher 27 Jan 2008

#12

Fred Pittella has a nice brochure for RCS cuffs from 1956. The following ad from that brochure is pictured in my British Handcuffs book.

I have an unmarked cuffs that I think is and example of the polished model. The one on eBay must be the plated model. Much more common are the "unfinished" models.

Joe

joe tanner 27 Jan 2008

#13

JOE & FRED :::: thanks for sharing the AD with us..... how many pages & how professionally is the ad done ???? is the AD in with other types of products... IE:: shoes, hats, etc..... joe

Joe Lauher 27 Jan 2008

#14

Joe

I don't rmemeber exactly. It is 4 or maybe 6 pages and all handcuffs. It shows the Darbies, the swing through pattern as well as the plug 8s.

The date is actually 1958 and it has the statement. "Manufacturers of restraint devicesof all kinds form over a quarter of a century."

Joe