When we think of thumb cuffs names like Gill, Gale, Tower & Lyon (Wood) and Cushing come to mind. The name Von Frantzius does not. Peter Von Frantzius owned a sporting goods store in Chicago and issued catalogs of his merchandise. He also received a patent in 1964 (3,146,614) for a thumb cuff. The patent was assigned to Sports, Inc., his own store. These cuffs have the trademark ACE stamped on them. Von Frantzius had also patented other items for police use. He received two patents for "pistols", which were single shot devices that looked like fountain pens. The first (1,760,674) was issued on May 27, 1930, and the second (1,775,178) on September 9, 1930. On January 26, 1932 he was issued a patent (1,842,922) for a different design pistol. This one looked like a billy club and was later manufactured to fire tear gas. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Von Frantzius is that he supplied Thompson sub-machine guns to mobsters during prohibition. He was called "The Armourer of Gandland" by Eliot Ness.
Matt, good information for those of us who like the history when we can find it. One name not mentioned is George Cake who made good quality cuffs and thumb cuffs. I have ten thumb cuffs and there are many variations in the markings. The first ones were made in Oakland, CA then Japan. The markings went from script to block lettering. Variations also exist from front (key hole side) to the rear.
His building is still there in Berkeley, CA and last I looked it has not been occupied for quite a while. It is typical of the 1950 or earlier style single story.
Ron
seth.must.die 20 Jun 2020
#3If you are interested in thumb cuffs/thumbcuffs. I just published my book on them. It's mainly a book for magicians and performers but gives an in-depth history of thumb cuffs.
One of the appendices is various thumbcuff patents throughout the years.
The book is called Thumbcuffs: A Compilation. It is 48 pages long with various illustrations, routines, history, and images.
Seth
Ron
I am familiar with Cake though I don't have one of his thumb cuffs in my collection. From what I recall, Cake dealt in police supplies in general. On the East Coast a similar firm was John Jovino, who had a store opposite the NYPD headquarters. He also issued catalogs.
Matt
