Nichols Industries

Nichols Industries, Inc. was primarily known as the manufacturer of cap pistols.

History

The company was established by the families of brothers Lewis W. Nichols, Jr. and Talley W. Nichols in Pasadena, Texas in 1946. [1][2] The first cap pistol was single-shot "Silver Pony".[1]

In 1950, Lewis decided to became a Methodist minister and sold his share the his brother. Talley incorporates the company the same year. In 1955 the expanded plant moved to Jacksonville, Texas[1]

Mid-1950s was the heyday of cap pistols, due to the fact that most of prime time TV programming was Western films. With the decrease of popularity of Westerns the sales of pistols plunged, and in 1965 the company merged with Kusan, Inc. of Nashville, Tennessee,[3] a plastic injection mold manufacturer, whose significant business was toys. In early 1970,. Bethlehem Steel Corp. bought Kusan, in order to diversify its business into plastics operations.[4]

Collectibles expert Harry L. Rinker notes that Kusan continued to use Nichols dies and many pieces were named "Nichols/Kusan", but eventually the name "Nichols" was discontinued. The website nicholscapguns.com contains histories of various toy cap guns, of Nichols and some other major models.[5]

Nichols Industries also manufactured slingshots and some other toys, including toy cars and trucks.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c A history of Nichols Industries, Inc., In: Cherokee County History, Cherokee County Historical Commission (Tex.) 2001, p. 667
  2. ^ a b Mike Nichols, "About Us"
  3. ^ A history of Nichols Industries, Inc. (part 2), In: Cherokee County History, Cherokee County Historical Commission (Tex.) 2001, p. 668
  4. ^ Bethlehem Review, December 1971
  5. ^ RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1513
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