Advertisements, Letterheads and Instructions

From Ethan Allen's own business, his retail agents and his partners

This page presents a collection of advertisements, letterheads, and instruction sheets. Surviving documents of this kind are extremely rare. Most of the images have been sourced from books* and discovered online.

If you have an image not featured here and would like to share it for possible inclusion on this page, I would greatly appreciate it if you contacted me through the contact form.

Content:

Advertisements

Ethan Allen distributed his firearms largely through an extensive network of retail agents. As a result, many of the advertisements and letterheads from the time feature the names of these agents. The principal retailers were J.G. Bolen and A.W. Spies & Co., but others included W. Read & Sons, Warren & Steele, P. Lovell, and Hide & Goodrich, among many more.

In addition to these retail agents, William H. Onion—son of Clarissa Allen (Ethan Allen’s sister) and her husband Leonard Onion—co-founded an importing firm with Thomas Wheelock in 1850. Their business, Onion & Wheelock, was originally located at 99 Maiden Lane in New York City. Around 1860, the firm moved to 366 Broadway, where it remained until Wheelock’s death in 1864.

Following Wheelock’s passing, Onion formed several new partnerships to continue operations: Onion, Bliss & Co. (1864–1866), Onion, Haigh & Cornwall (1867–1874), and finally Onion & Cornwall (1874–1878).

Advertisement from J.G. Bolen featuring the Grafton shieldless pepperbox
Same, but printed on blue paper. These labels were typically glued to the inside lid of cased pepperboxes. J.G. Bolen was one of Ethan Allen’s primary distributors during the 1840s and 1850s.
Advertisement from A.W. Spies, one of the leading resellers of Allen’s pepperboxes and single-shot pistols during the 1850s.
Three advertisements of Onion & Wheelock. The last one from a slighly later date since it references Allen & Thurber & Co
A rare add from Allen around 1855 , boasting new capabilities and features of his arms
Ethan Allen must have been very proud of his revolver claiming in this advertisement that the arm is unsurpassed for simplicity, strength, power of penetration and accuracy of shooting.
Advertisement for the Allen sidehammer 22rf revolver from around 1858 showing the first model of the revolver
An advertisement from Onion, Haigh & Cornwall for Allen's breech loading fifles
From the illustrated catalog of arms and military goods - Schuyler Hartley & Graham - New York - 1864 (page 140)
Add from E.Bowen in the Chicago Tribune of Jan 26th 1864
Advertisement from the early 1860's for Allen's patent drop breech rifle
Catalog entry of Allen's drop breech rifle from the E. Allen & Co era
Advertisement for the breechloading shotgun from the Ethan Allen & Co era around 1870

Letterheads

Letterhead of retail agent Warren and Steele dated 1847
Another letterhead of retail agent Warren and Steele dated 1847
Letterhead of retail agent J.P. Lovell dated 1869
Letterhead E. Allen & Co dated 1866.
Letterhead of retail agent W. Read & Sons dated 1866
Letterhead of Forehand & Wadsworth successors of E. Allen & Co dated 1875
Letterhead of Onion, Haigh & Cornwall dated 1873
Letterhead of Onion, Haigh & Cornwall dated 1874

Instructions

Instructions for Allen & Wheelock Sidehammer Percussion revolver showing the Belt model of the revolver
Instructions for the Allen & Wheelock Sidehammer 22rf revolver from around 1859 showing the first model of the revolver

*Sources:

(1) Ethan Allen and Allen & Wheelock, Their guns and their legacy – Paul Henry (2) Ethan Allen, Gunmaker: His Partners, Patents & Firearms – Harold R. Mouillesseaux