Holster, Buck Rogers, XZ-35 Wilma Deering Rocket Pistol

This leather holster was an accessory for a Buck Rogers rocket pistol made by the Daisy Manufacturing Company of Plymouth, Michigan in 1935. It is sized to fit the XZ-35 Rocket Pistol, a smaller version of the original XZ-31 Buck Rogers Rocket Pistol produced in 1934. The XZ-35 was known as the Wilma Deering pistol after the heroine of the Buck Rogers series. The holster originally would have had a loop at the top, which would attach the holster to a leather belt. The holsters were also sold in sets, known as "combat sets," that included the toy gun and a leather belt.

Fictional space heroes often carried space-themed versions of the Western's ever-present six-shooter or rifle. As a result, for several generations, pretend gun play with ray gun toys formed a central part of many children's imagined space adventures. Exactly how one blasted space enemies often reflected the newest technologies. In the late 1940s, "atomic" guns proliferated. "Laser" guns followed the creation of the practical laser in 1960.

The space hero character "Buck Rogers" first appeared as a comic strip in 1929 and generated a large number of toys, including the example shown here.

Michael O'Harro gave this toy gun to the Museum in 1993 as a part of a large collection of Buck Rogers memorabilia and other space science fiction memorabilia.