Stephenson L20

[Skulldigger]

Never heard of Stephenson until today. Just picked up this Stephenson L20 that has seen very little use. Tag is faded as most tags are, but the light is in nearly mint condition. Dome has some dust and what looks like possibly some paint overspray on the top, probably from sitting in someone's shop. Obviously, a rebranded Signal Stat 370, it was assembled around May 28, 1971 as the motor is stamped. Still has the gasket and mounting bolts in place. I see Stephenson was a part of Smith & Wesson, why the separate name? The rebrand is interesting. Didn't S&W make some of their other lights? The L-ll and the 436 beacons do not appear anywhere else as far as I know.

 

[stansdds]

To my knowledge, S&W never made their own warning lights or sirens. They made firearms and under the ownership of Bangor Punta, they expanded their law enforcement equipment line to include lots of items including vehicle warning equipment. The Stephenson line of beacons and sirens are rebranded Signal Stat products. As to why the use of the Stephenson name, I don't know, my guess is that it might have been some legal matter.

 

[Night Patrolman]

Because of the dome shape and the shape of the base, this looks like a rebranded Signal-Stat beacon.

 

[stansdds]

Because of the dome shape and the shape of the base, this looks like a rebranded Signal-Stat beacon.

That is exactly what it is, a rebranded Signal Stat 370. The Stevenson L-24 was a rebranded Signal Stat 374.

 

[Wailer]

To my knowledge, S&W never made their own warning lights or sirens.

Someone told me that the old Magnum series sirens were made by Carson. I have a Magnum IV, and I've seen versions with Stephenson, Dietz, Cat's Eye, and Signal Stat labels. I just call them Smith & Wesson sirens because the Smith & Wesson labels seem to be more common.

 

[Skulldigger]

@stansdds Who made the S&W L-11 Pancakes? The closest is the SVP, but the S&W is definitely nicer made lights.

 

[stansdds]

@stansdds Who made the S&W L-11 Pancakes? The closest is the SVP, but the S&W is definitely nicer made lights.

I do not know what company actually manufactured the L-11 pancake light. I do not have one in my collection nor have I investigated the origins or lineage of that particular light.

 

[Mars Light]

Very nice beacon and absolut interesting background details. Never heard about a Stephenson light.

 

[stansdds]

Very nice beacon and absolut interesting background details. Never heard about a Stephenson light.

The Stephenson brand was available in the 1970's, but I think by 1980 the S&W brand was being put on everything sold by S&W.

 

[Skulldigger]

I did some research and put together brief history of Banger Punta, S&W and Stephenson, that will explain these lights and branding. I suspect that lights branded S&W, that we know of no other rebranding, was manufactured by Stephenson while others were rebranded.

Banger Punta was created in 1964 by the merger of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroads with the Punta Alegre Sugar Corporation after it was forced out of Cuba by Castro. The company produced textile, jewelry, heavy machinery and Starcraft boats. They purchased Smith & Wesson in 1965 by buying up all of the stock. Stephenson Co. was founded in 1946 and was a medical electronics company. They mainly built resuscitators, traffic radars and breathalyzers. Bangor Punta purchased Stephenson Co., in 1967. It was to work with the S&W law enforcement division. Punta also purchased General Ordinance who held the patent for chemical mace. The Stephenson branding changed to S&W in 1971. The Banger Punta Corp continued to grow and owns quite a bit of products including flare guns, Heating equipment, incinerators, sewage equipment and disposal, can handling machinery, refrigeration and air conditioning just to name a few.

 

[stansdds]

I did not know the whole history of Bangor Punta, I did know they bought out S&W in 1965. Yep, Stephenson labeled lights and sirens did appear in 1971 catalogs, so that was likely the last year for "Stephenson" branded lights and sirens.

 

[dmathieu]

Nice work, and great info guys!!!!!

 

[NPS Ranger]

I'm happy to say that my first S&W purchased new came in a blue box saying "A Bangor Punta Company," which many firearms folks thought was a period of downgrade in the quality. I always liked mine however. And they also issued us one of those awful GOEC Chemical Mace plastic dispensers. Never ran across a Stephenson light, though. Nice find!

 

[stansdds]

I'm happy to say that my first S&W purchased new came in a blue box saying "A Bangor Punta Company," which many firearms folks thought was a period of downgrade in the quality. I always liked mine however. And they also issued us one of those awful GOEC Chemical Mace plastic dispensers. Never ran across a Stephenson light, though. Nice find!

I don't want to get off topic, but for those who thought the Bango Punta era production was a downgrade in quality (and in the 1980's and through the Tompkins LLC era it was) have not seen some of the poor quality items hitting dealer's shelves in the past couple of years.