Somewhere, deep in that gray misty area called my memory I recall an article about an ammo pouch for the .38 Colt Revolver that had a wooden block and with two huge round holes drilled in them for an early version of a speed loader like we see today. Experience tells me that there is nothing new under the sun and some one will always manage to re-invent the wheel, speedloaders not withstanding.
Anyone out there want to clarify this mystery?
I have a .38 pouch Marked RIM and 1909 that has 12 .38 holes for loose cartridges, but I remember seeing one that was marked even earlier that had the two holes for the "speedloaders" as well as six .38 holes for loose cartridges.