I was partners with Mike Farrant, Fuzzy's son 15 years ago; he's long since retired. About 7 years ago, I sent Mike an email about the resurgent interest in his family's grips. He gave me the back story on his Grandfather's and then his Dad's nickname and the fact they still had a bunch of exotic wood and all the patterns to make more grips. Unfortunately, the interest isn't there at this time. Interesting story though:
"John, Thanks for the update on dad's grips that are still around. I'll forward your emails to my two brothers who were more involved in the business than I. My grandfather, Henry "Fuzzy" Farrant, started the grip making business with another man named "Hess" in the 1930's. Their grips were made out of cast metal, trying to size them to a drawing of the hand of the shooter ordering. I believe we still have one of these left. My dad Earle "Fuzzy" took the business into wood. All three brothers are writing down what they can remember of Dad and Grandpa; one day we will compare notes and put together some sort of family grip business history. We still have all the templates, and about 15 -20 grips left, but none of us want to get back into the business at this time. My brother Pat worked for the business full time for about 8 to 10 years, the other two of us were just part time. Dad was making grips from the 1940s till the late 1990s, until he got sick.
A couple of funny notes:
My grandfather rescued a person from a mattress warehouse fire in the 1920s, in the downtown area of LA. When he came out of the fire he had all this sticky mattress stuffing all over him, and you know how cops are. So was born the nickname "Fuzzy." One family member speculates this was the origin of the expression police=Fuz, but no one has ever done any real research.
Also, last September my brother Tim, who lives at my dad's house, received a return package from the post office marked "undeliverable." The package contained a pair of grips mailed to a gun shop in Illinois; the date of the original shipment was 1976. Apparently this shipment of grips has been sitting in some post office for 33 years. The grips were great shape.
Stay safe, and thanks for the update on pops grips that are around.
Mike