In business from the 1840s until the mid 1950s, J.&E. Stevens Company of Cromwell, Connecticut was first a maker of cast iron hardware before it began to manufacture toys. Eventually, Stevens produced a full line of cast iron toys including banks, trucks, horses and wagons, and the company was particularly well known for its toy cap guns

Stevens first cast iron cap gun was probably the "J.E.&S.&Co." pea, pellet and cap shooter made in 1868. By the 1880s Stevens was producing many cast iron pistols like the "Buffalo Bill," "Bulls Eye," and "Challenge," solid

ly cast, single-shot creations that both reflected and help create the developing myth of the American West. After the turn of the century, Stevens introduced numerous new single shot cap pistols as well as producing newer cap repeating guns. Some of the most memorable guns from this period include the "Cowboy King," "Sheriff," and "Peacemaker." The making of such cast iron guns continued as late as the early 1950s when Stevens, along with other toy companies, was forced to shift its production from cast iron to die cast. By this time, Stevens was also in financial difficulties, and in the mid 1950s Stevens went out of business.

Stevens produced four space guns in the early 1950s, as the company was experimenting with the production of die cast cap guns. Part of an attempt to stave off financial ruin, the guns were calculated to appeal to the interest in space toys which eclipsed, for a time in the 1950s, the popularity of cowboy items. Ultimately this attempt failed, as Stevens collapsed before its final space gun, the Cosmic Ray, could be marketed. All of the Stevens space guns are somewhat rough cast. They are covered with a shiny silver paint-like surface which is easily chipped and flaked.

The Jet Jr is the smallest, and today the most commonly found, Stevens space gun. 6 1/2 inches long, the gun is loaded by swinging forward a side plate on the gun's handle. Featuring two fins at the back of the gun, six rings across the top of the barrel, and a trumpet-shaped cone at the front, the gun appears larger and more imposing than its diminuitive size would warrant. Of all the Stevens guns, this one is the most likely to be found MIB.

Larger than the Jet Jr by an inch, the Neutrol Blaster utilizes the same cap loading mechanism as the Atomic Jet and Cosmic Ray. Pulling up on the large rear site of the gun exposes the cap chamber and trigger assembly which are attached to the site. Like the other Stevens space guns, the Neutron Blaster is marked with a large S on the side of the handle, and it utilizes a racy looking design scheme emphasizing horizontal grooves on the gun's body, three vettical rings at the end of the barrel, and a forward swept front site.

The rarest and most spectacular of the Stevens' guns is the Cosmic Ray. Scheduled for production in the mid 1950s, when the company was in its last days of operation, this gun was never never actually marketed. As far as is known, only two examples of this gun were made, and after the demise of the company they were kept by members of the the family. The largest of the Stevens guns, the Cosmic Ray is eleven inches in length. Both a cap-shooter and a flashlite gun, the toy contains a large battery compartment at the end of the body, and when the trigger is pulled a cap is fired and a light flashes through the ruby-red portal on the side of the gun's barrel. The Cosmic Ray is a design masterpiece. With the Hubley Atomic Disintegrator, it stands at the apex of toy raygun design.