It hasn't been that long ago, some company, "Rio" I think, made some short shotgun shells.
They were 12 gauge and like 1.5" or 2" shells. Low pressure.

Anybody remember who made them?
Are they still making them?
Who carries them?

Several companies still make them. Bird shot , buck shot and i believe slugs too . Only thing is lots of guns wont feed them . My 870 Tac 14 will but the longer barrel hunting 870s that ive tried wont.

Found this, but I don't think it ever said "WHO" manufactures them.
The ones I saw were at Academy, but I dont recall seeing them lately.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/latest-loads-12-ga-2-inch-shotshell/

Last time in my local shop they still had several boxes on the shelf but i didn't pay attention to the maker

Federal shows stock at the link below.

Federal Shorty Shotshells 12 Gauge

https://www.aguilaammo.com/products/12-gauge-minishell-7.5-shot

When/why would these short shells be preferred?

More will fit in the magazine tube. ~3 shorty 1 3/4 "shells in the place of 2 standard 2 3/4" shells.

I dunno?
They made them for some reason! (?)
Maybe for kids that are old enough to shoot a "big boy" gun, but not physically big enough for a "big boy" gun.
If they are just as powerful as standard length ammo, wouldn't the recoil be about the same too?

Maybe for shooting rats in a barn without blowing big holes in the barn walls! 🤷‍♂️

5/8 of shot out of a 12 gauge at 1200FPS means the recoil is a gentle bump to the shoulder. Essentially a .410 load. They will not work most autoloaders. Although a SuperX Model 1 did work with them...but it was far from quick.

The Federal shorty shells are 15/16 oz @ 1145 fps.

Interesting. Still it would be soft recoil compared to most 12 gauge loads. Winchester at one time made a 2 3/4 they called “Feather” which was around 980 fps.

Saw some Federal shorties last night at Walmart. Wondered what they were for

If you have a Mossberg 500 series shotgun, Maverick 88 or Shockwave, get the OPSol® Mini-Clip 2.0 Flex. It's the adapter that's inserted to use the mini shells.

You can fit quite a few more in tubes. That's the biggest reason self-defense more payload in the tube.

My Remington 870’s work fine with them.