Important Archive--Diamond Taxicab Company, ANTI-AIRCRAFT, ANTI-TANK , RAPID-FIRE GUNS, etc.,

Driggs, Louis L.; James G. Blaine; Nathan Lazarnick.

[BIG GUNS & AUTOMOBILES]. Archive: U.S. ordnance and munitions Manufacturer, plans, patents, blue prints, etc., c. 1880's-1930's

Business archive for Louis L. Driggs and The Driggs Ordnance Company, c. 1889-1935. The Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Company was founded in 1897 by William H. Driggs and Samuel Seabury, both U.S. Navy offices, and Louis Labadie "L. L." Driggs, becoming a significant supplier to the U. S. War Department during the First World War and through the 1920's. This lot offers source material for assessing Driggs' contributions to the munitions trade, particularly early anti-aircraft guns, both land and shipboard types, including its attempts to secure foreign markets in postwar Poland and other nations; folded into the archive is a file of photographs and ephemera relating to its ill-fated entry into the automobile market. A select contents list follows-- please feel free to request images or other information if needed.

[AUTOGRAPH] James G. Blaine, as Secretary of State of the United States of America...1889. 1-page official document signed, Dec. 31, 1889, certifying a document seal, attached by green and red ribbons to witness certificates by the British Secretary, H. E. Edwards, and a Dept. of Justice official. Folded, transfer stain on cover sheet; edgewear to Blain's page.

[AUTOMOBILE]. Promotional broadside (flier reprinting as from MoToR, June, 1922, and 9 large format original photographs of The Driggs Touring Car, including 2 by Nathan Lazarnick, 1879-1955, a pioneer photographer of the development of early automobiles and racing from the early 1900s to the late 1920s. (Wikipedia) Also, a smaller photograph of the Driggs Taxicab, and a newspaper clipping announcing the "New Driggs Car on Market Soon" 1921. Lot also includes a rare 4 p. prospectus for the Diamond Taxicab Company, Inc., which dissolved a contract for Driggs engines after the manufacturer began marketing its own line of cabs, effectively sending Driggs into receivership by 1925.

The Driggs-Schroeder System of Rapid-Fire Guns. Its Mechanical and Technical Superiority. Issued by the Driggs Ordnance Company. Washington: Gibson Bros., Printers and Bookkeepers, 1889. 18 pp., printed wrappers; stapled.

Driggs-Schroeder Guns for The National Guard and The Naval Reserve. Press of the Friedenwald Co., Balto. (no date); 6 pp. (only) loose, illustrated.

File containing over a dozen stapled or clipped typed, mimeo & carbon copy inhouse reports, approx. 85 pages, on various Driggs weapon systems, c. 1930s (?) -- "Driggs Dual Purpose 75 M/M Gun Panoramic Sight Type G-2 (with 2 photographic images of schematics)"; "Driggs Light 3" Naval Anti-Aircraft Gun"; "Driggs Breech Mechanism for Semi-Automatic Guns"; "Driggs 37 m/m Anti-Tank or Universal Gun"; "Driggs Mortar Howitzer"; "Practice Bombs"; etc. Some loose sheets.

[WWI] Carbon copy of 4 p. letter, addressed, "Dear Mr. Cummings" & dated Dec. 285, 1920. Letter gives a detailed, first-hand "bried history of the inception of the design" to support Driggs' claim. -- "My claim against the War Department arose through the use by the War Department of the designs for the 3" gun which are owned by this company. The designs were used on three types of guns: 1. The High Powered 50 Cal. Anti-Aircraft Gun; 2. The 3" smaller Anti-Aircraft Gun on Automobile Mount; 3. The Field Gun."

U.S. Patent Office. Patent No. 996,569. June 27, 1911. "Semi-Automatic Gun." Signed & sealed official copy, issued Dec. 30, 1924. Other patent documents.

Blueprint: 473. Driggs Percussion Fuse/ Model of May 1917; with smaller handwritten note with drawings, signed by Driggs.

[CONTRACT].DRIGGS ORDNANCE COMPANY, INC. and LOUIS L. DRIGGS with THOMAS NEVINS & SON. Dated October 31st, 1916. (Copy) : Stiff covers, 6 pp.; typed, completed by hand; signed and sealed. Drigg's original copy of the agreement regarding "certain contracts with the Imperial Russian Government, involving-- Eighty (80) one pounder guns and accompanying ammunition, approximating four hundred thousand (400,000) to five hundred thousand (500,000) rounds;" etc.

Agreements and correspondence relating to munitions sales to Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc..

Louis L. Driggs: 8 Manuscript notebook eaves featuring various product designs, dated 1904-1907, each witnessed by Roberta W. Driggs. Products include, "Speed Indicator showing miles per hour recorded on a roll", "Double action firing Mechanism for R. F. Guns", "Semi-Automatic Gun", line Throwing or Saluting Gun", etc.

Approx. 25 photographs of Driggs' Rapid Fire Gun, Demi-Automatic Field Gun, Navy and Airplane Guns, etc., most glossy large-format images, with 4 smaller snapshots. There are also 3 glass negatives of large guns.

History of the Driggs System of Ordnance. 2p, typed & mimeo copy.

Manuscript sign-out sheets for Driggs-Seabury product packets (?), 5 leaves torn, unevenly, from a writing pad.

Illustrated product sheets for Driggs Ordnance's "New Haven Lathes" no date. (1 sheet has edgewear loss)-- Driggs bought the company during WWI.

Hand Book of Team Hammer Forgings...Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Corporation, Sharon, Pennsylvania. No date. Illustrated, 27 p., brown paper covers. Promotional booklet, including automobile parts, c. 1920s.

PERSONAL: Misc. genealogy notes, correspondence, birth certificate, and funerary ephemera, relating to the Driggs family, including assorted newspaper clippings.