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Outlaw Collections & Museums- What's Out There


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So, what happened to all the guns, cars, clothes the outlaws left behind ? ( & money )

Lot was owned by the families, lot now in private collections and other things in public museums.

 

The National Musuem of Crime & Punishment in Washington , DC has a lot of goodies. I'm trying to make a loan with them to get the Dillinger XX box magazine that was recovered at the Tucson arrest. They have it. I'd like to run a couple rounds through it, just cause.

The FBI has a large collection of guns & things found.

Our collection, The John Dillinger Historical Museum ( private collection ) had a lot of items

Bill Helmer has a collection

The John Dillinger Museum in Indiana ( Joe Pinkston's old museum )

A Casino in Vegas has the death car & Clyde's shirt.

Car Museum in Ohio I think, has the death car hats we owned on display & a Dillinger 32 Studebaker I think

 

Dillinger shoes he had on when killed were used by his brother for a number of years and tossed, same with his shirt- The straw boater, cigar, glasses and some other things are with the FBI. The Dillinger family still owns a lot of stuff, it's in a bank vault. I was lucky enough to be able to see some of this stuff.

The Barrow family has sold most of Clyde's things, Bonnie's dress and all were burned in the 60s because on ongoing bad memories, niece still had her ring.

 

Pretty Boy Floyd's things were auctioned off a number of years ago, I had his ring accidently stuck on my finger for a brief time, funny now, panic then.

 

WWII took a lot of cars, got three Dillinger cars and the Death car that are still around. The Ford left at the Bonnie & Clyde shoot out in Iowa, was set on display at the local Skelly station for years, then cut in half for the war effort- This gets confused with the death car.

 

Various PDs have the Thompsons, Porter County, Tucson, FBI and I think St Paul has the Valentines D one.

 

Will post stuff relating to Thompsons ...

Edited by OCM
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Great post as usual, Sandy...thanks for sharing.

 

One of the things I've always wondered about is what became of the earlier crime figure's weapons, like Frank McErlane's Thompson (purportedly used in the first Chicago Tommygun hit in 1925), the Kansas City Massacre Thompsons, Frank Nitti's suicide handgun, and other 'infamous' firearms like these; I suppose they eventually ended up in private collections and government storerooms, if not downright stolen, lost or destroyed.

 

Rob

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Rob,

Am hoping some of the group here will be able to shed some light. I've seen a list in one of the books, maybe an old On the Spot, I'll check.

I had an older gal want to sell me a Buntline Special that she said Dillinger buried under her porch at the escape from Little Bo Lodge. HAA.

Probably looked like the granny in Goldfinger with the MP-40 or whatever it was

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Death car items, Dillinger's license plate, flashlight and bandages from Bonnie & Clyde battle in Iowa. Edited by OCM
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Clyde Barrow's scattergun, a cut down BAR- Located in the State Police Dept, Missouri as I remember, maybe Illinois.

 

Items from the B&C death car: bullet from Clyde's BAR, a bullet hole from the windshield, part of toy found in the glove box

 

Dillinger's Dunrite bullet-proof vest, used in the Greencastle, In bank robbery.*

 

Dillinger family photo, April, 1934. This was taken at the same time as the one with the Thompson & wood toy gun.

 

* We fired my Thompson into a modern bullet-proof vest ( set up as a target) a couple weeks ago. It had Kevlar inserts as protection. About 50 feet away. The Thompson left some good dimples in the Kevlar but didn't penatrate. The Dillinger Dunrite vest has about the same inserts for protection, but instead of Kevalar, it uses lead plates. NO , we didn't fire into the Dillinger one !

Edited by OCM
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Berrien County, Michigan owns the 2 SVDM guns, #2347, and #7580. We have had them on display several times, most recently in November at Ohio Gun Collectors Association.

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

 

 

I asked a friend in St Paul, it was Doc Barker's Thompson. It's in a PD in South St Paul. Barker was part of the Ma Barker/Alvin Karpis group.

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Great post as usual, Sandy...thanks for sharing.

 

One of the things I've always wondered about is what became of the earlier crime figure's weapons, like Frank McErlane's Thompson (purportedly used in the first Chicago Tommygun hit in 1925), the Kansas City Massacre Thompsons, Frank Nitti's suicide handgun, and other 'infamous' firearms like these; I suppose they eventually ended up in private collections and government storerooms, if not downright stolen, lost or destroyed.

 

Rob

 

The Kansas City Thompsons are still around, local Sheriff here got to see them- I think they wrote a story in OTS on that.

ALSO, while getting off my butt to go through some boxes of research stuff, I see a great article in On The Spot by Mr. Schauer on the St Valentines day thing- & Marty Black is in there from the B&C then and now.

Sorry , I'm really lagging behind, been a LONG time to get back into this. Fun firing up the brain again.

BTW, if interested in the St Valentine Thompsons, Chuck's article is a must in OTS. Chuck, sorry, I just put it all together....

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I suppose J. Edgar got Fred's (and "Ma's" :rolleyes: ) Tommies... Rob

 

Rob, this is why it would be great to find all the Capone to Star Trek Thompsons, involved . I know there is a partial list, I've seen it somewhere. ( I think )

I don't have the resources to do it, and Helmer is sound asleep in Texas. Rick Mattix was a super source, a super source, but not now.

Also, maybe just not a lot of interest in this- I've been underground since selling my collection and etc.

Start a master list and go from there....?

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Heh-heh....I forgot about the Trek Tommies... :)

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/ghostsoldier/THOMPSON%20SUB%20MACHINEGUNS/kirk-spock-car-apieceoftheaction.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/ghostsoldier/THOMPSON%20SUB%20MACHINEGUNS/spock-oxmyx-apieceoftheaction.jpg

Rob

Edited by ghostsoldier
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Had this for a number of years, photo of Arthur Flegenheimer ( Dutch Schultz ) , New York, 1934, sitting ( end ) of a bar somewhere ? Ran across it yesterday-

 

Bank robber Harvey Bailey, guarded with Thompsons

 

Finger printing Dillinger's body just after arriving in the Cook County Morgue ( rare photo )

 

Clyde Barrow & sister Marie Barrow at a secret family meeting outside Dallas. After the mother's left, they pulled out the BARS for a photo op.

 

Dillinger & the Molls on trial, Tucson, 1934. Girl on his left is girlfriend, Billie Frechette, next Mary Kinder. Police officer, center rear, one of the arresting officers.

Edited by OCM
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  • 1 month later...

1) Stripper clip & BAR magazine found in the Death Car- Bonnie & Clyde

2) Original Bonnie & Clyde items: poem written by Bonnie, Family photos, the V-8 emblem off the original death car, Clyde in the funeral home, Dallas , etc

3) Dillinger items, to many ti list

4) Clyde Barrow's shirt & hat he had on when killed

5) This is the money bag that the Dillinger gang used at the Racine, Wis robbery. It was in one of the gang's cars in Tucson, when arrested. Still had money from the Racine bank in it.

007.jpg

Edited by OCM
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From Bill Helmer's collection, Dillinger's shaving brush and pocket knife. These were for sale at one time.

 

OCM

Edited by OCM
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Do you know what brand of knife that is, Sandy?

 

Rob

 

Rob, not a clue ?? Contact Bill on it if interested, I don't even know if he still has it ??

 

According to Bill, if one uses the Dillinger shaving brush, the Dillinger Urban Legand will come back to you.......... You have to know Helmer to appreciate this.

OCM

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Thanks, Sandy....I assume I can contact Bill via his website?

 

Rob

 

Probably, I 'm not at liberty to give out any personal contact information, of course. Reference the Dillinger pocket knife from Girardin to get him up to speed.

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Movie stuff, General :

moviefull.jpg

Edited by OCM
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  • 3 months later...
Nice museum in Southern Illinois with lots of stuff about the Prohition Wars here in Benton Illinois, the Franklin County Jail Museum. Sorry can't get my computer to cooperate and post the link.
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I was driving through southern Illinois recently and saw the billboard telling about the 1920's Jail Museum. I got off the interstate and drove around trying to find it, but could not.

If you are near there, how about a report about what it has on display, and if you know the people who run it tell them they need some signs telling people how to find it. (They would get more visitors that way.)

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Ouch, pulled another photo...

OCM

Edited by OCM
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