# Brass knuckles from J. Edgar Hoover's photograph files (FBI)

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/nara-141225374-fbi-brass-knuckles/

An FBI photograph of two metal knuckle-dusters on black cloth, one stamped with a maker's patent mark and the other engraved "J. Edgar Hoover, Chief F.B.I., Washington D.C." The catalog gives no date or case.

The National Archives catalog title is "Brass Knuckles," local identifier 65-H-485, in the series of photographs accumulated by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. The catalog lists it among artifacts and gives no date and no description.

The photograph shows two metal knuckle-dusters on black cloth. One is stamped "PAT. APPL'D FOR W. A. HICKS UTICA N.Y. 2831"; the other is engraved "J. EDGAR HOOVER CHIEF F.B.I. WASHINGTON D.C."

The catalog does not say where the objects came from, whether they were evidence in a case, or why one bears Hoover's name. This page claims none of those things; the engraving is quoted as it appears.

## Sources

- National Archives Catalog, Records of the FBI (RG 65), Photographs Accumulated by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/141225374
- National Archives series: Photographs Accumulated by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (NAID 518177): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/518177