Thompson Model 1928 Submachine Gun (Smithsonian, National Museum of American History 1986.0698.02)

Smithsonian Open Access catalog record, CC0, for a Thompson Model 1928 submachine gun, serial number 11768, credit line "U.S. Postal Service." No image is published with the record.

Date

1928

Kind

finding-aid

Source

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History (Open Access)

Retrieved

2026-10-12

Rights

Smithsonian Open Access: the record is marked "CC0" (metadata_usage.access = CC0). Unit: National Museum of American History; accession 1986.0698; catalog number 1986.0698.02. Credit line: U.S. Postal Service. No image is published with the record.

The museum’s note describes the gun as the work of John Taliaferro Thompson (West Point class of 1882) and says it “saw only limited wartime use.” It records the serial number 11768, notes that the object is not on view, and files it with Military and Society: Armed Forces History.

No date of manufacture is given. The date above is the model designation, not a date in the record. The object page on americanhistory.si.edu, reached through the record’s ARK (https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-607e-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa), could not be opened for this archive because of a bot check. The museum’s note also repeats the “gun that made the twenties roar” phrase; it is not adopted here.

Object: Submachine gun, Thompson Model 1928, serial number 11768
Maker: Thompson (inventor John Taliaferro Thompson); maker not stated in the record
Date: Model of 1928
Provenance: credit line U.S. Postal Service; accession 1986.0698; not on view
Appears in: Smithsonian Open Access; NMAH 1986.0698.02