The Doehler Die Casting Company
Seen here is a certificate for twenty-five shares of stock in the Doehler Die Casting Company, dated January 5, 1940. Doehler produced the "pot metal" flanges and tension hoops used on Gibson banjos starting in the late 1920s; the logo seen on the certificate, consisting of superimposed D's and C's, is visible on the underside of prewar one-piece flanges near the first-string side of the neck heel.
Herman Doehler pioneered the die-casting
of metal, founding the company in 1908 in Brooklyn, New York; in 1914 production
was moved to Toledo, Ohio. Doehler Die Casting was the leading
manufacturer of automobile hood ornaments in the 1920s and 1930s. The
company became Doehler-Jarvis in 1946 and production continued at the Toledo
facilities through the late 1990s.
