A researcher visited us today seeking information about an item in his private collection: a Dayton-Wright Airplane Company employee badge.
We were not able to find any information about the badge. If you are able to share any insights into this badge (or one like it), we would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment or e-mail us at [email protected].
With the researcher’s permission, a photo of the badge is shown below:
Dayton-Wright Airplane Company Employee Badge 74503 (from researcher’s private collection)
The metal badge is approximately 1-1/2 inches wide by 1-1/8 inches tall. The front includes an image of a biplane, the text “The Dayton Wright Airplane Co. Dayton Ohio,” and the number 74503 (presumably an employee identification number of some kind).
The back of the badge (click to view image) includes an attachment mechanism, minus the actual pin itself.
The Dayton-Wright Company was an integral part of the war effort during World War I, producing and delivering to the front over 3500 airplanes: De Havilland 4s (DH-4s), British bombers to be redesigned for the American Liberty engine (which the company also produced) and 400 J-I trainers designed by the American company Standard Aircraft (Standard SJ-1s). (To learn more about the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, visit our blog post Spotlight on the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company.)
In trying to find information for the researcher, we looked through our Dayton-Wright Company Record of Employees (SC-150) and Dayton-Wright Airplane Company Photographs (MS-152) on CORE Scholar.
In the photographs, we did find three images (all dating to 1918) that appear to show employees wearing similar badges, although it is difficult be certain since the badges are so small relative to the rest of the photograph:
Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, photo ms152_037
Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, photo ms152_161
Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, photo ms152_162
We would love to learn more about the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company badges and hope that someone out there can enlighten us!