Iver Johnson
Encyclopedia
Iver Johnson was a U.S. firearm
s, bicycle
, and motorcycle
manufacturer from 1871 to 1993. The company shared the same name as its founder, Norwegian-born Iver Johnson (1841-1895).
, in Sogn og Fjordane
county, Norway
and later emigrated from Norway to the United States. He was educated as a gunsmith
in Bergen
in 1857 and had a gun store in Oslo
. He married Mary Elizabeth Adams (born January 1847 ) on April 9, 1868, in Worcester, with whom he had 3 sons (Frederick Iver, John Lovell, and Walter Olof) and 2 daughters (Mary Louise and Nellie).
Iver Johnson immigrated to Worcester, Massachusetts
from Norway in 1863 at the height of the American Civil War
, a time when gunsmithing was a welcome skill in the country. Johnson was a gunsmith by trade at the time, but also worked as an inventor in his spare time, which would come in handy later on as he sought new and creative uses for his partially idle manufacturing equipment, a thought process which would eventually lead him and his heirs to diversify the corporation's businesses. His early work involved not only gunsmithing locally in Worcester, MA, but it also included providing designs and work to other firearms companies, notably Allen & Wheelock for whom he made so-called "pepperbox" pistols.
Bye and Johnson filed jointly for and were awarded multiple patents together, mostly related to firearms designs, beginning in 1876. The company’s name changed to Iver Johnson & Company in 1883 upon Johnson's purchase of Bye's interest in the firm. Bye continued to work in the firearm industry for the remainder of his life.
, (sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Fitzburg") in order to have better and larger manufacturing facilities. The Iver Johnson Complex, as it is known today, resembles other abandoned Industrial Revolution-era properties in New England. As has been the trend, the complex is often a target for real estate developers who intend to exploit its buildings' industrial brick aesthetics and open floor plans to create retail, residential, or other types of usable space.
Iver Johnson died in 1895, and his sons took over the business. Frederick Iver, (born 10/2/1871) , John Lovell (born 6/26/1876) , and Walter Olof (August 1878) , each had vastly different levels of involvement in the company ranging from executive leadership to barely any involvement at all. They shepherded the company through a phase of expansion, as bicycle operations grew, then converted to motorcycle manufacturing and sales. They also saw the growth of the firearms business and the eventual restructuring of the company to focus on firearms and related business as they divested non-firearms concerns, such as the motorcycle business, in the face of growing firearms demand, World War I
's armaments industry expansion, and other factors. As family ownership waned and outside investment via publicly traded stock and mergers/acquisitions/partnerships took hold, the company changed ownership and moved several times during its operation.
The company eventually dropped "Cycle Works" from its moniker when that part of the business was shut down. The business successfully weathered the Great Depression
(in part thanks to higher rates of armed robbery crimes, which helped maintain demand for personal firearms) and was buoyed by the dramatic increase in the market for arms leading up to and during World War II
. As a result of changes in ownership, the company had the first of two major relocations in 1971 when it moved to New Jersey. It moved again to Jacksonville, Arkansas
, and was jointly owned by Lynn Lloyd and Lou Imperato, who also owned the Henry brand name, before it finally ceased trading under its own name in 1993, at which time it was owned by American Military Arms Corp (AMAC).
William McKinley
in Buffalo, New York
on September 6, 1901 with an Iver Johnson .32 caliber Safety Automatic revolver (serial number 463344). (McKinley succumbed to these wounds nearly 8 days later, at 2:15 am on the 14th of September). The revolver is currently on display at the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
in Buffalo.
shot and killed Presidential candidate United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy
in Los Angeles, California
on 5 June 1968 with an eight-shot Iver Johnson .22 caliber Cadet 55-A revolver (serial number H-53725, Trial-People's Exhibit #6, misidentified in trial testimony as S/N H-18602).
worked in the bicycle plant and then started his own firearms factory.
Even when they were new, I-J's were marketed and had a reputation for being very graceful looking, well built, and engineered for performance. Iver Johnson sponsored the career of bicycle racing champion Marshall Taylor
beginning in 1900. The most noted I-J model was the truss-bridge frame which featured a curved tube under the top tube to strengthen the frame for use on the rough roads of the early twentieth century. Bicycle production ceased in 1940 with the buildup of arms production prior to World War II.
Today, Iver Johnson bicycles are highly collectible and are no more rare than most other major manufacturer's products from that time. The name Iver Johnson is well known amongst vintage firearm collectors, but aside from that, bicycles would be the brand's next most popularly associated product. There is even an Iver Johnson bicycle on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in the America on the Move exhibit.
In The Illustrated Directory of World Motorcycles, author Mirco de Cet reports:
As de Cet notes, there were options and variations of models of I-J motorcycles available, such as belt drive vs. chain drive, or solid-rear vs. suspended swingarm, but mostly they were categorized by engine type, either V-Twin or Single Cylinder configurations, with other characteristics being considered as "Options," and not necessarily defining traits of a particular model. The specifications for the basic model classifications are:
(V-Twin)
Engine: Side-valve V-twin (Transversely Mounted, with one cylinder pointing forward, and the other backwards, with an acute angle between them
Fuel: Gasoline (leaded)
Displacement: 1020 cc (62.22 in³)
Power: 7 to 8 hp (5 to 6 kW)
Wheelbase: 58in (147 cm)
Weight: 265 lb (120 kg)
Top speed: 65 mph (105 km/h)
Starting: Pedal
Drive: Belt or chain
(Single)
Engine: Single cylinder (Vertically Mounted)
Fuel: Gasoline (leaded)
Displacement: 500 cc (30.512 in³)
Power: Unknown
Wheelbase: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Top speed: Unknown
Starting: Pedal
Drive: Belt
According to Jeffry L'H. Tank's History of the Motorcycle, Iver Johnson advertised their machines as "Mechanical Perfection," a boast that was not entirely unbelievable given the number of advanced design features in especially their later models, such as dual crankshafts, nickel-alloy machined parts, chain drive, and a hand-operated three-speed gearbox. In fact, amongst collectors and researchers such as Tank who have the benefit of hindsight, Iver-Johnsons of the day, such as the 1915 Model 15-7 are the finest period examples of motorcycle engineering of the day, along with a very select few others, such as Scotts.
In modern times, Iver Johnson motorcycles are as rare and collectible as any of the products of the myriad other early short-lived American motorcycle manufacturers that existed during the early days of the technology, such as Holley
or Henderson
, or even from British/European manufacturers like The Scott Motorcycle Company
or Brough Motorcycles
or Daimler-Maybach
or Hildebrand & Wolfmüller
. Considering that production ran for only 10 years, with 2 of those being used for the startup and shutdown of operations, examples of Iver Johnson motorcycles at all are rare, let alone those in collectible condition, and collectors should expect to face considerable difficulty in finding them and great expense when they are ultimately found (especially if found in restored, authentic condition).
Though all vestiges of Iver Johnson as a going concern are now gone as of 1993, there is still a great deal of interest in the company and the collection of their products, although that interest is focused on their firearms business and not their motorcycle business. Where their motorcycles are collected, they are collected as examples of early motorcycles (as is the case with the products of many of the companies from the early days of the industry) and in an effort to catalog all of the early manufacturers, not so much out of inherent interest in Iver-Johnson motorcycles themselves.
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s, bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
, and motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
manufacturer from 1871 to 1993. The company shared the same name as its founder, Norwegian-born Iver Johnson (1841-1895).
Iver Johnson
Iver Johnson was born in NordfjordNordfjord
Nordfjord is a fjord and a traditional district in the northern part of Sogn og Fjordane county in Western Norway. The district comprises the municipalities of Selje, Vågsøy, Bremanger, Eid, Gloppen, Hornindal, and Stryn. Nordfjord covers an area of and is home to a population of approximately...
, in Sogn og Fjordane
Sogn og Fjordane
is a county in Norway, bordering Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland. The county administration is in the town of Hermansverk in Leikanger municipality while the largest town is Førde....
county, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and later emigrated from Norway to the United States. He was educated as a gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...
in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
in 1857 and had a gun store in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. He married Mary Elizabeth Adams (born January 1847 ) on April 9, 1868, in Worcester, with whom he had 3 sons (Frederick Iver, John Lovell, and Walter Olof) and 2 daughters (Mary Louise and Nellie).
Iver Johnson immigrated to Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
from Norway in 1863 at the height of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, a time when gunsmithing was a welcome skill in the country. Johnson was a gunsmith by trade at the time, but also worked as an inventor in his spare time, which would come in handy later on as he sought new and creative uses for his partially idle manufacturing equipment, a thought process which would eventually lead him and his heirs to diversify the corporation's businesses. His early work involved not only gunsmithing locally in Worcester, MA, but it also included providing designs and work to other firearms companies, notably Allen & Wheelock for whom he made so-called "pepperbox" pistols.
Johnson Bye & Company
In 1871, Johnson joined Martin Bye to form the Johnson Bye & Company, merging his own and Martin Bye's gunsmithing operations. During this period, Johnson and Bye filed for and received several new firearms features and firearms feature improvement patents. Their primary revenues came from the sale of their self designed and manufactured inexpensive models of revolvers. Not much is known about Martin Bye, as there is very little documented information about his life.Bye and Johnson filed jointly for and were awarded multiple patents together, mostly related to firearms designs, beginning in 1876. The company’s name changed to Iver Johnson & Company in 1883 upon Johnson's purchase of Bye's interest in the firm. Bye continued to work in the firearm industry for the remainder of his life.
Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works
The company's name changed again to Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works in 1891, when the company relocated to Fitchburg, MassachusettsFitchburg, Massachusetts
Fitchburg is the third largest city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,318 at the 2010 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private elementary and high schools.- History :...
, (sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Fitzburg") in order to have better and larger manufacturing facilities. The Iver Johnson Complex, as it is known today, resembles other abandoned Industrial Revolution-era properties in New England. As has been the trend, the complex is often a target for real estate developers who intend to exploit its buildings' industrial brick aesthetics and open floor plans to create retail, residential, or other types of usable space.
Iver Johnson died in 1895, and his sons took over the business. Frederick Iver, (born 10/2/1871) , John Lovell (born 6/26/1876) , and Walter Olof (August 1878) , each had vastly different levels of involvement in the company ranging from executive leadership to barely any involvement at all. They shepherded the company through a phase of expansion, as bicycle operations grew, then converted to motorcycle manufacturing and sales. They also saw the growth of the firearms business and the eventual restructuring of the company to focus on firearms and related business as they divested non-firearms concerns, such as the motorcycle business, in the face of growing firearms demand, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
's armaments industry expansion, and other factors. As family ownership waned and outside investment via publicly traded stock and mergers/acquisitions/partnerships took hold, the company changed ownership and moved several times during its operation.
The company eventually dropped "Cycle Works" from its moniker when that part of the business was shut down. The business successfully weathered the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
(in part thanks to higher rates of armed robbery crimes, which helped maintain demand for personal firearms) and was buoyed by the dramatic increase in the market for arms leading up to and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As a result of changes in ownership, the company had the first of two major relocations in 1971 when it moved to New Jersey. It moved again to Jacksonville, Arkansas
Jacksonville, Arkansas
Jacksonville is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States, and a suburb of Little Rock. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 28,364. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, and was jointly owned by Lynn Lloyd and Lou Imperato, who also owned the Henry brand name, before it finally ceased trading under its own name in 1993, at which time it was owned by American Military Arms Corp (AMAC).
Iver Johnson firearm models
Iver Johnson nomenclature refers to its top-break revolvers as Safety Automatics. These are revolvers, not semi-automatic pistols. The term “Safety Automatic” refers to Iver Johnson’s transfer bar safety system (“safety”) and the automatic ejection of cartridges upon breaking open the revolvers (“automatic”).Safety automatic
Standard models with external hammer:- First Model (1894–1895), single post latch system
- Second Model (1896–1908), double post latch system
- Third Model (1909–1941), double post latch system
Safety automatic hammerless
- First Model (1895–1896), single post latch
- Second Model (1897–1908), safety lever added to face of trigger
- Third Model a.k.a. New Model (1909–1941), no safety lever on trigger
William McKinley assassination
Presidential assassin Leon Czolgosz shot and wounded U.S. PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
on September 6, 1901 with an Iver Johnson .32 caliber Safety Automatic revolver (serial number 463344). (McKinley succumbed to these wounds nearly 8 days later, at 2:15 am on the 14th of September). The revolver is currently on display at the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Building
The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society is located on Nottingham Court in the city of Buffalo, just east of Elmwood Avenue, north of the Scajaquada Expressway, in the northwest corner of Delaware Park. It occupies the building constructed in 1901 as the New York State pavilion for that...
in Buffalo.
Robert Kennedy assassination
Convicted assassin Sirhan SirhanSirhan Sirhan
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is a Jordanian citizen who was convicted for the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.Sirhan was a Christian Arab born in Jerusalem who strongly opposed Israel...
shot and killed Presidential candidate United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on 5 June 1968 with an eight-shot Iver Johnson .22 caliber Cadet 55-A revolver (serial number H-53725, Trial-People's Exhibit #6, misidentified in trial testimony as S/N H-18602).
Bicycles
Iver Johnson bicycles are classic examples of early American bicycles, and during the bicycle boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the company had a very productive bicycle manufacturing and sales line of business. Today, Iver Johnsons are considered to be "classics" by vintage bicycle collectors, and are considered to be especially pleasing from an aesthetic point of view. O.F. MossbergO.F. Mossberg & Sons
O.F. Mossberg & Sons is an American firearms manufacturer, specializing in shotguns, rifles, scopes and firearm accessories. From the 1940s through the 1960s, it also produced a line of .22 caliber target and sporting rifles....
worked in the bicycle plant and then started his own firearms factory.
Even when they were new, I-J's were marketed and had a reputation for being very graceful looking, well built, and engineered for performance. Iver Johnson sponsored the career of bicycle racing champion Marshall Taylor
Marshall Taylor
Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor was an American cyclist who won the world track cycling championship in 1899 after setting numerous world records and overcoming racial discrimination...
beginning in 1900. The most noted I-J model was the truss-bridge frame which featured a curved tube under the top tube to strengthen the frame for use on the rough roads of the early twentieth century. Bicycle production ceased in 1940 with the buildup of arms production prior to World War II.
Today, Iver Johnson bicycles are highly collectible and are no more rare than most other major manufacturer's products from that time. The name Iver Johnson is well known amongst vintage firearm collectors, but aside from that, bicycles would be the brand's next most popularly associated product. There is even an Iver Johnson bicycle on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in the America on the Move exhibit.
Motorcycles
Launched in Fitchburg, MA in 1907, The Iver Johnson Company motorcycle division was born from the conversion of a line of business that had been manufacturing bicycles for some 23 years prior to that point. Ultimately, the arms division of the business was growing so rapidly to meet demand that management decided to focus on that market and as a result motorcycle operations closed in 1916 (varying sources claim the last year as being 1915, with 1916 seeing only the sales of remaining 1915 produced inventory), bringing to an end 33 years of total cycle operations (23 for bicycles, and another 10 for motorcycle and run-off bicycle business).In The Illustrated Directory of World Motorcycles, author Mirco de Cet reports:
Iver Johnson's Arms and Cycle Works had been building bicycles for 23 years when it entered the motorcycle business, and had started manufacturing firearms many years earlier. The Iver Johnson design was unconventional in many respects. The top and middle frame tubes were bent to arch over the engine, and the front fork was an interesting leading link, leaf spring design. Customers could choose either rigid or swingarm rear suspension. This was known as a keystone frame, one that employs the engine as a stressed member.
The side-valve singles and twins had two different valve mechanisms. The belt-drive single featured a longitudinal camshaft driven by worm gears, the shaft extending forward through the case to drive the magneto. On the V-twin and chain-drive single, the cams were incorporated in a large ring gear driven by a pinion gear on the crankshaft. The magneto on these engines was chain-driven. The V-twin was designed with offset crankpins, which provided evenly spaced combustion strokes, so exhaust note sounded like a vertical twin. The engine featured both mechanical and hand oild pumps. Final version of the twin were equipped with a planetary clutch, with either an Eclipse two-speed hub or a single speed. The twin was rated at eight horsepower, and the single at 4.5 hp.
In 1916 the market for weapons began to seriously outstrip the prospects for motorcycle sales, so the company turned its attention to firearms and tools.
As de Cet notes, there were options and variations of models of I-J motorcycles available, such as belt drive vs. chain drive, or solid-rear vs. suspended swingarm, but mostly they were categorized by engine type, either V-Twin or Single Cylinder configurations, with other characteristics being considered as "Options," and not necessarily defining traits of a particular model. The specifications for the basic model classifications are:
(V-Twin)
Engine: Side-valve V-twin (Transversely Mounted, with one cylinder pointing forward, and the other backwards, with an acute angle between them
Fuel: Gasoline (leaded)
Displacement: 1020 cc (62.22 in³)
Power: 7 to 8 hp (5 to 6 kW)
Wheelbase: 58in (147 cm)
Weight: 265 lb (120 kg)
Top speed: 65 mph (105 km/h)
Starting: Pedal
Drive: Belt or chain
(Single)
Engine: Single cylinder (Vertically Mounted)
Fuel: Gasoline (leaded)
Displacement: 500 cc (30.512 in³)
Power: Unknown
Wheelbase: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Top speed: Unknown
Starting: Pedal
Drive: Belt
According to Jeffry L'H. Tank's History of the Motorcycle, Iver Johnson advertised their machines as "Mechanical Perfection," a boast that was not entirely unbelievable given the number of advanced design features in especially their later models, such as dual crankshafts, nickel-alloy machined parts, chain drive, and a hand-operated three-speed gearbox. In fact, amongst collectors and researchers such as Tank who have the benefit of hindsight, Iver-Johnsons of the day, such as the 1915 Model 15-7 are the finest period examples of motorcycle engineering of the day, along with a very select few others, such as Scotts.
In modern times, Iver Johnson motorcycles are as rare and collectible as any of the products of the myriad other early short-lived American motorcycle manufacturers that existed during the early days of the technology, such as Holley
Holley
-People:* Alexander Lyman Holley, mechanical engineer* Charles Hardin Holley was the real name of singer Buddy Holly* George Holley , England international footballer...
or Henderson
Henderson Motorcycle
Henderson produced 4-cylinder motorcycles from 1912 until 1931. They were the largest and fastest motorcycles of their time, and appealed to sport riders and police departments. Police favored them for traffic patrol because they were faster than anything on the roads...
, or even from British/European manufacturers like The Scott Motorcycle Company
The Scott Motorcycle Company
The Scott Motorcycle Company was owned by Scott Motors Limited, Shipley, West Yorkshire, England and was a well known producer of motorcycles and light engines for industry...
or Brough Motorcycles
Brough Motorcycles
Brough Motorcycles were made by William E. Brough in Nottingham, England, from 1908 to 1926.Brough motorcycles were flat-tanked motorcycles that used a variety of engines...
or Daimler-Maybach
Daimler Reitwagen
The Daimler Reitwagen or Einspur was a motor vehicle made by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885, and is widely recognized as the first motorcycle. Daimler is often called "the father of the motorcycle" for this invention...
or Hildebrand & Wolfmüller
Hildebrand & Wolfmüller
The Hildebrand & Wolfmüller was the world's first production motorcycle. Heinrich and Wilhelm Hidebrand were steam-engine engineers before Alois Wolfmüller agreed to finance them to produce their internal combustion Motorrad in Munich in 1894....
. Considering that production ran for only 10 years, with 2 of those being used for the startup and shutdown of operations, examples of Iver Johnson motorcycles at all are rare, let alone those in collectible condition, and collectors should expect to face considerable difficulty in finding them and great expense when they are ultimately found (especially if found in restored, authentic condition).
Though all vestiges of Iver Johnson as a going concern are now gone as of 1993, there is still a great deal of interest in the company and the collection of their products, although that interest is focused on their firearms business and not their motorcycle business. Where their motorcycles are collected, they are collected as examples of early motorcycles (as is the case with the products of many of the companies from the early days of the industry) and in an effort to catalog all of the early manufacturers, not so much out of inherent interest in Iver-Johnson motorcycles themselves.
Other sources
- Henrotin, Gerard Iver Johnson Top Break Safety Revolvers Explained ( HLebooks. 2010)
- Goforth, W.E. Iver Johnson Arms & Cycle Works Firearms 1871-1993 (Gun Show Books Publishing. 2006) ISBN 978-0978708603
- Thomas, H. H. The Story of Allen & Wheelock Firearms (Pioneer Press, Incorporated. 1991) ISBN 978-0913150733
External links
- Iver Johnson firearms - armscollectors.com
- Iver Johnson Firearms Co