Photo Courtesy Collection FBI SA William Matens (RIP)
In April, 1935 SAC E. E. Conroy, Kansas City, at the request of FBI Headquarters, began submitting sketches and requesting bids on carrying cases for various Bureau weapons. We believe that these are the first purchases of what is commonly known as the "FBI hardcase."
The below FBI documents reveal, relative to the Thompson sub-machine gun, the beginning of the bid process,
* The "specs" required
* The FBI's submitted sketch to bidders and
* FBI HQ's authority to SAC, Kansas City to accept the bid from the Kansas City Trunk Company. It is noted here that we do not yet have an actual purchase order, although the bid was accepted. This document is probably in another volume of the file which we don't currently have. We are awaiting additional FOIA documents and any purchase orders with Kansas City Trunk will be added here. We are not certain how long the relationship between the FBI and the Kansas City Trunk Company continued.
More on the FBI's early role with the Thompson can be found in the "Articles" Section of the navigation area in addition to the "Weapons Decisions..." section after the Kansas City Massacre, June, 1933.