Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding Aid to the Abner Doble Papers, 1885-1963
BANC MSS 77/183 c  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Overview
 
Table of contents What's This?
Description
The Abner Doble Papers consists of correspondence, drawings, reports, patents, photographs, and notebooks documenting Doble's role in the development of 20th century steam technology. Collection also includes papers relating to the Doble family, several of whom were also engineers and inventors, including Doble's grandfather and namesake Abner Doble, his father William Ashton Doble, and his brother Warren Doble.
Background
Abner Doble was born in San Francisco, California on March 26, 1890. At the age of eight, he began an apprenticeship at the Abner Doble Company, the factory founded by his grandfather and namesake. His father, William Ashton Doble, was inventor of the Pelton-Doble Water Wheel and chief engineer for the Pelton Water Wheel Co., which eventually merged with his family's business. Abner Doble designed and built his first steam car while a student Lick High School in San Francisco. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1910-1912, but left college in order to focus his attention on the development of steam automobiles. In 1912 he developed the Doble Model "A" in Waltham, Massachusetts, soon followed by the Doble Model "B" roadster. In 1915 Doble drove the Model "B" to Detroit where the General Engineering Company offered to put it into production. Renamed the Doble-Detroit, his car was introduced at the New York auto show of 1917. Although over 10,000 orders came in for the model, wartime demand for steel put manufacturing on hold and only 30 Doble-Detroit cars were ever produced.
Extent
Number of containers: 4 cartons, 8 oversize folders, 19 volumes Linear feet: 8.55 84 digital objects
Restrictions
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Availability
Collection is open for research.