Mr. Louis (Lou) Kruh was a nationally known collector of cryptologic memorabilia and a close associate of Dr. David Kahn. After his passing, Lou’s wife, Gladys, arranged for a large selection of Lou’s cryptologic items to be donated to the NCMF.
Lou had a life-long fascination with cryptography. He purchased his first book on the subject in 1943, Elementary Cryptography by Helen Gaines, which he used as his textbook for a cryptography course at Hunter College. He eventually amassed one of the largest collections of cryptologic memorabilia in private hands.
The Kruh donation consisted of approximately 60 boxes of books, magazines, pamphlets and artifacts; three file cabinets of notes, rare photographs and personal papers; 15 framed collectible items; five small cipher devices; and a large collection of cryptologic toys and games. A number of rare books from Lou’s collection have already been catalogued and are available to the public at the NCM Library. A selection of photographs of items from the Kruh donation are included in a gallery of images at the end of the page.
Mrs. Gladys Kruh donates a framed hieroglyphic to NCMF. She is pictured here with AC Chairman Dave D’Auria.
Two items in the Kruh donation are of particular historic note:
1796 letter from William Coleman with a shorthand code
Stories from the Black Chamber Manuscript
New donation in 2015
In the early part of 2015, the Kruh family contacted the NCMF’s Acquisitions Chairman to make another donation consisting of a variety of old crypto toys, decoders, code rings, and military pins and insignia. Some of the items are featured here in the photo collage.
Beaufort Frequency Chart
Cardboard Cipher Wheel
Codebreaking 1st Day Cover
Codes and Signals Games
Cryptologic Toys and Games
Cryptologic toys and games from the Lou Kruh Collection.