Brewster Aeronautical Corporation - 1948 dated Aviation Stock Certificate (Uncanceled)

Uncanceled Stock. Eagle vignette by E.A. Wright Bank Note Co. Rare. Near Mint Condition! The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was an American defense contractor active from the 1930s until the end of World War II. It originated as the aircraft division of Brewster & Co., initially a carriage maker that later expanded into automobile bodies and airplane parts. In 1932, aeronautical engineer James Work purchased the division for $30,000, establishing the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation. The company initially produced seaplane floats and wing panels but began designing aircraft under chief engineer Dayton Brown.

Brewster operated three aircraft plants: the Brewster Building in Long Island City, New York; a facility in Newark, New Jersey; and a third plant established in 1941 at NAS Johnsville in Warminster Township, Pennsylvania. Brown’s first design was the Brewster SBA, a two-seat scout-bomber that first flew in 1936, produced under the Naval Aircraft Factory as the SBN-1. The company’s follow-up, the SB2A Buccaneer, debuted in 1941 and was also ordered by the Royal Air Force as the Bermuda. In 1936, Brewster designed the F2A, a carrier-capable monoplane that initially outperformed the early Grumman F4F Wildcat and was selected by the U.S. Navy. Despite promising early tests in 1938, production delays—exacerbated by factory inefficiencies in Queens, New York—led the Navy to favor the improved Wildcat, ultimately limiting Brewster’s success.