E Ledgers & Serial Number Books
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LOOKING BACK BY KEN DROBNAK e Ledgers Serial Number& Books of Frank Holton & Company Researchers will be evaluating the information in these books for years. When may they be available for everyone else? ollectors and musical instrument researchers commonly set Further, “dates may not be consecutive due to different finish types up searches on Craigslist, eBay and other websites looking being interspersed throughout the list, which would suggest that orders for that new “find.” Late last year, a 1906 Holton euphonium could not be added chronologically to the ledgers.” Another issue is that was listed on eBay for a starting bid of one hundred dollars random entries were added outside of the original time span, such as Cplus shipping. Thoughts of, “Could that be one of the first Holton in Image 2. This page shows instruments manufactured in 1900, though euphoniums?” ran through my mind. The picture on the seller’s webpage matched the style of early Holton euphoniums and the serial number, there is a flute sale noted from 1940 (or is it 1946?). 2289, indicated a 1906 date. That seemed a bit late to be “one of the first” The first euphonium listed in the ledgers is number 979, shown in Holton euphoniums. But how can any collector or researcher confirm an Image 3. The first tuba listed, which is at the museum, is number 1020, instrument’s age? There are several websites with Holton serial number shown in Image 4. By now, you might be wondering what is listed as lists and estimated dates of manufacture, but the original ledgers would number 001; unfortunately for our discussion today, the lowest number be the authoritative source. is number 13, shown in Image 5. However, the date listed is 1902, two In the case of Frank Holton & Company, they have survived to this day. years after those serial numbers in the low 50s (Image 2). I have been They are not available for public viewing nor posted online, but they told by researchers and collectors that Holton started their sequence do reside at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. with number 50. What information do they contain, and how did they get there? Frank Holton started his company in Chicago and manufactured instruments There are many entries that contain notable players of the early as early as 1898. In 1917, the company began the process of expanding 20th century. In 1922, Fred Pfaff purchased a medium BB-flat tuba to Elkhorn, Wisconsin, even though manufacturing continued at the from Holton (Image 6). In 1914 and 1916, Lucas del Negro purchased Chicago plant through the 1920s. The ledgers were eventually stored at instruments whose model bear his name “Del Negro.” Many artists the Elkhorn plant, where they likely remained after the 1964 merger with who designed instruments sold instruments through their studios Leblanc. After both companies became part of Conn-Selmer in the early 2000s, the ledgers were taken to Conn-Selmer’s corporate headquarters and consequently, their names appear many times in the ledgers. For in Elkhart, Indiana. example, Edward Llewellyn ordered many trumpets and Image 8 shows one of these orders, trumpet number 25918. Other notable artists from The ledgers came to the Museum later and many are in a fragile condi- this time period include the Fillmore Music House and Mr. Henry Conrad. tion. During a research visit a few years ago, I was able to take pictures of some tuba and euphonium listings. What might the ledgers reveal? Researchers will be evaluating the information in these books for Image 1 serves as an example of product runs and includes number years. When may they be available for everyone else? At some point 2289 along with other baritones. But the dates under each entry are the museum plans to create a digital database. If you are interested in not in chronological order, and there are TWO euphoniums with serial learning more about the museum, check out their website at nmmusd. number 2289 listed! In addition, there are multiple names and dates. Is org. And, if you are planning on attending ITEC 2019 at The University of it possible that two different instruments had the same serial number? Iowa, the museum is a short, five-hour drive from Iowa City. Might this show that an instrument was returned, repaired and resold? There are also TWO euphoniums with serial number 2288! We may have In 1904, Holton released the first edition of its catalog: Holton’s Harmony more questions than answers. Hints. This edition included euphonium and baritone models, but tuba In 2015, a student intern at NMM noted that each ledger tended to follow models were not included until 1905. Images 9 and 10 show the first a date span, but that “dates within [each] section can differ quite a bit.” pages of these models. 26 ITEA JOURNAL | SPRING 2018 Photo: Holton Ledger Page Containing Number 2289 ITEAONLINE.ORG 27 LOOKING BACK Above: Holton Ledger Page Containing Number 50 Opposite Page, Top to Bottom: Holton Ledger Entry for Number 979, Holton Ledger Entry for Number 1020, Holton Ledger Entry for Number 12 and 13 28 ITEA JOURNAL | SPRING 2018 ITEAONLINE.ORG 29 LOOKING BACK Above, Top to Bottom: Holton Ledger Entry for 31875, Holton Ledger Entry for 29326, Holton Ledger Entry for 25918 Opposite Page: Euphonium models from the 1904 edition of Holton’s Harmony Hints Page 34: Tuba models from the 1905 edition of Holton’s Harmony Hints 30 ITEA JOURNAL | SPRING 2018 ITEAONLINE.ORG 31 LOOKING BACK 32 ITEA JOURNAL | SPRING 2018.