![]() The company was run from that point forward by sales manager Elliot Kehl, though Kull would retain the title CEO until he died in 1944.ĭuring World War II, the company performed defense work, as did most all instrument manufacturers. Post Frank Holton Īfter retiring, at age 82 Frank Holton sold the company to employee William Kull. The 25 homes were priced in the $3,000 to $4,000 range. In addition to building the company in Elkhorn, Frank Holton also built a subdivision of 5 and 6 room bungalows in 1919. After 2004 the defunct Collegiate line was re-introduced by Conn-Selmer under their Holton brand, again targeting a balance of quality and price suitable for school music programs. In the early 1930s the Holton Collegiate line of student horns was introduced, which would last through the 1970s. Conn, Buescher, Martin, or King, but generate interest for the idiosyncratic keywork on some early models. Holton saxophones never enjoyed the reputation or sales of their competitors C.G. Holton also began production of saxophones in the late Chicago days, and would remain in production of such instruments into the post World War II era. Īlready building a full line of high-end brass instruments, Holton recognized the growth of music in the schools and began selling student-line instruments built by other workshops under the trade names Pertin and Beaufort. The band had served as the 12th Regimental Band from 1861 to 1864 during the Civil War. Īlong with machinery and employees, Holton brought the company band to Elkhorn which would quickly merge with the storied Elkhorn Band, which had been founded in 1840 by Charles Seelye only 3 years after the town of Elkhorn itself. While the factory had been paid for by the city of Elkhorn, the cost of training skilled labor resulted in the first profits there not being seen until 1920. That building remained as the core of the Holton factory until the decision in 2008 to merge Holton horn production with King and Conn instruments in Eastlake, Ohio. The city had lured Holton to Elkhorn through the efforts of a group of local businessmen, who, acting under city mandate, built the new factory which was turned over to Holton and Co. In April 1918, Holton opened a factory in Elkhorn, Wisconsin moving over 200 employees and 85 carloads of machinery from Chicago. It would be home to Frank Holton & Company for only a decade. īy 1907, a skilled horn maker had been hired, and the production of Holton instruments required the construction of a factory on the West Side of Chicago. Unable to make the rent at times, Holton was known to pawn instruments at a shop on Clark Street between 18. The Frank Holton Company Chicago įrank Holton's first business venture on his own was a small rented shop with a desk, two counters and two chairs that he had to paint himself at Clark and Madison streets in Chicago, in 1898, where he sold used instruments and his own formula slide oil for trombone. Frank Holton died after a protracted illness on Apat the age of 84. ![]() Frank Holton, though not an instrument maker himself, expanded his company to manufacture instruments which was his occupation until retiring at age 80. įrank Holton's wife Florence was a music teacher. In 1885 he had partnered with James Warren York in York & Holton, before he established his own company in 1898. By the time he was 34, Frank Holton was an accomplished trombone player and principal trombone of the Sousa Band, a role that would later be filled by Arthur Pryor. Holton was born Main Allegan, Michigan to farmers Otis (b. The cork between the joints is wobbly and needs to be replaced, and the cork on the cheap no-name plastic mouthpiece is damaged, so it's time to buy a Hite.Frank E. I don't suppose anyone knows where to find a list of Elkhart serial numbers.Īt first examination, it holds a vacuum fairly well, so the pads seem to have some life left. It comes in a slimline case proudly emblazoned "Elkhart, Built by Buescher", so it dates between 19. Not a bright enough green to endow it with any magic powers, I'm afraid. They made a lot of stencil instruments, which is of some personal interest since my first clarinet was apparently a stencil.Īnd in 2018, I bought an Elkhart clarinet, Built by Buescher, of uncertain vintage, but old enough for the dye in the ebonite to fade to a very attractive dark olive. After that, Buescher used the Elkhart name for their line of student instruments until the name was retired in 1959. Buescher took full control in 1927, operating the company until 1936, when Elkhart was dissolved. The Elkhart Band Instrument Company was formed by the presidents of Buescher and Conn in 1923.
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