Photo taken immediately before the concert at Grinnell’s Music in Detroit, Michigan, on September 1, 1922. (Left to right) Walter Kaye Bauer, Francis Havens, James H. Johnstone, Fisher Shipp, Arthur Crookes, Lloyd Loar. ((Photo published with articles in both the Music Trades and Music Trade Review, October 7, 1922, ps. 27 and 40, respectively).
On the morning of September 1, 1922, the Gibsonians arrived in Detroit, Michigan, for their last appearance of the year. Their day began at the at the Grinnell Brothers Music Store on 1515 Woodward Avenue in the modern building designed by renowned architect, Albert Kahn. As it was Labor Day weekend, the white jackets of summer were replaced with dark colors, although at least Bauer was not yet ready to store away the white pants and shoes. They posed with their instruments for a landmark snapshot, the first live concert photo showing musicians with F-5 mandolins. “Under the supervision of Percy A. Grant, manager of musical merchandise for the Grinnell stores, a concert was held in the recital room of the Detroit store by the Gibsonian Concert Orchestra, with assistance from Miss Fisher Shipp, soprano.” (Music Trades, October 7, 1922, p. 27) Scheduled for 3 pm, the concert was free to the public. Afterwards, Detroit fans were given a chance to meet the entertainers, and many musicians in attendance had an opportunity to try out the Gibson Master Model and Mastertone instruments. After meeting the public, Loar and Johnstone met with the sales staff at the store to coach them on sales technique and the merits of the new designs.
Advertisement in the morning edition of the Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, Friday September 1, 1922 , p. 8
At 7 pm, they packed and loaded their instruments and hurried over to the Detroit News building on 615 Lafayette Blvd (another Kahn design), slightly less than a mile across town. A live radio broadcast was scheduled to begin at 8:30pm. The Detroit Radio, WWJ 950 AM, was the first radio station in the world opened by a news agency, and one of the first to offer live broadcasts at their studio on the second floor of the news building. Through syndication, the broadcast was heard from Ontario to Honolulu.
Top: Grinnell Brothers Music, 1515 Woodward Avenue. (1922). Bottom: Detroit News building, 615 Lafayette Blvd. Both these modern buildings by architect Albert Kahn had an upper floor theatre acoustically designed to accommodate an orchestra.
These concerts were the most widely heard and thoroughly reported events of the Gibsonians’ year. Thanks to the many articles published, we were able to find a complete listing of the selections for both programs.
A complete set list as played by the Gibsonian concert Orchestra at Grinnell’s music on September 1, 1922. (Music Trade Review, October 7, 1922, p 40)
From the studios of Detroit Radio, the evening program went out over the airwaves beginning at 8:30 Eastern Standard Time. Newspapers across the country and in Canada published the program prior to the broadcast. For example, the Calgary Herald, Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), Windsor Star (Ontario, Canada), Montgomery Times (Alabama), Hartford Courant (Connecticut), Merridian Morning Record (Missouri), Cinncinatti Enquirer (Ohio), Decatur Herald (Illinois) and of course the Detroit Evening News and Times Herald, all carried identical notices (below).
The first known broadcast featuring Lloyd Loar’s Master Model mandolins and Mastertone banjos went out from Detroit to homes across the United States and Canada. (Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio, Friday, September 1, 1922)
As a result of the performance by Loar and company on September 1, several orders for F-5s were received. One of the first was from from Marguerite B. Lavery of 106 Broadway, Detroit, Michigan. As mandolin virtuoso, music teacher and mandolin ensemble leader, Mrs. Lavery had assumed directorship of the Detroit Ladies’ Mandolin Orchestra in 1908. In the late teens she opened the doors to male members, became a Gibson agent and renamed the ensemble Lavery’s Gibson Club. While attending the concert at Grinnell’s, she fell in love with the sound of the Gibson F-5 mandolin. When she received hers, she gushed: “The more I use my Gibson Master Mandolin the more I rave about its wonderful tone qualities. It is positively marvelous. When I get to heaven, if St. Peter gives me an F-5, I shall not wish for a harp.”
Lavery Ladies’ Mandolin Club, 1913. (Crescendo, November, 1913). Marguerite B. Lavery, front center.
Lavery’s Gibson Club. By the late teens, Marguerite B. Lavery was the Detroit area Gibson teacher/agent and after meeting Lloyd Loar at Grinnell’s , she became a vocal exponent of his designs. By 1925, her ensemble boasted three Gibson F-5s in addition to many other Gibson instruments. (Crescendo, December, 1926)
Mrs. Lavery was not the only ensemble leader to eagerly embrace the F-5. The 1922 Gibsonian tour was the Johnny Appleseed event that planted the seed of Master Models throughout the mid-west. Orders for Master Models came from Edward Cox (Cox’s Serenaders) of Pocatello, Idaho; E.C. Kooken of Lima, Ohio; W. C. Dean of Des Moines; The Nighthawks of Kansas City, Missouri; Charles Templeton and Marguerite Lichti of Sioux City, Iowa; and other musicians and orchestra leaders from the mid-western areas where the Gibsonians had performed. Even in Saskatchewan, at the farthest reaches of the tour, a mandolin ensemble sprang up in the wake of Loar and Company. Claud C. Rowdan’s Chicago Mandolin Orchestra, had acquired 5 F-5s, 2 H-5s and 1 K-5 by 1925. Even jazz bands put in orders, for example, big band leader Paul Whiteman kept 2 F-5s and a number of Mastertone banjos in reserve for his multi-instrumentalists to add color to various selections in the repertoire.
The Chicago Mandolin Orchestra, Claud C. Rowden, conductor. By 1925, they had 5 F-5s, 2 H-5s and 1 K-5. (Crescendo, September, 1925)
How could working musicians afford a luxury mandolin with an initial list price of $200? The American economy was enjoying a strong recovery from the double blow dealt by the influenza pandemic of 1918 and the United States involvement in World War I. Skillful, hardworking entrepreneurs were able to build financial abundance by setting up music schools: they might begin by teaching and organizing recitals; then, by expanding their studio and hiring assistant teachers, they could soon be providing concerts and Gibson instruments for students. Even Prohibition had created job opportunities for those willing to forego a night’s sleep—and possibly invite a little danger into their lives. A case in point was Bavarian immigrant Conrad Geibelein. A gifted musician and teacher, on the weekends and in the evenings he performed on mandolin and piano in concert halls and churches; from mid-night into the morning hours he accompanied jazz bands with his Gibson banjo in the speakeasies; during the day he gave private lessons in between attending classes at Peabody Conservatory. By 1922, he was a Gibson teacher/agent and had formed the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra (as well as joining the faculty of the music school at Johns Hopkins University). Late in 1924, he purchased two F-5s. By the next year, he had added a K-5 and H-5 to the orchestra.
Conrad Geibelein (on right with baton) and the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra (circa 1924). Second from left, Henry Dall holds Gibson F-5 # 76780 and, to the right of him, Joseph Ruppel, with Gibson F-5 #75941. Today those mandolins are being played by Mike Schroeder of Louisville, Kentucky, and Tony Williamson in North Carolina, respectively. (Photo published in The Crescendo, June, 1926)
The Grinnell Brothers show was the brainchild of C.V. Buttleman, first of a series of in-store promotions to showcase Gibson mandolins and banjos in the hands of accomplished musicians. The plan to inspire current musicians to upgrade their instruments and enthusiastic listeners to learn to play was immediately successful. The Gibson vision of the mandolin club allowed a place for everyone to join the fun, and there were instruments for all budgets and skill levels. The store concerts would proceed through the rest of the year at several locations along the Grinnell chain of stores. Similarly, J. W. Jenkins and Sons in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Lyon and Healy store in St. Louis, Missouri, joined the list of stores that hosted Gibson programs. Yes, the concerts and in-store demonstrations would continue, but without Lloyd Loar and the 1922 Gibsonian Concert Orchestra. To find out more, be sure to check back in with us on September 15 for the final episode of “Breaking News, 1922: Finale.”