Harmony Company
Private | |
Industry | Musical instruments |
Genre | Producer |
Founded | 1892 |
Founder | Wilhelm Schultz |
Defunct | 1975 |
Products | guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, violins |
The Harmony Company was an American company that, in its heyday, was the largest musical instrument manufacturer in the USA. They made many types of stringed instruments, including ukuleles, acoustic and electric guitars, and violins.
History
Harmony was founded in 1892 by Wilhelm Schultz. In 1916, Sears, Roebuck and Co. purchased it, in part to corner the ukulele market. At the time Harmony was led by Joe Kraus, who was chairman until 1940.[1] In 1928, Harmony introduced the first of many Roy Smeck models, and went on to become the largest producer in the U.S. They sold 250,000 pieces in 1923 and 500,000 in 1930, including various models of guitars, banjos, and mandolins.
In the late 1930s, the firm began making violins again after a 19 year hiatus. They also bought brand names from the bankrupt Oscar Schmidt Co.—La Scala, Stella, and Sovereign. They sold not only Harmony products, but instruments under the Sears name, Silvertone, and a variety of trade names—Vogue, Valencia, Johnny Marvin, Monterey, Stella, and others.[citation needed] In 1940, after Kraus had a conflict with management, he left, but then bought enough stock to restart the company independently.[1]
The company peaked in 1964-1965, selling 350,000 instruments, but low-end foreign competition led to the company's demise 10 years later. Between 1945 and 1975, the Chicago firm mass-produced about ten million guitars. The company reduced their output over the years, later focusing on student models sold through JCPenney.
The pickups on almost all electric guitars and basses that Harmony produced were manufactured by Rowe Industries Inc./H. N. Rowe & Company/Rowe DeArmond Inc./DeArmond In. in Toledo, Ohio. Many of the instrument amplifiers badged with the Harmony name were manufactured by Sound Projects Company of Cicero, Illinois.[2]
The Harmony Guitar Company ceased in 1975,[3] and sold the Harmony name. In the early 2000s, an unrelated company, the Westheimer Corp., based in Lake Barrington, Illinois briefly imported "reissue" Harmony guitars.
Gallery
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1963 Sovereign
(Syd Barrett's 1st guitar) -
Harmoney guitar - A Birdhouse with Soul.jpg
Harmony acoustic
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Silvertone model 319 (1971) by Harmony Company, MIM PHX.jpg
Silvertone model 1219 Buck Owens "American" (1971) by Harmony Company[4]
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Harmony Archtone H1213 (SN 886H1213).jpg
H1213 Archtone (c.1963)[5]
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Harmony H15 Bobkat.jpg
H15 Bobkat
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Silvertone 1480 (Harmony H19 Silhouette).jpg
H19 Silhouette
(Silvertone 1480) -
Harmony Stratotone H88, H44, & Fernandes ZO-3.png
H88, H44 Stratotone, compared with travel guitar
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H46 Stratotone Mars (reissued Airline Tuxedo)
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H49 Stratotone Jupiter (Silvertone 1423)
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Harmony H53 Rocket - Jason rocking some riffs.jpg
H53 Rocket
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Black Keys at MOG.jpg
H78 3-pickups with Bigsby
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Harmony H82 Rebel body.png
H82 Rebel
See also
- Related brands
References
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- ↑ https://lectrolab.wordpress.com/lectrolab-models/r600/
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In 1975 the Harmony Guitar Co. in Chicago ceased operations and had a huge three day auction. - ↑ http://www.silvertoneworld.net/acoustic/1219buckowens/1219_Buck_Owens_American.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harmony Company. |
- Harmony Westheimer Guitars Company Website
- Harmony at National Music Museum