nmiller
Drowning in lap steels
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- 7,447
I'm a combination player/collector/historian, and I've built up a small library of information about the obscure niches of guitar history that interest me. I also think it's nifty to keep a copy of a contemporary catalog with an instrument, just in case I need to look up the original list price of an amp from 1960. Rarely do I spend the money for original catalogs (most of what I have are reprints or digital scans), but I just splurged for a 1938 Targ & Dinner distributor's catalog because I have several Nationals listed inside.
What really struck me, beyond the wealth of info on early National electrics, was the lengthy section on accessories. Targ & Dinner sold everything from guitars and brass instruments to crank-powered portable record players, strings, music stands and guitar parts. Here are a few of my favorite pages.
Squier-Trued Strings, which would be bought by Fender in 1965 and give its name to the Squier line two decades later:
"Eureka Noiseless Talking Machine Lubricant": the most old-timey name I can possibly imagine. Opposite, replacement springs for record players (these were the "motors" that enabled crank-powered players to work). Having looked inside my Victrola, I wouldn't want to mess around in there without first obtaining a mechanic's license:
Kay Orchestra Desk Stands. Whole orchestras - whether they played jazz, Hawaiian, blues or pop - used to have one of these in front of every string player. It never occurred to me where they bought them:
Finally, a supplement from 1940, with a note that was probably written at the end of 1939 warning that "the critical European turmoil" might cause unforeseen problems with delivery:
What really struck me, beyond the wealth of info on early National electrics, was the lengthy section on accessories. Targ & Dinner sold everything from guitars and brass instruments to crank-powered portable record players, strings, music stands and guitar parts. Here are a few of my favorite pages.
Squier-Trued Strings, which would be bought by Fender in 1965 and give its name to the Squier line two decades later:
"Eureka Noiseless Talking Machine Lubricant": the most old-timey name I can possibly imagine. Opposite, replacement springs for record players (these were the "motors" that enabled crank-powered players to work). Having looked inside my Victrola, I wouldn't want to mess around in there without first obtaining a mechanic's license:
Kay Orchestra Desk Stands. Whole orchestras - whether they played jazz, Hawaiian, blues or pop - used to have one of these in front of every string player. It never occurred to me where they bought them:
Finally, a supplement from 1940, with a note that was probably written at the end of 1939 warning that "the critical European turmoil" might cause unforeseen problems with delivery:
