This article features my collection of Firth, Hall, & Pond covers. The many companies, individual and partnerships, run by these three men span most of the nineteenth century. At that time, the creation and growth of a middle class gave many more people a little extra cash that they could use to pursue activities such as music making. At the same time, the development of national and international postal systems gave music companies the ability to mass market their products. The rise of both the music industry and postal systems go hand-in-hand. As a result, surviving covers and other postal material offer an insight into the history of music.
I am especially interested in items that give an insight into the American music industry. For example, you can read about an early American stampless cover here, learn about a transaction from the Hook Organ builders here, and see an advertising cover from the Boston piano firm Chickering & Sons here. This post features a cover from A. M. Ordway, a music store in Hagerstown, Maryland.
This post features my collection of covers that come from some of the many permutations of the the Firth, Hall, and Pond music companies.
Firth, Hall, and Pond
John Firth, Sylvanus Pond, and William Hall were important to the development of the American music industry. Through their various partnerships, they supplied many musical products to Americans for much of the nineteenth century. At various points, they were manufacturers of instruments ranging from pianos to flutes and guitars, publishers of music, and importers of musical merchandise.
According to Nancy Groce in Musical Instrument Makers of New York (1991), John Firth was born in Yorkshire, England in 1789 and relocated to the United States in 1810. Born in Tarrytown, New York, William Hall was an apprentice musical instrument maker in Albany. Both of them joined the United States military during the War of 1812 where they met. Following the War, both of them began working for New York flute maker and music publisher Edward Riley. Incidentally, both Firth and Hall married daughters of Riley. Firth left the Riley workshop in 1815, Hall left in 1820, and the following year, Firth & Hall was established.
Sylvanus Pond was born in Milford, Massachusetts in 1792, moving to Albany in 1819. In 1825, he opened a store selling musical and military items. From 1828 until 1832, he was in a partnership with John Meacham, then he went to head up the piano department for Firth & Hall. In 1833, the company became Firth, Hall, & Pond.
Firth, Pond & Co.
In 1847, William Hall left the firm to create his own company. At that time, Firth and Pond brought their sons, Thaddeus Firth and William Pond into leadership, creating the Firth, Pond & Co. Sylvanus Pond retired from the company around 1850, but the Firth, Pond & Co. would continue until 1863.
My earliest cover from these entities is from Firth, Pond & Company and bears their address of 547 Broadway. Again, according to Groce, this was their address from 1857, until the partnership dissolved. This matches very nicely with the three-cent, dull red, perforated Washington stamp on the cover that was first released in 1857.
William Hall & Son
After leaving the company, William Hall formed a new business, partnering with his son, James Hall. The new company became William Hall & Son and would remain in business until the elder man died in 1874.
I have a cover in my collection from the William Hall & Son company which lists their address as 543 Broadway. According to Groce, this was the company address from 1859 until 1870. Incidentally, this address is one store over from 543 Broadway where his ex-partners Firth and Pond were located from 1857 until 1863.
The wonderful cover lists all of the activities of Hall & Son, including selling pianofortes (pianos) and music. They also manufacture flutes, guitars, banjos, brass instruments, drums, and publish music It is unlikely that they actually were manufacturing all of those instruments. Instead, they were probably contracting with others to make instruments for Hall to sell.
Importantly, this is one of my favorite covers, as this bears the famous two-cent Pony Express Rider Pictorial stamp. It is a rare cover in my collection that is collectible for both the stamp and for the company.
William A. Pond & Co.
William Pond was the son of Sylvanus Pond and became a member of the leadership of Firth, Pond & Co. in 1848. His father retired around 1850, and William Pond started his own company after Firth and Pond disbanded in 1863. Pond’s new company focused on music publishing and instrument dealing.
I have a cover from the early William A. Pond company, notice the address in the corner is the same 547 Broadway address of Firth & Pond. Of interest, the corner pre-printed address also indicates that the new company was “late” the Firth, Pond & co. Finally, the cancellation from New York has the date of September of 1863, the same year that the previous firm disbanded.
A second cover is an indicator of the success of the William A. Pond business, as now there are two locations listed, the 547 Broadway address and a second branch at 39 Union Square. The pre-printed corner card still indicates the former name of Firth and Pond, but now that text is very minimal. The stamp is a one-cent Benjamin Franklin stamp that was first released in 1870.
Of great interest, the back of the cover is covered in further advertising text. It includes products such as Empire pianos and George Woods & Co’s Organs. It also lists several method books including Mann’s New Method for the Piano Forte and Plaidy’s Technical Studies.
A final cover from the William A. Pond & Company bears yet another address, No. 25 Union Square, which seems to be the address for the publishing company. It appears on sheet music from the company as early as 1879. The two-cent reddish-brown Washington stamp helps date the cover further as it became available 1883.
In 1885, William Pond died, but the company continued under his name until 1917, when its catalog was purchased by Carl Fischer, bringing an end to nearly a century of the Firth, Hall, and Pond businesses. Taken together, this small collection of covers tells a story about the changing business relationships of these important nineteenth century American entrepreneurs.
