This article features a wonderful H. N. White “King” cornet advertising cover. Regular readers know that I occasionally feature a few items from my postal history and cover collection. 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 another advertising cover from a major musical instrument manufacturer, the brass instrument builder H. N White of Cleveland Ohio. The advent of envelopes (first U.S. patent dates from 1849) brought on the possibility of decorating them with logos and eye-catching designs. Inevitably, business saw an opportunity for advertising. Such used envelopes are, in philatelic terms, advertising covers. Learn more at this helpful site. There are a ton of such advertising covers from piano manufacturers and dealers as well as music publishers, because this was a major industry in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Other instruments, however, are much more rare on covers. This particular example with a very large cornet is particularly spectacular.
The H. N. White Company
In 1893, the band instrument repairperson and engraver Henderson White began building instruments. His first successful design was for a local trombone player, Thomas King. White decided to name the model the “King” trombone. Subsequently, White would use the “King” model name for cornets and baritones as well.
After reaching success with brass instruments, in the early twentieth century White wanted to expand into the woodwind market. Initially, he imported saxophones and clarinets from France. However, World War One cut off the supply of European made woodwinds, so in 1917, White built a factory to manufacture his own. Once again, the “King” model name was used, this time for professional grade instruments, while student lines were labeled as “Cleveland” or “American Standard” model instruments. The company became particularly important in the saxophone market competing with both Buescher and Conn for market dominance.
Henderson White died in 1940, and beginning in 1941 his widow Edna White took over as president of the company. During World War II the company made radar units and fuses for the military. Henderson and Edna’s daughter Cathryn became vice president of the company in 1945, making it a rare company whose two top officers were both women. During this period, several important swing player used White instruments including Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Parker, and Henry James.
The company was sold in 1965 to the Seeburg Corporation and the name was changed to “King Musical Instruments” to align it with its most successful model name. The company has been sold several times and today is owned by Conn-Selmer, Inc., a subsidiary of Steinway.
The Cover
The dominant feature on the cover is a wonderful depiction of a cornet. While a cornet is related to a trumpet (they are both soprano brass instruments) the cornet is not as long and it has a warmer tone, due in part to its tubing being a bit more conical than a trumpet. The instrument was very popular in brass bands, as a solo instrument, and even in early jazz. Things began to change due to Louis Armstrong, who became an international superstar and favored the trumpet. Old “King” model trumpets are still popular with some players and collectors as you can see on this website.
The large cornet on this cover is in the upper center of the envelope. To its left, the address and return information for the White Company. Wonderfully, the 2 cent Washington carmine stamp is in a position where it looks to be coming out of the bell of the trumpet. A wavy cancellation adds to the effect, looking like a soundwave blasting from the trumpet. The date cancellation is nearly impossible to read, but the addressee of the cover is M. S. Rickel of Laramie, Wyoming.
A receipt cancellation on the back of the cover helps to date the piece. It marks its arrival in Laramie at 2:30 am on February 1, 1909.
Marion Sylvester Rickel
The advertising cover was sent to M. S. Rickel in Laramie, Wyoming. Wonderfully, a University of Wyoming yearbook from 1909 lists a Marion Sylvester Rickel as being an assistant professor of vocal and instrumental music. An April 1911 report from a publication called The University Melange says that he was at the position from 1907 to 1909. Amazingly, he is also shown in a photo along with the “Girls Mandolin Orchestra.”
It does seem that his time in Wyoming was very short. As Marion was originally born in Ohio in July of 1859. The 1900 census lists his occupation as a music teacher and further shows that he has a wife, “Carrie B.” Their ages are Marion (40) and Carrie (21), and they have been married for five years. The extraordinary (some might say scandalous) age difference may mean that she was a student of his, a not uncommon situation.
After the brief stint in Wyoming, Rickel was back in Ohio. Sadly, by 1930, his wife was dead leaving the much older man a widow at the age of 70. He died in 1934.
