Oliver Ditson Company Covers

This article features my collection of Oliver Ditson Company covers. Although this blog is devoted to musical stamps, I also have a number of postal covers that are all music themed. I especially enjoy covers from American musical instrument companies.

The growth of a middle class in the United States in the nineteenth century gave people a little more cash to pursue activities such as music making. New musical instrument businesses took advantage of the postal system to reach customers across the United States and beyond. The rise of the music industry and the development of the postal system go hand-in-hand. As a result, surviving covers and other postal material offer an interesting insight into the history of the music industry.

You can read some of my other articles featuring American music industry covers. 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.

Recently, I posted covers from the Firth, Hall, and Pond firms. The covers help to tell the story of these important figures and their multiple partnerships. Similarly, my collection of covers related to the Oliver Ditson Company of Boston trace the history of that firm and other related companies. Many of these covers were purchased from another collector of musical covers from Ohio who sold me his collection in portions over the past few years.

Oliver Ditson & Company

Oliver Ditson (1811-1888) was born in Boston where he would spend his entire life. In 1823, Ditson began working in a book store on Washington Street where the proprietor Colonel Samuel Hale Parker, also sold some sheet music. Ditson’s interest, however, was in printmaking and he began to study that craft. After a fire destroyed the Parker store in 1835, the two men started a music store called Parker & Ditson at #107 Washington street, it moves to #135 in 1839. In 1842, Ditson bought out Parker’s half of the business and focused on publishing and selling sheet music.

In 1845, John C. Haynes, also of Boston, began working for Ditson. He became a loyal and trusted employee and in 1857, Haynes became a junior partner. The business became Oliver Ditson & Company.

I have a wonderful corner advertising cover from Oliver Ditson & Company. What makes it particularly amazing, is that it was sent to Mr. John C. Haynes. Strangely, it was sent to him at Martins Hotel in Rumford Corner, Maine. Perhaps he was on the road for business reasons. In any regard, the letter surely comes from 1857 or after because of the company name on the cover. While there is no date in the cancellation, because of the 3-cent rose Washington stamp, the cover must date from 1861 or after.

I have a second cover from right around the same time, maybe even slightly earlier. It has the same language in the corner (both have impressed text). It also has the same 3-cent Washington stamp. The addressee of the cover is George Frost, in care of Alvin Frost, in North Berwick, Maine. According to town records, Alvin was a farmer, born in South Berwick Maine in 1808. His second son was George, born on October 1, 1836. Helpfully, this cover bears two cancellations. The first, indicating it was sent from Boston on July 22nd. The second, that it came to Berwick on July 24, 1862.

A New Design

The next cover in the collection bears very similar language in the corner. However, instead of impressed text, it has a black printed text. The major change is that on the earlier covers, it says the company sells American and Foreign Music, and pianos. On this later cover, it also includes organs (presumably reed organs).

The address on the cover is for an H. L. Sheldon of Middlebury, Vermont. Incredibly, Henry Luther Sheldon was a very colorful figure who has left quite a record behind him. Born in Salisbury, Vermont in 1821, Sheldon relocated to Middlebury in 1841. He worked at the post office and was also the organist for St. Stephen’s Episocopal Church. Most importantly, he was an inveterate collector, and started a museum that survives as the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. Learn more here.

Sales Agents

In 1861, Ditson began to sell musical instruments, but instead of selling them under his name and at his store, a new location at #33 Court Street (former business of Elias Howe, drum maker) becomes the instrument store. It is run by John C. Haynes under his name. The John C. Haynes company was a division of Ditson and Haynes and Ditson were partners.

One of the more popular instruments sold were guitars. The guitars were sold with several brand names including “Excelsior,” and “Tilton Improvement” guitars. The company also made banjos, mandolins, zithers, flutes, and drums. In addition, the company sold pianos, organs, and brass instruments made by other companies.

As with other companies, manufacturers sold instruments through a network of sales agents, usually music teachers who sold instruments to their students. This was a common arrangement, and you can read more about this kind of arrangement in an article I wrote regarding a 1919 cover and all of its contents from the Gibson Company.

An 1884 cover in my collection is from a W. L. Hayden, of Boston, who was a teacher of guitar, flute, piano, cornet, and zither. The cover says he is an agent for “Tilton’s Patent Guitars,” which was one of the several Ditson brands.

Charles H. Ditson & Co.

The Oliver Ditson & Company was a business from Boston. However, the company grew through the nineteenth century and had branches in many cities including Cincinatti, Philadelphia, and New York. In Cincinatti, John Church ran the brance. The Chicago branch was run by two Ditson employees, P. J. Healy and George Washburn Lyon, who would eventually start their own company that became a powerhouse in the music industry and a major competitor for DItson.

In 1867, Charles Ditson, son of Oliver, opened the New York City branch at #74 Broadway. It would move to #711 Broadway in 1876, expanding to also include #843 Broadway.

I am very glad to have a cover from the Charles H. Ditson branch of the company in New York City. Strangely, the cover does not use one of the store addresses, but instead uses as a return address “Box A, Station D.” The cover bears a two-cent Columbian stamp from 1893 and a cancellation from March 29th, 1893.

The address on the cover is to McDonald Furman of Ramsey, South Carolina, in Sumter County, who was born in 1863 and died in 1904. He was an ethnologist and anthropologist in Sumter County, South Carolina, who was known for his work documenting the populations of black and native Americans of the state. He was an adviser to the Smithsonian Institution and his papers survive at the South Carolina Library. Learn more here.

John C. Haynes

In 1888, the president of the company, Oliver Ditson died. John C. Haynes became the president with Charles Ditson as a senior partner in the large multi-city company. The business changed its name to the Oliver Ditson Company.

I have a single cover with the Oliver Ditson Company name that dates to some time in the early 1890s. It has an upside down two-cent dark red Washington stamp that was made beginning in 1890. On this cover, the advertising part only features vocal and choral music selections. There is no indication of instruments for sale. The address is to a J. W. Wheeler of Windsor, New York, in Broome County.

Bay State Brand Instruments

From almost exactly the same moment in time is a cover from the John C. Haynes & Company, which was still the division of the Oliver Ditson Company selling instruments. Instead of being a corner cover, it has an advertisement that spreads across the top of the envelope and a border that goes around the entire edge. There are several items of note. First, the cover has the same exact addresses as the previous cover for the Oliver Ditson Company. They both list the locations as 453-463 Washington Street.

Secondly, the envelope advertises the “Celebrated” Bay State brands of mandolins, guitars, banjos, zithers, and flutes. This trade name began in 1894 and was sold through the Haynes company. The envelope also has a red two-cent Washington from the 1890s. In addition, the cover bears the address for Mr. R. G. Parsons of Derby Line, Vermont.

The final cover in my collection is quite different, but still for the John C. Haynes company and really advertises the “Bay State” brand. It has the same two-cent Washington stamp and incredibly, bears the same address as the previous cover.

Interestingly, Derby Line, Vermont is directly on the border with Quebec, Canada. The town of Rock Island, Quebec, is directly contiguous. Due to errors in early surveys, many of the buildings in the town sit directly on the border. The Parsons were a prominent family in the Derby Line / Rock Island community and there is a prominent “Parsons Building” on the Canadian side of the border.

Conclusion

John Haynes retired in 1903 at which point the John C. Haynes division was rolled into the Oliver Ditson Company. He died in 1907 and the instrument division was sold to the Vega Banjo company. Charles Ditson became the president of the Oliver Ditson Company following Haynes. He continued to run the music publishing portion of the business until his death in 1929.

The Oliver Ditson company was an immense and important music business in nineteenth century America. Its many branches and business provided instruments and music to a huge portion of the country and many subsequent music business including John Church and Lyon & Healy were the direct result of the Ditson company training so many employees in the business of music. My collection of covers is a nice representation of the various permutations and branches of the business. It is a window into this important music business.