The early part of the 19^th century was marked by industrial innovation that was defined by our development of interchangeable parts. This technology paved the way for mass production of consistent high quality at an affordable price for the majority of working Americans whether it was weapons, machinery, clocks or musical instruments.

If we take the Civil War as our demarcation of the American Destiny [the move from an Agrarian economy to an Industrial economy] the period after Reconstruction constitutes what could be best characterized as our "great leap forward" as the American Nation became not just a producer and processor of raw materials but a manufacturing nation who would in time be second to none in terms of quality and quantity of our goods. No city better epitomizes this than Chicago and no company had as great an expansion as Washburn.

This is not the Washburn company of today or even of post WW2 America. This was the Colossus that started back in 1883 and at their peak were producing as much as post CNC modern manufacturers are producing today. This was due in large part to componetizing manufacturing technology. Bridges, braces, fretboards and necks were prime candidates for reproducible results. Yes, sides had to be bent, backs cut and matched, the same went for tops but it was not the one at a time approach that had been the model since the beginning. Now the idea was to make as much as one could ahead of time and assemble the units in more of an assembly line industrial process instead of the one guitar at a time that was the hallmark of European building.

Washburn provided the model that would give us companies such as Harmony and Kay and further down the line be echoed in companies like Yamaha and Samick. Not much personality but certainly consistent quality. This was a model to be emulated. Certainly the Gibson company of Kalamazoo,MI and C.F. Martin of Nazareth, PA knew how to best implement these ideas with not only the instruments made in the decade and a half period leading up to WW2 and the 22 year period afterward. Yes there was a wildness period but these grand old companies regained their footing and continue to produce the epitome of the American Guitar today.

The industrial guitar model was further refined by Leo Fender of California with his pioneering work in solid body guitars [bodies and necks made in batches and assembled in the final phase after finishing] as well as electronics with his work on effective electric guitar amplification. Gibson may have been first on the mountain but by 1960 Leo Fender was king of the hill with his series of amplifiers that defined the American sound of a generation or two. Western Swing, Rock and Roll, Blues, Jazz and Soul all were propelled by the products of Fender of Fullerton, California.

So many innovators, so many names, products.

But what of the vocal chords of the guitar? 1897 in Brunswick, NJ a factory was erected that would house one of the most efficient string making operations of the 20^th century. The National Musical String Company, better known as "Black Diamond Brand" started as a joint use facility making harmonicas as well as musical instrument strings. So efficient was this operation that they were able to have product placement in not only music stores but general stores, pharmacies and feed stores. This was in many ways the quintessential general use string that featured packaging innovations as the red envelopes with inner waxing to prevent rust as well as the classic black cardboard box. The Black Diamond Brand was ubiquitous up into the 1970's when the company was purchased by Kaman Music Group and relocated to Connecticut [1979] and re-named Kaman String Company.

Their (Black Diamond's) competition arrived in 1912 in the form of the Mapes String company. A family owned business that still supplies strings for a number of instruments but were makers of guitar strings into the 1970's. The business in this case is still owned and operated by the family.

What I'm getting out with these examples, trivia and minutiae is that on this Labor Day we should remember the innovators, the dreamers and most of all the builders of these instruments we all so love. We should remember that there is a name, a face, hands, in short workers who have made these instruments possible in the first place. They may have drawn a wage every two weeks and brown bagged it to the factory but the work they did, with the quality and pride that they brought to the work bench and to the world is to be marveled and honored.

Happy Labor Day!