Who has the earliest G&S Co. (Geib & Schaefer) branded case? Do you have a G&S branded case that you believe is original to an instrument dated before 1910? Do you have an early leather or canvas case that's branded G&S Co.? We know that G&S was founded in 1899 and at first made only leather and canvas cases. They probably started making hard shell cases around 1905-6, but maybe later? I'm not sure when they started stamping cases with the oval G&S Co. brand. They also used the diamond design on the pocket lid as their trademark. I'd love to have photos or even just your verbal description if you can help fill in our knowledge of the early years of G&S. Post here or send to kirtleymusic@comcast.net. I'm in the midst of writing an expanded version of The History of the Geib Musical Instrument Case Company. http://kirtleymusic.home.comcast.net...music/geib.htm
I also have the same questions regarding M&W cases (Maulbetsch & Whittemore). They were a major competitor to G&S and they seem to be the primary case supplier to Gibson in the pre-teen years. They were founded in 1886 and made many of the early leather cases we see today. What is the earliest documented date for an M&W hard shell case? I've seen them as early as 1904. Who has examples? I believe the early ones had an oval design on the pocket lid, then a diagonal square, and soon the double diamond which became their trademark.
I'd like to see if we can figure out which of these two companies produced the first hard shell case. I suspect it is M&W. (There were many other case makers but G&S and M&W were the big players. Also I am aware that many features of the hard shell case had been evolving in violin cases for years, but from what I've seen the standard hard shell case for fretted and orchestral instruments seems to suddenly appear on the scene around 1904.) I'd like to see if we can pool our collective knowledge regarding the emergence of the hard shell case.
Regards,
Steve
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