Area servedWorldwideProducts,OwnerWebsiteHolton is a brand owned by ' division. The original business was a used instrument shop owned by Frank Holton, a player, in, started in 1898. The firm built brass instruments for ten years in Chicago, then in, Wisconsin from 1918 until 2008, when production of Holton-branded instruments moved to, Ohio. The business remained independent until it was acquired by in 1964. Leblanc was acquired by Conn-Selmer in 2004 and its properties became subsidiaries of Conn-Selmer.
Contents.Frank Holton Frank E. Holton was born March 10, 1858 in, Michigan to farmers Otis (b. 1827) and Hanna A.
1829) Holton. He grew up with three sisters: Emma E. Holton, Alice Holton and Leona Holton. By the time he was 34, Frank Holton was an accomplished trombone player and principal trombone of the Band, a role that would later be filled. In 1885 he had partnered with in York & Holton, before he established his own company in 1898.Frank Holton's wife Florence was a music teacher. They had no children.
Holton Cornet Models
Frank Holton, though not an instrument maker himself, expanded his company to manufacture instruments which was his occupation until retiring at age 80. Frank Holton died after a protracted illness on April 16, 1942 at the age of 84. The Frank Holton Company Chicago Frank Holton's first business venture on his own was a small rented shop with a desk, two counters and two chairs that he had to paint himself at Clark and Madison streets in Chicago, in 1898, where he sold used instruments and his own formula slide oil for. Unable to make the rent at times, Holton was known to pawn instruments at a shop on Clark Street between 1898 and 1900.By 1907, a skilled horn maker had been hired, and the production of Holton instruments required the construction of a factory on the of Chicago.
It would be home to Frank Holton & Company for only a decade.Elkhorn In April 1918, Holton opened a factory in, Wisconsin moving over 200 employees and 85 of machinery from Chicago. The city had lured Holton to Elkhorn through the efforts of a group of local businessmen, who, acting under city mandate, built the new factory which was turned over to Holton and Co. Upon their arrival. That building remained as the core of the Holton factory until the decision in 2008 to merge Holton horn production with King and Conn instruments in Eastlake, Ohio.While the factory had been paid for by the city of Elkhorn, the cost of training skilled labor resulted in the first profits there not being seen until 1920.Along with machinery and employees, Holton brought the company band to Elkhorn which would quickly merge with the storied Elkhorn Band, which had been founded in 1840 by Charles Seelye only 3 years after the town of Elkhorn itself. The band had served as the 12th Regimental Band from 1861 to 1864 during the Civil War.Already building a full line of high-end brass instruments, Holton recognized the growth of music in the schools and began selling student-line instruments built by other workshops under the trade names Pertin and Beaufort. Holton also began production of saxophones in the late Chicago days, and would remain in production of such instruments into the post World War II era. Holton saxophones never enjoyed the reputation or sales of their competitors, or, but generate interest for the idiosyncratic keywork on some early models.
In the early 1930s the Holton Collegiate line of student horns was introduced, which would last through the 1970s. After 2004 the defunct Collegiate line was re-introduced by Conn-Selmer under their Holton brand, again targeting a balance of quality and price suitable for school music programs.In addition to building the company in Elkhorn, Frank Holton also built a subdivision of 5 and 6 room bungalows in 1919. The 25 homes were priced in the $3,000 to $4,000 range.
Post Frank Holton After retiring, at age 82 Frank Holton sold the company to employee William Kull. The company was run from that point forward by sales manager Elliot Kehl, though Kull would retain the title CEO until he died in 1944.During World War II, the company performed defense work, as did most all instrument manufacturers. Following the war, Elliot Kehl secured a controlling interest in the company and began development of several new products including the and a new line of. The Stratodyne was Holton's top line saxophone from 1948 to 1958 and the last model sold as a professional saxophone by Holton.Holton became the supplier for 's Vito line of student-line brasswinds and (briefly) saxophones in 1951. Leblanc acquired Holton in 1964 and phased out the Collegiate saxophone line in favor of their Vito-branded instruments.
The Collegiate brand for brasswinds was terminated in 1980. From 1971 on, Leblanc used the Martin Committee brand on some Holton model brasswinds.Under Conn-Selmer Leblanc was acquired by in 2004. In 2008, the Elkhorn factory was closed and production was moved to the Eastlake, Ohio plant that produces King and C.G.
Conn brasswinds. Conn-Selmer currently produces Holton-branded cornets, trumpets, french horns, trombones, and slide and valve oil. Some of the featured products built during the post-acquisition period include:. The Holton Collegiate and New Collegiate line of student brasswinds.
The Maynard Ferguson Trumpet series. The Farkas Model French horn. The Merker-matic Model French horn. The Harvey Phillips Model tubas. Frank Holton's trombone slide oil (the original formulation) and valve oilHolton artists The Holton company relied on endorsement by leading artists as one of its primary marketing tools. Often these artists collaborated on the design of instruments that they would then play and promote. Some would subsequently leave Holton to build instruments themselves.Among these were:.
Frank Holton (1858–1942), the former lead trombone with the Sousa Band and an accomplished performer who could demonstrate his product. (1869–1950), virtuoso and instrument maker behind the Holton Couturier New Model, performed as a Holton artist from 1907 until starting his own firm in 1916. (1890–1976), cornet and trumpet player and manufacturer of trumpets and performed as a Holton artist in 1917-18 prior to starting his own firm. (d.
Dictionary of Wisconsin History. Retrieved 16 September 2013. United States Census of 1860 (Heath Township, Allegan, Michigan). United States Census of 1870 (Allegan Village, Michigan). ^.
Retrieved 25 July 2011. United States Census of 1910 (track M5, city of Chicago, Illinois). ^ 'Frank Holton' (obituary),that may be what was listed in the obituary, but there was a daughter, Leta, who passed away in her early years., 17 April 1942. ^ The Guide, A Trip through the Holton Factory, The Frank Holton Company, Elkhorn, Wisconsin, 1920.
^ 'Band Instrument Factory to open in Elkhorn Monday', The Janesville Gazette, 18 April 1918. Hales, Pete.
Retrieved 26 July 2019. ^ Overton, Mark. Retrieved 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019. Elkhorn, 12 June 1919. Holton serial number charts lump brasswinds and saxophones together, so the terminal date of saxophone production remains vague. (see discussion: ).
Conn-Selmer, inc. Conn-Selmer, inc. Retrieved 20 July 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2011.External links., website of the history and instruments of the Frank Holton & Co.
HoltonAfter performing professional engagements with Sousa’s great band, Frank Holton opened up a small shop in Chicago in 1896, selling second hand instruments and his secret recipe of Electric Oil trombone slide oil. For the first two years, business was tight and Holton would spend evenings and weekends performing just to draw a salary to support his business. By 1898, business had sustained itself to the point that Holton could hire an instrument maker to begin making what he introduced as the “Holton Special” trombone. As business grew, his “Holton Harmony Hints” catalogue increased in size to include trombones, cornets, valve trombones, and mellophones by 1904.Business continued to grow and Holton’s instruments became the choice of top professionals including Vincent Bach, first trumpet for the Boston Symphony in 1914 (before he began building his own instruments in 1918). In 1917, Holton signed an agreement with the city of Elkhorn, Wisconsin to build a factory. In the agreement, a provision was made that if Holton paid out $500,000 in wages over seven years to support the community workforce, he would be granted the title to the land and building. Holton met this obligation in 1920.In June 1919, to inspire a stronger workforce to move from Chicago to Elkhorn, Holton bought seventeen acres and contracted 27 houses built to offer to his employees.
Production of top line professional instruments continued to grow. In 1929, Holton introduced a complete line of school grade instruments under the Holton Collegiate name.In 1939, Frank Holton sold his company to Fred Kull, a company employee.
In 1942, Frank Holton passed away. Throughout World War II as most manufacturers did, the Holton Company turned to making components for the military. As the war ended, the Holton Company saw steady growth. In 1964, after pressures to offer a complete range of woodwind instruments, the Holton Company sold to G. Leblanc Corporation.During Leblanc’s ownership, Holton would rise as a leader in low brass manufacturing. With the support of well known artists such as Philip Farkas and Ethel Merker; Holton’s French horns became increasingly popular.
Manufacturing of Holton instruments was retained in Elkhorn, Wisconsin until 2008 when it was relocated to Eastlake, Ohio.