The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga, Part IV

In 1992, a three-part article appeared in the Saxophone Journal written by Ralph Morgan.  In addition to his talents and accomplishments as a fabricator of mouthpieces, Mr. Morgan was also a woodwind historian.  The article, The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga, gave an accounting of the history of M.C. Gregory, allegedly a Los Angeles mouthpiece maker.  The basics of the article were from Mr. Morgan's interview of Charles Bay, another well known mouthpiece maker.  M.C. Gregory had been dead for almost 40 years by that time, so the article was based primarily on secondary sources, i.e., what people remembered about what other people had said.  Other parts seemed to have been just made up.  This blog, Parts IV through VIII of The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga, if you will, is based on more direct evidence.  

This information was gathered in a collaborative effort, almost a full year, with Paul Panella (bluto on Sax On The Web).   We went back and forth, round and round, and back and forth some more on trying to decipher what we were learning and trying to align that with the prior stated history of M.C. Gregory.  It was frustrating to find evidence that just couldn't be reconciled with prior allegations.  For me personally, I basically decided to ignore most of the prior assertions and just go with what evidence we could uncover.  We found "dots" of evidence, but connecting the dots requires some (ongoing) guess work.  And if we had a picture in our minds of what the dots would create, that could effect how we tried to connect them.  All in all, a frustrating and fascinating endeavor. 

Why so many new parts to the Saga?  Because there is so much to correct.  Where the new parts of the Saga are based on conjecture, I'll try to make that apparent so that you can draw your own conclusions.  I will also include my own analysis and conclusions.  

A partial cast of characters:

• Malcolm Culver Gregory
• Carl Max Satzinger
• Arnold Koenig Satzinger
• Gale Satzinger
• Roy John Maier
• Frank Vincent De Michelle
• Cesar A. Tschudin
• Elmer Harold Beechler
• Judy Beechler Roan
• Nathan Harris Snyder

To begin at the beginning, M.C. Gregory was born in Beloit, Wisconsin on April 26, 1891.  On his 1917 World War I registration card, he lists himself as a postal clerk in Redfield, South Dakota, with a wife and one daughter.  He went into the service on August 10, 1918 and was honorably discharged on February 4, 1919, having attained the rank of "Musician 3rd class" in a Texas regiment.  

The picture is not of M.C. Gregory, just what he might have looked like had he played the saxophone as a doughboy.  Well, maybe not the cape.  Unfortunately, there is no evidence that he played a woodwind and I have yet to locate his service records, although they may exist.*

The war ended November 11, 1918, so Mr. Gregory was only in the U.S. Army several months and he never left the country.  (His contemporary, Mr. Otto Link, had a similar, even shorter, military experience, but that will have to wait for the Link Mouthpiece Saga).  Shortly after being discharged, Mr. Gregory moved his family to California, where his parents had previously moved.  His father Wallis was a private investigator in southern California.
Gale mouthpiece Gale Mouthpiece Gale Mouthpiece 
We next find him living with his wife Hazel and daughter at his mother-in-law's house in Glendale, California in 1920.  The 1920 census shows that there was also a guest at the house; Gregory's 60 year-old mother, Mary Gregory,(nèe Culver) who lists her occupation as a piano teacher.  That could be the source of Mr. Gregory's musical training (if any).  He lists his occupation as a clerk at a shoe store.  Ten years later in the 1930 census, he lists his occupation as a salesman at a music publishing house.   He had remarried (Gladys) and his then 13 year-old daughter was living with his first wife Hazel (who had also remarried).
Gale Mouthpiece Gale Mouthpiece Gale Mouthpiece 
We should now go back and look at The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga as printed in the Saxophone Journal.  The following words in italics and quotations marks are a direct transcription of the assertions made.  The article picks up where the above history stops and, based on Charles Bay's understanding of events, states that M.C. Gregory was "a fine woodwind man in the Hollywood studios" who developed a line of mouthpieces in the 1930's and named his company (Gale Products) after his daughter, Gale."  Mr. Gregory distributed his mouthpieces through "the Rico company, then based in France."  Mr. Gregory later "contracted glaucoma and lost the sight of one eye" and committed suicide.  Charles Bay told Ralph Morgan that "Gale, in fact, was M.C.  Gregory's daughter, to whom he was very devoted, and who took a great interest in the firm." Gale Gregory ran the business until she "lost her life in a house fire."  The company was then run for 20 years by the "company attorney, Cesar Tschudin," who many years later sold the company to Bay.  The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga also mentions Carl Satzinger as an engineer who developed the molds and equipment used by M.C. Gregory.  There is also a claim that a super-secret special rubber compound was provided by a local rubber manufacturer.  We've heard that one before.  And there is quite a bit of text about how Bay really admired M.C. Gregory mouthpieces and jumped at the opportunity to own what he believed was "Gregory's old company."
Gale Mouthpiece Gale Mouthpiece Gale Mouthpiece 
We might as well stop at this point because the facts don't support any of this story.  In prior blogs, I have advocated that we should use Carl Sagin's rule of critical thinking - "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."  I generally find that evidence, let alone extraordinary evidence, tends to be lacking in claims about musical instruments and accessories.  I'm going to give you my theory as to why that is. 
Gale Mouthpiece Gale Mouthpiece Gale Mouthpiece 
Musicians like things that sound good.  That's what making music is all about.  If an instrument or an accessory sounds good, musicians will buy it.  This also holds true as to assertions about musical instruments and accessories.  If an assertion about a musical accessory sounds good, musicians will buy it.  If the story sounds fantastic, they'll buy it.  If it sounds incredible, even unbelievable, they will still buy it.  I will try to resist this tendency of "musical make-believe" in telling a different version of The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga. 

Right from the start, we should note that nowhere in the original Saga is Mr. Gregory referred to by his actual name.  He is called "M.C." Gregory because that is the brand name Rico used on their mouthpieces.  His actual name was Malcolm Culver Gregory.  One would think that Mr. Bay and Morgan would have known that had they done any research.  Further, our research showed that he didn't use the nickname "M.C.," but rather, Malcolm went by the nickname "Greg."  Hmmmmm.

Malcolm Gregory did not have a daughter named Gale.  He did not have a company named Gale.  In fact, he never had a company, ergo, he did not have a company attorney named Cesar Tschudin.  Cesar Tschudin was not an attorney.  It is extremely unlikely that Malcolm even met Cesar Tschudin.  There is no evidence that Carl Satzinger developed any molds and equipment used by Malcolm.  We have no evidence that Malcolm played a woodwind or was a fine musician (nowhere is he listed as a musician of any type, unlike other characters in this Saga**).  In fact, we found scant direct evidence that Malcolm Gregory was actually involved in the physical production of mouthpieces.  We found more credible evidence that Malcolm was not involved in the actual fabrication, only the finish work for Rico.  I could go on, but maybe we should just go back to what we actually know about Malcolm Culver Gregory and his involvement in the mouthpiece business.  
Gale Companion Gale Hollywood Gale Companion
Most of the new information comes from public records.  Some of the information comes from my conversations with Gale.  Remember Gale?  Malcolm Gregory's daughter who died in a house fire?  Since both Paul and I have recently talked with her, that integral mistaken part of The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga is easy to correct.  Gale's alleged operation of the "company" after Malcolm's death in 1950, her subsequent death, and the 20-year operation of the company by her attorney are all essential and fundamental parts of the original Saga.  If those allegations aren't true, then the Saga isn't true.  (Gale doesn't remember Malcolm ever playing a musical instrument or fabricating mouthpieces.  Not that he didn't.  It's just strange that she never saw or heard of him playing woodwind mouthpieces.  Back to our story.)
Gale Companion Gale Hollywood Gale Hollywoood

Malcolm Gregory's only daughter was named Maxine.  She was married at the age of 17 to Carl Satzinger, age 25.  She was married in Arizona, apparently under an alias, and the marriage certificate was signed by her birth mother, Hazel, as Maxine was a minor at the time.  All of this, and much more, was learned by accessing census records, city directories, phone books, draft registrations, marriage licenses, the California Secretary of State, etc.  Hard evidence tells a much different story than the one alleged in the original M.C. Gregory Saga. 
Gale Companion Gale Hollywood Gale Companion

Malcolm Gregory listed himself as a "Department Manager" at Platt Music in 1934 through 1936.  Platt Music had a business model where it leased space in larger department stores (as the store's music department).  Malcolm either worked in the music department at a store or in the Platt Building in downtown Los Angeles.  Either way, he had a day job as a music store department manager, not as a studio musician as alleged in the original M.C. Gregory Saga.***

In the 1937 Los Angeles directory, Malcolm lists his occupation as "musical instruments."  Also in 1937, the "M.C. Gregory" line of mouthpieces first appears in the Selmer U.S.A. catalog.  In 1938, a city directory states that Malcolm worked at 1008 Hill Street in Los Angeles.  Here's a picture of it.  You can see that it's available for rent!

In 1939, Gregory worked at 5907 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.  That store front is also still standing and was available for rent, but when I recently went back to Google Earth, the sign had been taken down.  

Neither location is what anybody would call a "factory."****  They are of sufficient size to run a music store or maybe a one or two man mouthpiece finishing operation.  Since they were storefront properties, it would be expensive space for just a fabrication business.  Unfortunately, we never found any proof that Malcolm Gregory actually fabricated a mouthpiece at these locations or paid the rent at these locations.    

You may have read something about an M.C. Gregory "Company" as was asserted in the Saga.  If we want to engage in musical make-believe, we can even invent a name like Gregory Musical Instruments.  That company did exist in 1938-39.  Unfortunately, it was in Bridgewater, Pennsylvania.  I could not find any reference to a Los Angeles business name under Malcolm, M.C., Greg Gregory, etc.  No California corporations were ever formed under that name.  From that, I conclude that there never was a company.  I should say that there never was a Gregory company.  And we can support that with documentation.

There was a yearly Los Angeles directory for musical instrument manufacturers.  Here is a page from the 1942 Los Angeles city directory.  Listed under musical instrument manufacturers are names that you might recognize.  F.E. Olds and Sons.  Reed Corporation of America (at 407 E. Pico Blvd.)  Rico Products Ltd. (at 5905 Melrose Ave.).  Note that Rico Products specifically states that they manufacture "mouth pieces" at that address.  Also note that the Rico Products (5905 Melrose) is the same addresses given by Malcolm Gregory has his places of employment (5907 Melrose).  5905 is the "man" door and 5907 is the "garage" door at the same site (shown above in the Google Earth photo above).  In the 1942 L.A. directory, Malcolm lists himself as "manager at Rico Products."

The Los Angeles woodwind mouthpiece fabricators listed in the 1940 LA city directory.  William Naujoks and Everett McLaughlin (shown under Instrument Repair) also made mouthpieces, including a collaborative effort called the Sil-Va-Lae.  Check out the address for Mr. McLaughlin.  Small world, as he was also "next door" to Rico.  Earl Strickler, listed under repair, also fabricated instruments and is associated with F.E. Olds.  So it appears that every LA mouthpiece company of note is listed.  There was no listing for Mr. Malcolm Gregory or his "company" like there is for Rico Products, his employer.  So what was the model name of the mouthpiece that Rico Products Ltd. made at the time?  I'll give you a clue.  It starts with the initials M.C.

We also researched the 1940 United States census, which for the first time included a category called "working on own account."  I even found the instructions given to the 1940 census workers as to how to determine whether a person was an employer, an employee, or working on own account (abbreviated "OA"), the three possible designations for that census period.  While "OA" is not exactly a clear statement of what was going on, it does provide some insight as to how Malcolm was earning a living.  

First of all, according to the directions given to census workers at the time, if you were employing anybody, you were listed as an employer.  So we know that Malcolm was not an employer.  Not of his wife Gladys, or Karl Satzinger, or his daughter Maxine or granddaughter Gale, or anyone else.  That makes it impossible to assert that he had a "company."  

Second, if he was working both on his own account and as a Rico employee at the same time, whichever source of funds was greater would have determined his census status.  The 1940 direction to census workers gave an example.  If a doctor works solely for fees, he is working on his own account.  If he employs an assistant, even if it is his wife, he is an employer.  If he also works at a hospital, and derives more funds from that, then he is an employee even though he works on his own account at other times.

The 1940 instructions to census workers goes on with other examples.  If a "washerwoman" (1940 terminology) works at a laundry, she is an employee.  If she also washes laundry at home at night (e.g., shirts at 15 cent each), she might be working on her own account if she makes more on the piece work than at her daytime employment.  A person could work for the L.A. Times newspaper as an employee, but if they were only selling papers on the street on a commission basis ("Read all about it!"), then they are working on their own account.

The census shows that Malcolm was working on his own account with his wife Gladys as a "helper," not as an employee of "his business."  In fact, he could not have any employees and still be listed as "OA" on the 1940 census.  

Line 44 is Malcolm Gregory working on his own account (OA).  Line 45 is Gladys Gregory listed as "NP," a "not paid" helper.

Malcolm Gregory never incorporated a business and it doesn't look like he ever had an actual stand alone business.  I think I know why that was.  No matter where he claimed as a business address, the first "M.C. Gregory" Model A and Model B mouthpieces were all stamped "Rico" or "Rico Products, Ltd. Distributors."  In the original Gregory Mouthpiece Saga, Charles Bay believed that Rico Products was a French company that distributed "some" of M.C. Gregory's mouthpieces.  The Saga states "The Rico line of mouthpieces was a carbon copy of the Gregory, but with the Rico logo also imprinted above the Gregory name."  That gives the impression that Mr. Gregory personally fabricated mouthpieces in his own business, some of which were distributed by Rico.  Unfortunately, there is no evidence of any early Gregory pieces that were not stamped "Rico" or "Rico Products, Ltd. Distributors" and distributed exclusively by Rico (in the U.S. and not in France).  That led us to suspect that Malcolm Gregory was very closely affiliated with Rico and might have been part of Rico Products, Ltd. from the start.  

Mr. Gregory's association with Rico Products appears to have been more than a close business relationship.  In the same 1939 Los Angeles directory consulted above, Rico Products' business address was also listed as 5907 Melrose Ave.  We now know that Malcolm Gregory was an employee of Rico when Rico was producing the "M.C. Gregory" brand of mouthpieces.  We also know that Mr. Gregory was never included in any directories as a mouthpiece fabricator.

Malcolm's 1941 WWII draft registration card shows him as a self-employed "reed instrument mouthpiece maker," but he states that his then business address was 407 E. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles.  That was the business address of Rico and the Reed Corporation of America at the time.  So while he was listed as working on his "own account" pursuant to the definition in the 1940 census, in 1941 he also considered himself employed at Rico as a "mouthpiece maker."

In the 1942 Los Angeles City Directory, Mr. Gregory lists himself as a "manager" at Rico Products.  Not as the owner of a woodwind mouthpiece business, but a manager at Rico Products, i.e., an employee of Rico.  As we have seen in the 1942 directory, Rico lists themselves as the "manufacturer of mouthpieces" at a time when the M.C. Gregory brand was Rico's only brand of mouthpiece.

All woodwind players know Rico Products because of Rico reeds.  They might even be familiar with some of Rico Products major partners at the time, Roy J. Maier, Lloyd G. Broadus,***** and Frank V. De Michele.  More on them in later blogs.

Based on the historical evidence, it is difficult to see any distinction between Mr. Gregory and his employer, Rico Products.  There might have been some business justification for making "M.C. Gregory" brand mouthpieces appear distinct from Rico Products, with Rico only being a "distributor," but in reality the businesses seem to have been one and the same, with Malcolm Gregory being an employee of Rico during some of, and maybe the entire, relationship.  Maybe a mouthpiece embossed with the name M.C. Gregory "sounds better" to a musician than the same mouthpiece embossed with just the name Rico Products?  But the fact is that we could find no evidence, other than the garbled claims in the original M.C. Gregory Saga, that Malcolm Gregory ever played a woodwind and surprisingly little evidence that he was involved in the fabrication of mouthpieces.

Gregory's 1940 census designation as "OA" (working on own account) is perfectly in line with producing mouthpieces for Rico on a piece rate basis.  Piece rate work, like the 15 cents per shirt laundry example above, was common at the time but fell out of favor because it was so easy for an "employer" to take advantage of workers.  A classic case of the era was a trucking business that paid workers piece rate for every pallet that they unloaded.  If a freight truck wasn't there, they got nothing.  Since they weren't considered employees, they had to wait outside on the loading dock until the next truck showed up.  Examples like this (the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court) lead to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which then lead to a reduction in piece work contracts.  

(2022 Update: Since this blog was posted in 2017, the 1950 census reports were released to the public.  As suspected, Malcolm (age 57) was listed as an "employee" of a "private musical instrument company" working "20 hours a week" as a "processor."  His wife was not listed as working.  So everything still points to him working for Rico Products (part time in 1950) and never having a stand alone mouthpiece business).

As we will see in a subsequent blog, it is likely that Malcolm Gregory was producing mouthpieces for Rico on a piece work basis (OA) and making more money from that than from wages at Rico (if any).  Rico could request 100 tenor mouthpieces in a certain chamber/lay and Malcolm would receive X cents per piece when they were completed.  That also comports with Rico being the sole source of Gregory mouthpieces and Gregory not having a company, or a business, or even control of the mouthpiece molds.  It also makes sense that the M.C. Gregory line of mouthpieces had serial numbers (not true with later Gale Products mouthpieces) in order to keep track of the number of pieces that Mr. Gregory produced for Rico.

Here is the first public advertisement we could find for M.C. Gregory mouthpieces or, more accurately, Rico's M.C. Gregory brand of mouthpieces.  In the 1937 and 1938 Selmer catalog, the Rico trademarked treble clef and staff lines logo is embossed above the Gregory diamond logo.  

The text claims that Rico enlisted a group of people to develop the "RICO" model mouthpiece for them.  It was designed by M.C. Gregory with a team of musicians and technicians.  No claims were ever made in the early advertisements that Mr. Gregory actually had anything to do with the fabrication of the Rico mouthpieces.  "RICO" model mouthpieces were available for several instruments and in many different lays and chamber configurations.  But it is a "RICO" model mouthpiece featuring Rico's new trademark (at page 2).  Thank you, Mr. Gregory, for participating in the development of a line of mouthpieces for Rico Products, Ltd. 

Back in the day, if you wanted to buy a Link, Dukoff, or Beechler mouthpiece, you could contact Otto Link, Bobby Dukoff, or Elmer Beechler directly.  They each advertised at the time and were included in various trade journals.  You could simply look up their name, address, and phone number if you wanted to contact them to purchase a mouthpiece.  If you wanted to buy an M.C. Gregory brand mouthpiece, you contacted Rico Products.  Until we started this research, nobody even knew that M.C. stood for Malcolm Culver.  Apparently, not even Mr. Bay.  Not that it matters, as Malcolm went by the nickname Greg.  But his anonymity and fusion with Rico indicates that he was never a stand alone business.

Decades later, it was claimed (only by Charles Bay) that M.C. Gregory produced mouthpieces, only some of which were distributed by Rico, and some people lost track of the "RICO" model and "Gregory by Rico" history.  And, just like Betty Crocker is considered a great cook, Malcolm Gregory is now a stand-alone master mouthpiece fabricator.  What he actually did regarding mouthpiece fabrication isn't clear.  In the 1940 census, he lists he and his wife as involved in mouthpiece making, but as to who did what, that part is lost to us.  It is entirely possible that Gladys Gregory is the one responsible for the fine hand finishing on the "RICO" aka "Gregory" mouthpieces.

Let's look at some more of the earliest advertising.  In 1938, the mouthpieces were still advertised as "RICO" mouthpieces designed by M.C. Gregory (sorry about the low resolution).

The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga says that the logo in the middle bottom of the page was Rico's registered trademark in France.  Nope, but it was intended to look like Rico had some connection with France.  The M.C. Gregory Saga also states that the Rico Company was "then based in France."  Also not true.  At the time, it was run by two guys (Broadus and De Michelle) from Chicago.  Roy Maier officially joined the venture a year later.  Like other woodwind ventures at the time, implying a French connection "sounds better."  Broadus and De Michelle probably also thought that "Ltd" sounded classy, although it may have meant nothing.******

In 1943, it still appeared as a "RICO" mouthpiece with the "M.C. Gregory" model name.  In a 1943 picture advertisement, the diamond logo had moved above "Rico Products, Ltd Distributor."  

"Jimmy Simpson" mouthpieces came out at about the same time and have been lumped in with Gregory pieces, although it was just another Rico mouthpiece.  There is no evidence anywhere that Rico assigned Mr. Gregory to design or manage any aspect of the production of Rico's distinctly different "Simpson" mouthpiece.  And as with Rico's "M.C. Gregory" line of mouthpieces, there is no evidence that Mr. Simpson himself fabricated and/or finished "Jimmy Simpson" mouthpieces.  Mr. Simpson was the manager at Lockie Music Exchange, an early retailer of Rico Reeds.  A little more about the involvement of Lockie Music Exchange and Rico Products is in this blog.

We also looked at published tables for the tip openings and lays for mouthpieces of that era.  Here is a 1938 chart that has the facing numbers for Selmer, Goldbeck, Link, and other popular mouthpieces of the time.  It includes the facing numbers for the Rico tenor mouthpiece.  Notice that the Rico tip and chamber designations are what some now call "M.C. Gregory" tip and chamber numbers, because that is the only model of mouthpiece that Rico was making.  

Here is an old advertisement for both the Rico Reloplex and the Rico Gregory.  Actually, the ad says "Reloplex by Rico" and "Gregory by Rico."  Rico may have been producing the Reloplex and the Gregory models at the same time.  The Reloplex is injection molded plastic, a completely different manufacturing process, requiring the use of radically different equipment from any mouthpiece carrying the Gregory brand name.  

I understand that most musicians are not familiar with the difference between injection molded thermoplastics, cast resin, and compression molded vulcanized rubber, but come on.  Just because the advertisements are on the same page is not proof that Malcolm Gregory ever had anything to do with the Rico Reloplex.

Somehow this all got interpreted as Rico was only distributing mouthpieces for Mr. Gregory, and further, every Rico mouthpiece, including the Reloplex, the Mickey Gillette, and the Jimmy Simpson were handmade by M.C. Gregory.  Don't ask me how.  We actually found about as much evidence that Mr. Simpson fabricated the "Jimmy Simpson" pieces as we did that Mr. Gregory fabricated the "M.C. Gregory" mouthpieces, i.e., none.  I'll get to more evidence in Part VII that Gregory as the fabricator of these mouthpieces is not correct.

But let's move on to another player in the Saga.  In 1936, Carl Max Satzinger, who had married Malcolm's daughter Maxine in 1934, was working at a battery business in Monrovia, California.  Thus, he was working full time at a different location in a different industry when Rico first began marketing its "M.C. Gregory" brand of mouthpieces, so it is unlikely that Carl (a non-musician) somehow developed the first mouthpiece molds and equipment for Rico.  Carl later came to work with Gregory for a short period, but not "for" Gregory, as we now know that Malcolm did not have any employees.  In a later Los Angeles City Directory, Carl Satzinger listed himself as a "clerk" working with M.C. Gregory, whatever that means.  So there is some evidence of Malcolm Gregory and Carl Satzinger working together.  Apparently, Satzinger learned about woodwind mouthpieces from somebody, as Satzinger had no woodwind or musical experience.  

Oddly, by the 1940 census, Carl lists himself as a "manufacturer of musical instrument parts" with his "own business."  Like Malcolm Gregory, he was also working on his own account (OA), meaning that he was neither an employee or an employer.  He could have been another "helper" (like Gladys Gregory) in producing mouthpieces at piece rate for Rico Products.  Also strange is that in the 1940 Los Angeles City Directory Carl's younger brother, Arnold Satzinger, is listed as a machinist for musical instruments.  Arnold's 1942 WWII induction papers also list him as a machinist of musical instruments.  In speaking with his surviving children, none of them were familiar with this part of Arnold's work history.  Maybe Arnold Satzinger helped his brother Carl start a mouthpiece business by machining the molds?  It appears that may be what happened, as a business venture started by Carl (Gale Products, Inc.) had molds completely different and incompatible with the Rico Gregory molds, as we will see in a later blog.

Satzinger family members were familiar with the idea that Carl figured out a way to get around the rubber shortage during the war (Arnold went off to become a Navy pilot).  Carl developed a way to make mouthpieces out of resin (as did other mouthpiece makers).  What isn't as clear is what happened after the war.  Carl's brother Arnold went into the insurance business.  We can tell from newspaper articles that Carl and Maxine divorced in about 1947 (no divorce decree found yet).  Maxine died on Valentine's Day, 1949, apparently from smoking in bed in her LA bungalow apartment.  But the strangest thing that happened during this time is that a new mouthpiece venture, Gale Products, Inc., was incorporated on April 5, 1948.  

The Articles of Incorporation that I obtained from the California Secretary of State claim that Gale Products, Inc. had been in business since 1946.  That may or may not be accurate.  As with trademark and patent claims, incorporation claims are sometimes generously backdated.  It isn't clear just how much of a going concern Gale was in 1946.  Gale Products, Incorporated is not listed in either the Los Angeles or Hollywood business directories for the years 1946-48 (or ever).  

Gale brand mouthpieces are often claimed to somehow be M.C. Gregory brand mouthpieces.  The only "evidence" for this proposition was the garbled story as told in the original M.C. Gregory Mouthpiece Saga about Gale being Malcolm's daughter and Malcolm's attorney inheriting the business upon her death (instead of his surviving wife, Gladys???)  But there is a simple way of finding out if the assertions are accurate.  We can examine the Articles of Incorporation to see if Malcolm Gregory continued his company by naming it after his daughter, Gale.  Okay, we now know that he didn't have a company and that he did not name a new company after his daughter Gale because he didn't have a daughter named Gale.  But forget about all of the logical impossibilities shown so far.  Could it be possible that Gale Products being Malcolm's company is the one correct statement in the original M.C. Gregory Mouthpiece Saga?  Is there any plausible evidence that Malcolm Gregory was ever involved with Gale Products, Inc?

That is probably enough for Part IV of the Saga.  I'll pick up in Part V with what happened at the time Gale Products, Inc. went into business.

---

*   It appears that Malcolm Gregory's military service file may have been one of the thousands that were destroyed in a fire at the St. Louis National Personnel Records Center in 1973. I'm still exploring other avenues to try to determine whether he may have played a woodwind or if that is just another myth.

**  Research shows that Frank De Michelle was a bandleader in Chicago before coming to California.  He is listed as the writer of copyrighted music.  He was given musical credit for playing clarinet in Walt Disney's famous animated feature Pinocchio in the late 1930s.  Lloyd Broadus (the first partner in Rico) was listed in an early census as a full time musician (at the age of 14) before coming to California.  Roy Maier was a well known saxophonist with the Paul Whiteman orchestra (featuring a young singer named Harry Crosby but using the nickname "Bing").   We were unable to find a single mention of the supposed "studio musician" M.C. Gregory, Malcolm Gregory, or "Greg" Gregory as was apparently Malcolm's nickname.  For a little more history on Rico Products, check out this blog.


***  Mr. Gregory's employers, Roy Maier and Frank De Michele had worked as studio musicians, so this might be the source of the confusion regarding Mr. Gregory playing an instrument, although it appears that neither Mr. Bay or Mr. Morgan was familiar with Maier and De Michele's involvement.

**** The same is true of the "Meyer Brothers Factory," which some claim to have existed.  The Meyer brothers finished mouthpieces in New York and I traced the address to the factory, which was still standing a few years ago.  Here is a picture.

A title search would reveal whether it was Frank or Ed's home.  Obviously not a factory.

***** 11/22/17 update: While researching the startup of Rico Products, Ltd, for another blog, I came across the name of an original partner, Lloyd G. Broadus, who helped form Rico with Frank De Michele in about 1934. While looking for information on Mr. Broadus, I also checked the 1930 census for him and saw that he was a musician. I also recognized that I had seen that same census page before out of what must be tens of thousands of pages for the 1930 census. Several doors down from Lloyd Broadus was the home of Malcolm and Gladys Gregory. I may have found how M.C. Gregory, then working for a publishing business, became employed by Rico Products. I will link to a subsequent blog on Mr. Broadus when written.

Lloyd Broadus is at line 66 and Malcolm Gregory at line 75.  They lived a couple of houses apart in Los Angeles in 1930.  Broadus was employed in "musical instruments" and Gregory was employed by a "music publisher.



*****  We may have to "get legal" from time to time to keep the story straight. Sorry. Some people hate the accuracy, especially when trying to tell/sell a saga. But the term "Ltd" or "Limited" isn't really used in the United States and doesn't necessarily mean anything. It does sound "European," and that is generally why it is used. In a limited company, directors and shareholders have limited liability for the company's debt, as long as the business operates within the law. Its directors pay income tax and the company pays corporation tax on profits. Responsibility for company debt is usually limited to the amount a person has invested in the company. In some companies, a shareholder's liability is limited to specific predetermined amounts, drawn up in a memorandum. These businesses are known as "private company limited by guarantee," and shareholders are called guarantors. But in the U.S., there is no legal status resulting from claiming that the business is XYZ, Ltd.

Here, we have identified partners, Roy J. Maier and Frank V. de Michelle (and maybe Lloyd G. Broadus), running a business. The California Secretary of State has yet to locate any corporate or limited liability corporation (LLC) status. Gale Products, Inc. was incorporated, but at the time, Rico apparently was not. It was just some guys calling themselves Rico Products, Ltd. Other than the stampings on the early Gregory mouthpieces and several old applications for trademarks, you won't find the Rico Products, Ltd name anywhere. It appears to have been only a business name for their partnership. As is the case with partnerships, when one dies (in this case de Michelle was first in 1954), the business basically transfers to the remaining partner(s). Maier continued to use the name and, later, Rico Corp. The California Secretary of State can't find any record of a Rico Corp. in the musical accessory business (although they also once told me that they didn't have any records for Gale Products, Inc.)  I am continuing to make records requests to the CA Secretary of State.


It is possible to contact me confidentially with information in the comment section below.  Simply include your email.  That way, if you choose, we can converse without your comment or email being made part of the blog comments.