When researching Malcolm Gregory, and how he became mistakenly associated with Gale mouthpieces, I came across the fact that Roy Maier and Frank De Michele (of Rico Products) had briefly been involved in the startup of Gale Products, Inc. It turned out that Mr. Gregory had never been involved with Gale Products and lumping all Gale mouthpieces in with Gregory mouthpieces is based solely on one person's misunderstanding of the history. Maier and De Michele were definitely involved as principles in Rico Products, Ltd., a woodwind reed manufacturing business.
I did a bit of research on Maier and De Michele and found some mistaken history surrounding them as well. That is to be expected. We are talking about musical accessories, after all. As musicians, we love to hear fantastic stories about musicians, their instruments, their mouthpieces, their ligatures, and even their reeds. I kept looking in to the history of Rico Products, Ltd and its various changes over the years. It turns out that there were a few twists and turns in that story as well. Once again, the existing documentary evidence about Rico Products was quite different than the commonly told story.
Some of you may have read an article about Rico history on the internet. When Rico Products sold to D'Addario & Co. Inc., a brief history was published and that has become the present day "Rico Story." Here it is in its entirety from the D'Addario website.
Born in Italy, Joseph Rico (1876-1957) attended seminary school near Naples, where he showed special talent for music. As a teenager, he and his brother, Libereto, ran away from seminary school one night, embarked on a ship, and fled to America where they heard there was a world of opportunity for eager minds. Joseph was a harpist, pianist, and guitarist, and his brother was a mandolinist and violinist. As a result of their hard work, both musicians became quite well known in Chicago and New York. Joseph Rico started composing and conducting, and went on to Paris where he became a sought-after composer. His Valses Lentes are still played today.
In 1926, Joseph's nephew, Frank De Michele, a clarinetist with Walt Disney studios, wrote to him complaining about how hard it was to find good reeds in Los Angeles. He wrote: "Uncle Joe, you are so well established in the musical scene in Paris,* I'm sure you could find all kinds of good reeds for me." Joseph easily found reeds to send him, however three weeks later, Frank wrote again: "My friends liked the reeds you sent so much; I have none left for myself. Could you please send me more?" After a series of similar letters, Joseph's reed supplier regrettably explained that he could no longer provide reeds due to a cane shortage. His nephew asked Joseph if he could at least send some cane so that he could try making his own reeds. Joseph had a vacation cottage in the Var region of southern France where he found excellent reed cane. In 1928, Joseph Rico sent the first shipment of 350 kilos of reed cane to America.
To honor his uncle, Frank asked if he could use his name to launch his first reed line named "Rico." Soon thereafter, Frank De Michele found four partners, including musician and engineer Roy J. Maier, to create the first Rico reed factory.
When I started looking into the story, I needed to find out how Maier and De Michele began.
Frank De Michele was born on October 14, 1897 in Chicago. He died in Los Angeles on June 14, 1956. Historical research on him is made difficult by the fact that his last name was spelled a variety of ways, even on official documents. It appears that his preferred spelling was "De Michele." But on public records it might be de Michele, DeMichele, or Demichele. It helps if his full given name (Frank Vincent) was used, but often it is only Frank or even just the initial F. Every mention of his name had to be cross-checked against a timeline to make certain that it wasn't one of the other Frank De Micheles living in the U.S. at the time (there were several). In this blog I'm going to use "De Michele," as that is the spelling that he used in official documents. Or maybe just "Frank."
Mr. De Michele was a bit more than just a studio woodwind musician as related in the Rico Story. By 1920, prior to leaving Chicago for L.A., he was already listed in various directories as a band leader. He had been married in November 16, 1917 to Monna Cloe Augstadt and, as a music composer, he had registered a copyrighted composition called The Mamonna Waltz (Mamonna being, I assume, some kind of tribute to his wife Monna). Although the score is listed in the Library of Congress, I have yet to locate a copy.
He was also involved in the sales of woodwind reeds long before 1928, as the Rico Story would have us believe. He may have contacted his uncle Rico in 1926, but he had already started marketing his own brand name clarinet reeds (ANDRÉ). Here are a couple boxes of them.
Click to enlarge.
In a later trademark filing for ANDRÉ with the U.S. Patent Office, the logo included the Rico "Diamond," later used on other Rico products, including their M.C. Gregory brand of mouthpieces. Mr. De Michele verified in the trademark application that he began personally using the trade name ANDRÉ for his reeds in 1919. So it was years prior to him possibly working as a studio musician at Walt Disney Studios because he was still in Chicago. The claim that in 1926, "His nephew asked Joseph if he could at least send some cane so that he could try making his own reeds." isn't correct because in a sworn statement to the U.S. Patent Office he had already been making ANDRÉ reeds for six years.
I did a bit of research on Maier and De Michele and found some mistaken history surrounding them as well. That is to be expected. We are talking about musical accessories, after all. As musicians, we love to hear fantastic stories about musicians, their instruments, their mouthpieces, their ligatures, and even their reeds. I kept looking in to the history of Rico Products, Ltd and its various changes over the years. It turns out that there were a few twists and turns in that story as well. Once again, the existing documentary evidence about Rico Products was quite different than the commonly told story.
Some of you may have read an article about Rico history on the internet. When Rico Products sold to D'Addario & Co. Inc., a brief history was published and that has become the present day "Rico Story." Here it is in its entirety from the D'Addario website.
Born in Italy, Joseph Rico (1876-1957) attended seminary school near Naples, where he showed special talent for music. As a teenager, he and his brother, Libereto, ran away from seminary school one night, embarked on a ship, and fled to America where they heard there was a world of opportunity for eager minds. Joseph was a harpist, pianist, and guitarist, and his brother was a mandolinist and violinist. As a result of their hard work, both musicians became quite well known in Chicago and New York. Joseph Rico started composing and conducting, and went on to Paris where he became a sought-after composer. His Valses Lentes are still played today.
To honor his uncle, Frank asked if he could use his name to launch his first reed line named "Rico." Soon thereafter, Frank De Michele found four partners, including musician and engineer Roy J. Maier, to create the first Rico reed factory.
When I started looking into the story, I needed to find out how Maier and De Michele began.
Frank De Michele was born on October 14, 1897 in Chicago. He died in Los Angeles on June 14, 1956. Historical research on him is made difficult by the fact that his last name was spelled a variety of ways, even on official documents. It appears that his preferred spelling was "De Michele." But on public records it might be de Michele, DeMichele, or Demichele. It helps if his full given name (Frank Vincent) was used, but often it is only Frank or even just the initial F. Every mention of his name had to be cross-checked against a timeline to make certain that it wasn't one of the other Frank De Micheles living in the U.S. at the time (there were several). In this blog I'm going to use "De Michele," as that is the spelling that he used in official documents. Or maybe just "Frank."
Mr. De Michele was a bit more than just a studio woodwind musician as related in the Rico Story. By 1920, prior to leaving Chicago for L.A., he was already listed in various directories as a band leader. He had been married in November 16, 1917 to Monna Cloe Augstadt and, as a music composer, he had registered a copyrighted composition called The Mamonna Waltz (Mamonna being, I assume, some kind of tribute to his wife Monna). Although the score is listed in the Library of Congress, I have yet to locate a copy.
He was also involved in the sales of woodwind reeds long before 1928, as the Rico Story would have us believe. He may have contacted his uncle Rico in 1926, but he had already started marketing his own brand name clarinet reeds (ANDRÉ). Here are a couple boxes of them.
Click to enlarge.
Made in the U.S.A.
In a later trademark filing for ANDRÉ with the U.S. Patent Office, the logo included the Rico "Diamond," later used on other Rico products, including their M.C. Gregory brand of mouthpieces. Mr. De Michele verified in the trademark application that he began personally using the trade name ANDRÉ for his reeds in 1919. So it was years prior to him possibly working as a studio musician at Walt Disney Studios because he was still in Chicago. The claim that in 1926, "His nephew asked Joseph if he could at least send some cane so that he could try making his own reeds." isn't correct because in a sworn statement to the U.S. Patent Office he had already been making ANDRÉ reeds for six years.
Notice once again that the brand name ends with an acute É. Very French looking for a made in the U.S.A. reed. The actual reeds didn't have the acute E.The claim in the Rico Story that
To honor his uncle, Frank asked if he could use his name
to launch his first reed line named "Rico."
is not accurate. Frank had already launched his first reed line a decade earlier and it was named ANDRÉ. And the claim that
In 1926, Joseph's nephew, Frank De Michele, a clarinetist with Walt Disney studios,
wrote to him complaining about how hard it was to find good reeds in Los Angeles.
is also very odd, given that Mr. De Michele later stated that he had been marketing the ANDRÉ brand of reeds since 1919.
Like many mid-west musicians, Mr. De Michele came to California, where in 1926 he was working as an owner/manager of a music store (Monterey Park Music Co.) in the historic Garvey building in Monterey Park, CA. (destroyed in an earthquake in 1937).
Although the Rico Story implies that he was a musician at Walt Disney Studios in 1926, that doesn't appear to be the case based on city directories and Music Trades magazine. He may have, while managing the music store, moonlighted as a musician. He may also have made or marketed ANDRÉ brand woodwind reeds at the music store. I'm just not certain that it would be possible to be the owner/manager of a music store in Monterey Park at the same time as a studio musician at the old Disney Studios (then located in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles).
Frank did have an Uncle Joe Rico, as stated in the Rico Story, however, Rico was Frank's mother's family name. We have already seen that Frank was a bit of a romantic and named his 1918 composition after his wife Monna (aka Norma). So it is also possible that he named his company Rico after his mother, Assunta (aka Susan) Rico. Clearly, Frank would not have had to ask his uncle if he could use the name Rico, as it was his mother's family name. But there would have been a good reason to say that the company was named after his uncle Joseph Rico. While understated in the Rico Story, Joseph Rico (1876-1957) was far more famous than Frank or anybody else at Rico Products.
Joseph Rico.
Uncle Joe had cut a few records prior to Frank asking him about woodwind reeds. This 1920's "seventy-eight" record, "I've Cried So Much,"** was one of his big hits in France. Naming the company after Joseph Rico would be similar to having a famous musician as a product endorser (although Uncle Joe played the harp).The Rico Story sort of implies that Frank began Rico Products by joining with Roy Maier and others. Actually, he first started a partnership prior to Rico Products with somebody of whom I had never heard, Mr. Lloyd Garrison Broadus. Mr. Broadus was also a musician from the Midwest who had moved to California. In the 1910 U.S. Federal census, Mr. Broadus (then 14 years old) was listed as having left school and was employed as a full time musician. Tracking down information on Mr. Broadus was difficult because his name (like De Michele) was also often misspelled in various documents. But here is an item with his name on it that shows that he was involved with Frank De Michele very early on.
The "Swiss" reed gauge. Mr. Broadus was of recent Swiss dissent and, presumably, he developed the gauge and applied for a patent in 1931.
It is the back side of the meter that is interesting. The company is claimed to be "importers," but of what and from where? Was the meter made in Switzerland? Probably not. We have seen that the marketers of musical instruments and accessories often play fast and loose with Country Of Origin Labels (COOL designations)
Mr. Broadus shows up as having many musical occupations during his life. As a musician, he lists his residence on one document as the town's theater. He later lists himself as a salesman for musical instruments and as a music teacher. At one point, he was a neighbor of Malcolm "M.C." Gregory (also a Rico employee) in Los Angeles. By the 1940's, he was a rancher in San Diego County.
The application, the patent issue date, and just looking at the Swiss Reed Gauge gives us a timeline for Mr. Broadus and Mr. De Michelle starting what became Rico Products. Mr. Broadus applied for the patent August 17, 1931. The patent issued June 27, 1933. But the meter itself states "Patent Pending." That would indicate that it was manufactured between 1931 and 1933. The business was then the "L.G. Broadus De Michelle Co." which later became Rico Products, Inc. I haven't yet seen actual corporate filings for either, so it is possible that they were only business names at the time. (Falsely claiming corporate status isn't illegal unless used to defraud).
The patent shows that you screw down a clamp (#19 in Fig. 2 and 3) and the amount of pressure that it puts on a hinge point affects the reading. Notice that the reed is flexed backwards in a way that would never occur to a woodwind reed when playing.
I was familiar with a subsequent Mario Maccaferri reed tester, in fact, here is a picture of mine. The Maccaferri "Reed-O-Meter" would make a great gag gift.
The Maccaferri velvet bag is useful for carrying a tenor mouthpiece. The meter is stamped "patent pending." A patent did issue.
I can't imagine that the Swiss Reed Gauge was any more useful than the Maccaferri Reed-O-Meter (patented in 1953 and distinguishing the L.G. Broadus patent for the Swiss Reed Gauge). It is distinguished in part by the mind-numbing complexity outlined in the Maccaferri patent application. Here is the diagram from the application.
The patent shows that you screw down a clamp (#19 in Fig. 2 and 3) and the amount of pressure that it puts on a hinge point affects the reading. Notice that the reed is flexed backwards in a way that would never occur to a woodwind reed when playing.
I was familiar with a subsequent Mario Maccaferri reed tester, in fact, here is a picture of mine. The Maccaferri "Reed-O-Meter" would make a great gag gift.
The Maccaferri velvet bag is useful for carrying a tenor mouthpiece. The meter is stamped "patent pending." A patent did issue.I can't imagine that the Swiss Reed Gauge was any more useful than the Maccaferri Reed-O-Meter (patented in 1953 and distinguishing the L.G. Broadus patent for the Swiss Reed Gauge). It is distinguished in part by the mind-numbing complexity outlined in the Maccaferri patent application. Here is the diagram from the application.
Competition from Maccaferri may be why the Swiss Reed Gauge remained in Rico's accessory line for decades. Although the Swiss Reed Gauge was clearly made in the early 1930's prior to the beginning of Rico Products, it remained listed as a Rico accessory into the mid-1960's. The same was true of Rico's Master by Gregory brand of mouthpieces made in the mid-1950's. They remained listed as a Rico accessory into the mid-1970's in some publications, long after Rico had replaced it with its new Reloplex mouthpiece. In fairness, the Maccaferri Reed-O-Meter didn't appear any more successful than Rico's meter, also having a dated appearance that made it look like the item had a single production run in the 1950's. Apparently, if you're going to make a saxophone accessory, make a lot of them and sell them over the decades.
So we now know that prior to Rico Products, Frank De Michele had a business in addition to just ANDRÉ reeds. In fact, they also had a line of ANDRÉ woodwind mouthpieces. Here is a clarinet piece that showed up on Ebay for $1,200 with no explanation as to the price. Maybe as a "pre-Rico" collectable??
Here is an example of an ANDRÉ saxophone mouthpiece. It is claimed to be an M.C. Gregory piece, although Malcolm Gregory wasn't working for Rico (because Rico had yet to be formed.) Price is $225. Maybe Malcolm was working for his Hollywood neighbor, Mr. Broadus?
I haven't yet located the Broadus/De Michelle Company through the California Secretary of State, but Lloyd Broadus was definitely already around at the start of Rico Products, Ltd. In fact, on April 19, 1938, it was Mr. Broadus and Mr. De Michele who applied for the well known Rico trademark (RICO printed over a treble clef and staff lines.)
Prior to the treble clef and staff lines, Rico simply used an embellished "Rico" as the trademark. Here are the earliest Rico brand reeds featured in a 1937 catalog.
Notice that the new found Rico company also had the Perm-Nent line of reeds, a plastic "chemical covering" cane reed that was the precursor to the Rico Plasticover that is still in production today. The Perm-Nent was coated all over and had a gold sticker on it. It was fancier and more expensive than Rico's standard reeds.
Starting in the 1920's and continuing through the 1950's, De Michelle used a diamond logo on Rico reeds and mouthpieces (most notably on various M.C. Gregory "Diamond" mouthpieces). Below is a picture of a later offering featuring the "newer" 1938 Rico trademark.
Early Rico reeds showing the "new treble clef trademark. Rico also used this trademark on some of the early mouthpieces that it produced (their early M.C. Gregory brand).
The 1938 trademark application states that Frank De Michele was President of Rico Products, Ltd., a California corporation (which I also have yet to obtain the corporate filings). The application states that Broadus and De Michele had used the Rico trademark since 1936 and, as we have seen in another blog, Rico used the trademark on its M.C. Gregory brand of mouthpieces in the 1937-38 Selmer catalog along with a Rico logo that had fooled some into mistakenly claiming that Rico was a French company (logo shown below).
The Rico logo used in the early Selmer catalogs says "Marque Deposse France." Marque means trademark or brand. Déposse means filed, registered or submitted. France means the French Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle. It implies that "Rico" is a registered trademark in France (and therefore possibly a French company). While that was never true, there was no penalty for making the misrepresentation in the United States. And, as we have seen, some people believed the misrepresentation and one person made up an entire M.C. Gregory Saga based on Rico being a French company that distributed mouthpieces fabricated by a Mr. M.C. Gregory with the help of his daughter, Gale, and his attorney, Cesar Tschudin.
The Rico Story says Mr. De Michele first started marketing Rico brand reeds in 1928, yet the U.S. trademark application by Mr. De Michele and Mr. Broadus states that they only began using the Rico trade name in 1936. Prior to that, it appears that ANDRÉ was the trademarked name for their early reeds and mouthpieces. Assuming that Mr. De Michelle did obtain French cane in 1928 from his uncle Joseph Rico, it wasn't until 1936 that he decided to market reeds using the Rico brand name.
The late 1930's were good years for Frank De Michele. Rico Products had both its new M.C. Gregory brand of mouthpieces and the new Rico brand reeds in the Selmer catalogs. Plus, De Michele was by then getting work as a studio musician. I discovered that from the only musical credit that I could find for him. Frank is given credit for playing the clarinet in the 1939 smash hit Pinocchio for Walt Disney Studios** (in a Disney Studio listing, not in the actual screen credits). So he was eventually a studio musician for Disney, although more than a decade after claimed in the Rico Story.
The Rico Story says that De Michele started making Rico reeds in 1928 and "soon thereafter" found four partners, one of them being Roy J. Maier, to start a Rico reed factory. Sort of. Lloyd Broadus was clearly already a business partner long before Rico was founded. But Roy Maier didn't come on board quickly. He joined Rico in 1939, according to an award given to Mr. Maier in 1990. That would be several years after Rico reeds went on the market and many years after the ANDRÉ reeds and mouthpieces. It was also after Rico had launched its newest mouthpiece, the M.C. Gregory. The fourth and fifth partners seem to have been silent partners. I think that I know who both of them were.
Roy John Maier was born in Chelsea, Michigan on January 8, 1896 or 1897.*** He died on October 14, 1981. On his 1917 WWI draft registration, he lists himself as an "entertainer" working at the Bismarck Gardens in Chicago. Bismarck Gardens was a large summertime beer garden catering to Chicago's German immigrants. With the outbreak of WWI, German heritage was unpopular such that the park's name was changed to Marigold Gardens (in fact it had already changed by the time Maier listed his place of employment on his draft registration). With prohibition starting shortly thereafter, it was time for Mr. Maier to hit the road.
But before we leave Chicago, I would note that Mr. Maier was a professional working musician in Chicago and playing at a well known venue at the same time as Mr. De Michele. Frank was listed in various publications as a band (and orchestra) leader prior to his leaving Chicago. It is not unlikely that Frank and Roy knew each other, although I can't figure out any way to determine who the members of Mr. De Michele's Chicago bands may have been. At the time, professional musician's often belonged to local unions, but the old Chicago union listings that I have found only show those union members who were not in good standing. It appears that Lloyd Broadus also left the the mid-west for California about this time, but he ended up in L.A. via a side trip to Caspar, Wyoming where he worked in a theater pit. Maybe that is where he obtained his affinity for ranching.
Roy Maier married Agnes Petkis in 1922 and was on the road by the 1930 U.S. Census Report, leaving his wife and seven year-old son (Roy Jr.) in Chicago.
He later moved with his family to Los Angeles in the mid-30's, where he was a musician of some note (no pun intended). In the picture below, he appears in a promotional handout for the Paul Whiteman orchestra. He is on the upper right with his name and "reeds" underneath. How apropos.
On the bottom of the page, to the right of the fold, is alto saxophone player Chester Hazlett. Mr. Hazlett already had his name on a mouthpiece by 1935.
The Woodwind Company's "Chester Hazlett" mouthpiece. It has a marbled Bakelite shank insert to add some flash.
But look at the promotional handout picture right under Paul Whiteman. It shows a new singer, one of the "Rhythm Boys," by the name of Bing Crosby. Here is Paul Whiteman recording with Mr. Maier and Bing Crosby Open in a separate window to keep reading with Bing crooning in the background.
Roy Maier had also already been in the reed fabrication business prior to joining Rico Products. His first venture may have been with Anthony Ciccone before Maier left Chicago in the 1930's. "Tony" Ciccone stayed behind in Chicago to run his own woodwind reed business called Symmetricut. (It turns out that Tony Ciccone is another name that is hard to research because there are several, including Madonna's homeless brother). Years later, Rico Products purchased the Symmetricut brand name. I don't think that brand name is still in use.
Symmetricut reeds were distributed by Chicago Musical Instrument Co., the same company that was the sole distributor of Elmer Beechler's mouthpieces when he first began.
Here is Roy Maier's first solo venture into the reed business years prior to joining Rico Products.
Roy Maier reeds distributed by J.H. Schuler Co. of Hanover, Pennsylvania.
These are not the old Roy "J." Maier reeds that you might have seen (picture below). Nor are they the still fairly common Roy J. Maier "Signature" reeds, which were not trademarked until 1942 (picture below). These earlier reeds were exclusively marketed and distributed by the J.H. Schuler Company of Hanover, PA. Who was J.H. Schuler?**** Well, jump into my time machine. One of the products marketed by J.H. Schuler was a "free" vending machine placed in high school band rooms that dispensed woodwind reeds (for a price). What a concept.
Bottom right corner.
On of the other things that J.H. Schuler was known for back in the day was "bamboo" costume jewelry. It is now very collectible.
What's the connection? I don't know, but it is kind of strange. In the late 1920's, Roy Maier needed to fabricate delicate precision woodwind reeds from cane. His exclusive distributor at the time was famous for delicate precision costume jewelry fabricated from cane. Hmmmm.
There was a subsequent "Roy J. Maier" brand reed prior to Mr. Maier joining Rico Products. This reed was affiliated with Selmer. It appears that Selmer U.S.A. (not J.H. Schuler) distributed all Roy "J." Maier reeds prior to Maier joining Rico. In the mid-30's, Selmer catalogs featured both Rico Products mouthpieces (the Gregory models), Rico reeds, and Roy J. Maier reeds. But not until 1939 were Rico reeds and Mr. Roy Maier affiliated.
Finally, after Roy Maier joined Rico Products, he trademarked the "Roy J. Maier "Signature" reed in 1942. Maybe his actual signature (which he did trademark) separated it from the earlier Selmer trademarked Roy J. Maier reeds? Or maybe his business affiliation with Selmer U.S.A. was so congenial that Selmer didn't care.
The trademarked Roy J. Maier signature now appears on the "Signature Reed." Made in the U.S.A. At the time, German Unterseeboots (U-boats) were patrolling the Atlantic. The Var region of France, famous for cane, was occupied by the Nazis. So the cane used for these reeds is likely from the U.S.A. and Rico was no longer claiming to use French cane that was aged 4 years. Mr. Maier began buying swampy land in California for growing Rico Products cane.
The same trademarked Roy Maier signature also appears on a "resonite" resin mouthpiece (this mouthpiece was also branded by Rico Products as both the Mickey Gillette and M.C. Gregory models).
Roy Maier invented and patented the Rico ReedGard that shows up in every old saxophone case. But that's a story for another time. Also, the land that he had acquired in the Sonoma valley to grow arundo donax (cane for making woodwind reeds) turned out to have a better use. And you thought, based on the Rico Story, that all of Rico's cane came from the Var region of France. Guess again. Having sold the swampy land where Rico Products once grew cane and thereby purchasing upland tracts, here is the Sonoma valley product with which the Roy J. Maier trade name is now associated. Cheers.
"A tribute to the Roaring 20's musician and musical genius." That also sounds like a story for another time.
** These old records were not called "seventy-eights" at the time. They were just records, as 78 rpm was basically all that there was, although the French used 77.92 rpm because, well, they are French. Here are the lyrics to Joseph Rico's hit:
*** Pinocchio is still impressive because of the animation and also because of a constant musical score during the entire movie. Those of us of a certain age will remember Jiminy Cricket singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio as the ending to Sunday night's Wonderful World of Disney television show.
**** The birth date given on Mr. Maier's WWI and WWII draft registration cards differ by a year, again making research on him a little more difficult. Even the date given on his state birth record says "about" 1896.
***** J.H. Schuler Co. is still around. It is a merchandising company that has been involved in a wide variety of products over the decades.
Comments and contributions can be made by providing me with your personal email in the comment section if you wish to remain anonymous. That way I can contact you directly without posting the comment or email on this site.
Prior to the treble clef and staff lines, Rico simply used an embellished "Rico" as the trademark. Here are the earliest Rico brand reeds featured in a 1937 catalog.
Notice that the new found Rico company also had the Perm-Nent line of reeds, a plastic "chemical covering" cane reed that was the precursor to the Rico Plasticover that is still in production today. The Perm-Nent was coated all over and had a gold sticker on it. It was fancier and more expensive than Rico's standard reeds.
Starting in the 1920's and continuing through the 1950's, De Michelle used a diamond logo on Rico reeds and mouthpieces (most notably on various M.C. Gregory "Diamond" mouthpieces). Below is a picture of a later offering featuring the "newer" 1938 Rico trademark.
Early Rico reeds showing the "new treble clef trademark. Rico also used this trademark on some of the early mouthpieces that it produced (their early M.C. Gregory brand).The 1938 trademark application states that Frank De Michele was President of Rico Products, Ltd., a California corporation (which I also have yet to obtain the corporate filings). The application states that Broadus and De Michele had used the Rico trademark since 1936 and, as we have seen in another blog, Rico used the trademark on its M.C. Gregory brand of mouthpieces in the 1937-38 Selmer catalog along with a Rico logo that had fooled some into mistakenly claiming that Rico was a French company (logo shown below).
The Rico logo used in the early Selmer catalogs says "Marque Deposse France." Marque means trademark or brand. Déposse means filed, registered or submitted. France means the French Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle. It implies that "Rico" is a registered trademark in France (and therefore possibly a French company). While that was never true, there was no penalty for making the misrepresentation in the United States. And, as we have seen, some people believed the misrepresentation and one person made up an entire M.C. Gregory Saga based on Rico being a French company that distributed mouthpieces fabricated by a Mr. M.C. Gregory with the help of his daughter, Gale, and his attorney, Cesar Tschudin.
The Rico Story says Mr. De Michele first started marketing Rico brand reeds in 1928, yet the U.S. trademark application by Mr. De Michele and Mr. Broadus states that they only began using the Rico trade name in 1936. Prior to that, it appears that ANDRÉ was the trademarked name for their early reeds and mouthpieces. Assuming that Mr. De Michelle did obtain French cane in 1928 from his uncle Joseph Rico, it wasn't until 1936 that he decided to market reeds using the Rico brand name.
The late 1930's were good years for Frank De Michele. Rico Products had both its new M.C. Gregory brand of mouthpieces and the new Rico brand reeds in the Selmer catalogs. Plus, De Michele was by then getting work as a studio musician. I discovered that from the only musical credit that I could find for him. Frank is given credit for playing the clarinet in the 1939 smash hit Pinocchio for Walt Disney Studios** (in a Disney Studio listing, not in the actual screen credits). So he was eventually a studio musician for Disney, although more than a decade after claimed in the Rico Story.
The Rico Story says that De Michele started making Rico reeds in 1928 and "soon thereafter" found four partners, one of them being Roy J. Maier, to start a Rico reed factory. Sort of. Lloyd Broadus was clearly already a business partner long before Rico was founded. But Roy Maier didn't come on board quickly. He joined Rico in 1939, according to an award given to Mr. Maier in 1990. That would be several years after Rico reeds went on the market and many years after the ANDRÉ reeds and mouthpieces. It was also after Rico had launched its newest mouthpiece, the M.C. Gregory. The fourth and fifth partners seem to have been silent partners. I think that I know who both of them were.
Howard Lockie ran the Lockie Music Exchange in Los Angeles. He had seen the success that De Michelle had with marketing ANDRÉ reeds prior to the formation of Rico Products. The formation of Rico Products included Lockie proposing an exclusive distribution system through his two L.A. music stores. The other "even more silent" partner was Herman Snyder. Mr. Snyder appeared to have been a "money man" and had no other connection with the music industry. Both Lockie and Snyder had other family members involved in both the music store and Rico Products, Inc.
Most interesting is Herman Snyder's son, Nathan Snyder, a Los Angeles attorney. I had come across his name when learning that Rico Products had incorporated a small unsuccessful mouthpiece business called Gale Products, Inc. That business showed in its original corporate documents that De Michelle, Maier, and Nathan Snyder were on its board of directors (and Malcolm "M.C." Gregory was not involved). It makes sense now. The Snyder family was part of Rico Products, so when Rico started Gale Products, Nathan Snyder was on the board of directors. As I had earlier supposed, Gale Products was essentially an unsuccessful and short-lived subsidiary of Rico Products.
I also have a crazy theory as to where Rico may have obtained the molds that it used for its line of M.C. Gregory brand mouthpieces. There was a popular mouthpiece produced by Selmer (France) at the time (late 1920's through the mid 1930's) that bears a strikingly similar appearance to the M.C. Gregory line of mouthpieces in the late 1930's, although Selmer used a more elaborate shank band. At the time, Roy Maier had an ongoing distribution agreement with Selmer U.S.A. When Selmer (France) suddenly changed the molds for its Airflow model mouthpieces, where did the old molds go? To Selmer U.S.A.? Did Roy Maier end up with them and propose a mouthpiece business in addition to merging his reed fabrication business with De Michelle's business? The theory is more logical than Mr. Malcolm Gregory, a Rico employee who had no musical experience, suddenly developing the M.C. Gregory line of saxophone and clarinet mouthpieces and then distributing them exclusively through Rico Products, Inc.
Roy John Maier was born in Chelsea, Michigan on January 8, 1896 or 1897.*** He died on October 14, 1981. On his 1917 WWI draft registration, he lists himself as an "entertainer" working at the Bismarck Gardens in Chicago. Bismarck Gardens was a large summertime beer garden catering to Chicago's German immigrants. With the outbreak of WWI, German heritage was unpopular such that the park's name was changed to Marigold Gardens (in fact it had already changed by the time Maier listed his place of employment on his draft registration). With prohibition starting shortly thereafter, it was time for Mr. Maier to hit the road.
But before we leave Chicago, I would note that Mr. Maier was a professional working musician in Chicago and playing at a well known venue at the same time as Mr. De Michele. Frank was listed in various publications as a band (and orchestra) leader prior to his leaving Chicago. It is not unlikely that Frank and Roy knew each other, although I can't figure out any way to determine who the members of Mr. De Michele's Chicago bands may have been. At the time, professional musician's often belonged to local unions, but the old Chicago union listings that I have found only show those union members who were not in good standing. It appears that Lloyd Broadus also left the the mid-west for California about this time, but he ended up in L.A. via a side trip to Caspar, Wyoming where he worked in a theater pit. Maybe that is where he obtained his affinity for ranching.
Roy Maier married Agnes Petkis in 1922 and was on the road by the 1930 U.S. Census Report, leaving his wife and seven year-old son (Roy Jr.) in Chicago.
He later moved with his family to Los Angeles in the mid-30's, where he was a musician of some note (no pun intended). In the picture below, he appears in a promotional handout for the Paul Whiteman orchestra. He is on the upper right with his name and "reeds" underneath. How apropos.
Also listed is "Joe Venuti, violinist," the same musician who worked with Arnold Brilhart and Elmer Beechler to produce the first Brilhart mouthpieces. It seems that a jazz violinist can produce respected woodwind mouthpieces.
On the bottom of the page, to the right of the fold, is alto saxophone player Chester Hazlett. Mr. Hazlett already had his name on a mouthpiece by 1935.
The Woodwind Company's "Chester Hazlett" mouthpiece. It has a marbled Bakelite shank insert to add some flash.Roy Maier had also already been in the reed fabrication business prior to joining Rico Products. His first venture may have been with Anthony Ciccone before Maier left Chicago in the 1930's. "Tony" Ciccone stayed behind in Chicago to run his own woodwind reed business called Symmetricut. (It turns out that Tony Ciccone is another name that is hard to research because there are several, including Madonna's homeless brother). Years later, Rico Products purchased the Symmetricut brand name. I don't think that brand name is still in use.
Symmetricut reeds were distributed by Chicago Musical Instrument Co., the same company that was the sole distributor of Elmer Beechler's mouthpieces when he first began.Here is Roy Maier's first solo venture into the reed business years prior to joining Rico Products.
Roy Maier reeds distributed by J.H. Schuler Co. of Hanover, Pennsylvania.These are not the old Roy "J." Maier reeds that you might have seen (picture below). Nor are they the still fairly common Roy J. Maier "Signature" reeds, which were not trademarked until 1942 (picture below). These earlier reeds were exclusively marketed and distributed by the J.H. Schuler Company of Hanover, PA. Who was J.H. Schuler?**** Well, jump into my time machine. One of the products marketed by J.H. Schuler was a "free" vending machine placed in high school band rooms that dispensed woodwind reeds (for a price). What a concept.
Bottom right corner. On of the other things that J.H. Schuler was known for back in the day was "bamboo" costume jewelry. It is now very collectible.
What's the connection? I don't know, but it is kind of strange. In the late 1920's, Roy Maier needed to fabricate delicate precision woodwind reeds from cane. His exclusive distributor at the time was famous for delicate precision costume jewelry fabricated from cane. Hmmmm.
There was a subsequent "Roy J. Maier" brand reed prior to Mr. Maier joining Rico Products. This reed was affiliated with Selmer. It appears that Selmer U.S.A. (not J.H. Schuler) distributed all Roy "J." Maier reeds prior to Maier joining Rico. In the mid-30's, Selmer catalogs featured both Rico Products mouthpieces (the Gregory models), Rico reeds, and Roy J. Maier reeds. But not until 1939 were Rico reeds and Mr. Roy Maier affiliated.
Finally, after Roy Maier joined Rico Products, he trademarked the "Roy J. Maier "Signature" reed in 1942. Maybe his actual signature (which he did trademark) separated it from the earlier Selmer trademarked Roy J. Maier reeds? Or maybe his business affiliation with Selmer U.S.A. was so congenial that Selmer didn't care.
The trademarked Roy J. Maier signature now appears on the "Signature Reed." Made in the U.S.A. At the time, German Unterseeboots (U-boats) were patrolling the Atlantic. The Var region of France, famous for cane, was occupied by the Nazis. So the cane used for these reeds is likely from the U.S.A. and Rico was no longer claiming to use French cane that was aged 4 years. Mr. Maier began buying swampy land in California for growing Rico Products cane.Roy Maier Signature Reeds had their own advertising campaign separate from Rico reeds. Here is a matchbook indicating that music stores handed these out as promotional material for the reeds. Close cover before striking!
Notice that the matchbook also references Roy Maier model mouthpieces for saxophone and clarinet.
The same trademarked Roy Maier signature also appears on a "resonite" resin mouthpiece (this mouthpiece was also branded by Rico Products as both the Mickey Gillette and M.C. Gregory models). It appears that Mr. Maier kept the Roy J. Maier Signature reeds throughout his association with Rico. He may even have had a separate corporation. Here is an advertisement from International Musician in October of 1958. These reeds were distributed exclusively through Selmer U.S.A.
I have seen some articles that say that Roy J. Maier was an engineer who also had an interest in music (he has some non-musical patents to his name). I think that this might be a looser interpretation of "engineer" than most people today would use. I've also seen a reference to Arnold Brilhart as an "engineer" who came to work for Rico Products late in life. Roy Maier completed 2 years of high school (tenth grade). Mr. Brilhart only completed eighth grade. So neither was a licensed professional engineer like we might imagine. They both were impressive engineers in the "inventor/designer" definition.
Roy Maier invented and patented the Rico ReedGard that shows up in every old saxophone case. But that's a story for another time. Also, the land that he had acquired in the Sonoma valley to grow arundo donax (cane for making woodwind reeds) turned out to have a better use. And you thought, based on the Rico Story, that all of Rico's cane came from the Var region of France. Guess again. Having sold the swampy land where Rico Products once grew cane and thereby purchasing upland tracts, here is the Sonoma valley product with which the Roy J. Maier trade name is now associated. Cheers.
* Throughout my career in technical and legal writing, putting a verbal statement in quotation marks generally meant that the text was a verbatim transcription and supported by corroborating evidence. If one wrote that, prior to the gunshot, the victim shouted "Don't shoot me!" the Judge would say "Based on what evidence?" (while defense counsel jumped up and down yelling "Objection!!") How do we know that Frank said "Uncle Joe, you are so well established in the musical scene in Paris?" Without a copy of the letter, it is like the quotation marks in a story where Goldilocks says "This bed is just right," i.e., it is likely a fairy tale.
** These old records were not called "seventy-eights" at the time. They were just records, as 78 rpm was basically all that there was, although the French used 77.92 rpm because, well, they are French. Here are the lyrics to Joseph Rico's hit:
I cried so much for you Prayed so much, without tenderizing you, wicked one! I spent so many days, so many nights not think only of you! I have everything deep inside me. Had to hide so many burning tears , How I tired my heart to suffer so much for you!
In my madness, I thought I was a boring poet, That our life would be a wonderful romance , The wiser heart , Without seeing my eyes cloudy . I read the last page: the page where we talk about farewell ... I cried so much for you. Prayed so much without tenderizing you wicked! I spent so many days, so many nights not think only of you! I have, deep inside me, Had to hide so many burning tears . How I tired my heart to suffer so much for you!
The broken soul, Following his painful path , Far from the beloved one remains unhappy for a long time. But we get tired Each day consoles a little; And every morning that passes. Erase a tear in your eyes! ... I cried so much for you Prayed so much, without feeling wicked I spent so many days, so many nights not think that you I have everything deep inside me Had to hide so many burning tears How I tired my heart to suffer so much to suffer for you!
And you will need the sheet music:
*** Pinocchio is still impressive because of the animation and also because of a constant musical score during the entire movie. Those of us of a certain age will remember Jiminy Cricket singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio as the ending to Sunday night's Wonderful World of Disney television show.
**** The birth date given on Mr. Maier's WWI and WWII draft registration cards differ by a year, again making research on him a little more difficult. Even the date given on his state birth record says "about" 1896.
***** J.H. Schuler Co. is still around. It is a merchandising company that has been involved in a wide variety of products over the decades.
Comments and contributions can be made by providing me with your personal email in the comment section if you wish to remain anonymous. That way I can contact you directly without posting the comment or email on this site.
I started playing Tenor Saxophone in the mid 70's. School instrument was a Buescher Aristocrat III. Band instructor said go buy a #3 reed. I was handed a Roy J. Maier reed at the music store. That was all I knew till I graduated jr.high. What a joy! Sometimes I'd go outside so I could BLAST the lead part of Hawaii Five-o LOUDER! Then I moved to the West coast. I was up to a #5 reed by now. I went to my local music store and was allowed to hand pick from the box. RICO REEDS! Got any Roy Maier? Nope. What a disappointment! On first breath through the STUDENT model Conn. It wasn't just the horn either. I could tell I was blowing on an inferior reed. Flash forward 40+ years. I picked up a barn find alto. It had a few Roy J Maier reeds in the case as well as a Brillhart MPC. The magic was back. This was the best reed I had blown on since Jr. High School! Vandoren and Alexander included. After trying several brands and styles on the alto as well as my Pro Tenor, my opinion on orange box Rico has not changed... JUNK!!! After being reacquainted with Roy J. Maier... They are STILL the best reed I have ever blown. Too bad they aren't manufactured anymore.
ReplyDelete