| Howe-Orme Exhibition Artifacts (click to enlarge)                               |
The first-ever public exhibition of a collection of rare and historic Howe-Orme mandolins, mandolas and guitars. The exhibit, “Howe-Orme: Forgotten Voices Remembered,” featured innovative pieces from the 1890s—some of whose technology is still present in guitar designs of today.
The Howe-Orme instruments were manufactured for a relatively short time from 1897 until about 1910 but many have survived to this day and are becoming highly valued. The secret to the sustained appreciation of these instruments is in the high quality of their craftsmanship and construction, and in their very impressive visual appearance expressed through the beautiful work of pearl inlays and engravings and graceful forms of their body design. The Howe-Orme instrument family comprises several models of guitar and an entire mandolin family including mandolin, tenor mandola, octave mandola, and cello mandola. The multiple sizes of mandolins were analogous to the members of the violin family and were very innovative for the United States market of the time. The mandolin and tenor mandola are tuned to the same pitch as a violin and viola, while the octave mandola is tuned an octave below the mandolin and the cello mandola is tuned like a violoncello.
Howe-Orme instruments were awarded a series of patents for the uniqueness of their functional design features and style. The hallmark of the Howe-Orme instruments was the “raised longitudinal belly ridge” that appeared on both mandolins and guitars. The geometry of these cylindrical arches made the instruments stronger in the direction of the string pull, and thus made it possible for the top to be significantly thinner. The arch was probably created through some sort of steam pressing process after the rosette and pickguard were attached, but before the bracing (carved to match the arch) was attached. Both mandolins and guitars incorporated horizontal “ladder bracing” as opposed to “x-bracing,” a system which gained favor over the years and now has become the preferred system for bracing steel string guitars.
Another unique feature of the Howe-Orme design is the patented adjustable and detachable guitar neck. One of the patents describes it as “a ready means of adjusting detachable necks of guitars, banjos, mandolins and other stringed instruments of a similar nature.” As a Howe-Orme sales catalogue advertised, this design enabled the guitar player to adjust the strings the proper distance from the fingerboard to suit any particular style of playing and thus to obtain the best effects. We have found this design used in only two situations: in the Orme and Howe-Orme guitars, and in the modern guitars of luthier Rick Turner here exemplified by his guitar “Ms. Antartica” designed and built for Henry Kaiser to take to Antarctica on a National Science Foundation Artist in Residence Grant in 2002. Also of a special interest is a the incredible size of the largest of the Howe-Orme guitars which was far beyond the size of the parlor guitars of the era, and which predated the size of a Martin 000, 12-fret guitar.
In addition to visible unique features of the Howe-Orme design, we have also uncovered the hidden patented experimental system of construction that enhanced the quality of the guitar tone. The body of the guitar displayed at right may be the prototype guitar described in U.S. Patent No. 508 858 from 1893 filed by James S. Back. It features the highly unusual inner floating resonating construction that is a cross between a folded horn and a second top. Among Howe-Orme aficionados, no other guitars have been found with this inner resonating chamber. This guitar does feature the carved "ladder" cross bracing of the top found in all other Howe Orme instruments, and so we can only speculate that while the cylinder top and bracing proved successful, the inner parts were not worth the trouble for a production instrument.
"This little known company has been virtually ignored by nearly all historians, perhaps because it disrupts long-held conventions on the history of the mandolin and mandolin orchestras.” (Gregg Miner, www.minermusic.com/eliashowe)
The Elias Howe Company of Boston, MA was founded in 1840 by Elias Howe, Jr. (b. 1820 Framingham, MA; d. 1895 Watertown, MA). As a child, Howe learned to play the fiddle and—either as part of his education or perhaps because he was tired of buying sheet music one piece at a time—copied down the many tunes of other New England fiddlers. He eventually acquired a large collection and, at the early age of 19, creatively managed to have them published in book form, thus marking the beginning of a solid publishing career.
By 1843, he had moved his business to the area of Boston near Beacon Hill that was, at that time, a flourishing center for instrument manufacturing and music publishing. During the Civil War, Howe expanded his activities to include manufacturing military drums reportedly used by both the Union and Confederate soldiers. By 1871, he had also developed a great interest in stringed instruments of all kinds and, through frequent trips to the Continent, amassed what appears to have been one of the major collections of European violins of the time. In fact, at the time of his death his collection reportedly included a Stradivarius.
After the death of Elias Howe, Jr., the firm was formally established by his sons, William H. and Edward F. Howe, who expanded the operations to include several types of musical instruments, parts for instruments and an extensive catalog of musical publications. It was at this point that the Howe-Orme instruments made their appearance. The name arises from the association of the younger Howes with George L. Orme of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. G.L. Orme was the younger partner in J.L. Orme & Son, a retail and sheet music publishing company founded by his father, James L. Orme. Like Elias Howe, Jr., J.L. Orme was deceased by the time the Howe-Orme instruments appeared.
George L. Orme was an associate of James S. Back, perhaps an acoustical engineer, with whom he shared patent rights to the musical instrument design that became the hallmark of Howe-Orme instruments. In an 1893 patent awarded to Back and Orme, the critical feature was described as a “raised longitudinal belly ridge” extending along the top of the instrument from the end of the fingerboard to the tailpiece. While this innovation is depicted on a guitar, the patent text refers to its applicability to other stringed instruments, including the mandolin. Included in the exhibition was an "Orme" mandolin, which is identified by its pickguard with the letters “O & S” and by a sticker inside the instrument stating “J. L. Orme & Son, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.” This allows us to suggest that the design patented by Back and Orme was applied to mandolins from early on, probably before the Howe-Orme partnership was finalized.
Robert F. DeVellis, in an enlightening web article on Howe-Orme history, sums up the rest of the story as follows:
"It is important to note, however, that it appears the Elias Howe Company did not actually operate a manufacturing plant which then leads us to ask, who actually made them?"
Made under the unique patented system of construction, Howe-Orme instruments gained the approval and praise of its users. This is especially true of the mandolins that reached a great popularity on the market during the early 1900s. An Elias Howe Company sales catalogue from that time states:
"Its success and great merit is attested by the host of guitar-shaped Mandolins, in imitation of the Howe-Orme, that have been put on the market since the Howe-Orme Mandolin came before the public."
The curved or swelled top of the Howe-Orme instruments increased the tonal quality of instruments and the flat back enabled the player to hold mandolins much firmer and easier in comparison to the ordinary bowl-shaped-back mandolins. It is interesting to note that the Howe-Orme characteristics such as the flat backs, raised fronts, and variety of sizes all actually predate the more widely-known Gibson instrument designs from the turn of the nineteenth century.
The legacy of the Howe-Orme instruments continues to be seen not only in the later design of Gibson instruments but also in the contemporary work of Rick Turner’s Renaissance Guitar Company based in Santa Cruz, California. Turner’s “Compass Rose” ukelele is inspired by the graceful Howe-Orme form, and, as mentioned earlier, his guitar utilizes the Howe-Orme detachable neck construction.
The "Howe-Orme: Fogotten Voices Remembered" exhibition featured instruments from the personal collections of Rick Turner, renowned luthier and owner of Renaissance Guitars, former Youngbloods guitarist and vintage instrument collector, Lowell “Banana” Levinger and Henry Kaiser who loaned his guitar—affectionately called “Ms. Antarctica"—to the Museum of Making Music.
For their expertise and support of this exhibition, the Museum thanks:
Street Address:
Museum of Making Music
5790 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Phone: (760) 438-5996
Fax: (760) 438-8964
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