Henry Kuhrmeyer's Patent (S-V Era)
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US1932975 [3] Filed on April 7th, 1930 Renewed March 2nd, 1933 Patent Granted October 31st, 1933 |
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Stromberg-Voisinet Co. banjo label [2] Image Credit: BanjoHangout - beezaboy |
The Patent (Kay Era)
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1930s Kay Deluxe with the Zorzi neck joint |
Stromberg-Voisinet eventually became Kay and was headed by Kuhrmeyer and the neck joint began appearing on more instruments including the famed Kay Kraft line of 'venetian style' instruments.
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Instruction Sticker Image Credit: Facebook - Thom R |
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The mounting hardware used in the Zorzi neck joint seen above |
Who is Joseph Zorzi?
Joseph Zorzi is a difficult man to pin down and attempting to match his life story to the evidence that we have available has proven to be quite confusing. For a man of his reputation and accomplishments, he dodged appearing in any contemporary news or literature during his lifetime and digitized census records bring up little. Everything we know about Joseph Zorzi comes from the Michael Wright's 2000 book, The Histories of Cool Guitars - Guitar Stories Volume 2
Timeline of Zorzi's Life according to Michael Wright's book, The Histories of Cool Guitars - Guitar Stories Volume 2
- 1878
- Born in Messina
- 1894
- Began apprenticeship with Milanese luthier Leandro Bisiach
- 1898
- Recruited by Lyon & Healy and moved to Chicago
- 1899
- Promoted to production chief of Washburn instruments with L&H
- 1924
- First meeting of the American Guild of Luthiers of which Zorzi was one of the founders
- 1926
- Zorzi advertised a Guild meeting at L&H and was fired
- Zorzi was then hired at Stromberg-Voisinet
- 1929
- There exists, according to Wright, a 14 fret Kay Kraft guitar with Zorzi's signature and dated 12/29
- 1934
- Joseph Zorzi leaves Kay to start his own private shop
How do we know Zorzi?
Manno mentions his purchase of a 1927 guitar built by Joseph Zorzi c. 1988 [4] |
Timeline of Zorzi's Life according to George Manno in Guitar Maker Issue 19 from 1993
- 1878
- Born in Messina, Sicily
- 1894
- Left for Milan to study lutherie with Leandro Bisiach
- 1897
- Zorzi had completed eleven violins and two violas
- 1898
- Jobbers from Lyon and Healy arrived at Bisiach's shop to purchase instruments to take back to the states
- They decided to take Joseph Zorzi with them
- 1899
- Joseph Zorzi was made production chief of the factory
- Few years later
- Zorzi was promoted to the head repairman position for L&H's Old Violin department
- 1924
- Joseph Zorzi founds the first lutherie guild in the United States
- 1927
- Zorzi was fired from Lyon and Healy for advertising his guild
- Joined Kay Musical Instrument Company and was tasked with building arch-top guitars in the basement
- 1924
- Zorzi left Kay and opened his own business as a violin maker
- 1935
- Joseph Zorzi and Angelico Boselli opened their own repairshop
- 1947
- Luthiers guild was revived and named "The Midwest Guild of Guitar and Violin Makers"
- Zorzi and Boselli would both be elected president of the guild
- 1972
- Manno meets Joseph Zorzi while apprenticing with Boselli
- January 1977
- Joseph Zorzi died
- His collection was sold to an English businessman and all proceeds went to charity
What doesn't add up?
Joseph Zorzi does not appear in a 1916 Lyon and Healy Employee List
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Of course, the list is available on Archive.org which I did not know until after I purchased the original Image Credit: Archive.org |
Zorzi does not appear on the neck Patent (US1932975)
Who isn't Joseph Zorzi?
Joseph Zorzi
Born 1878 in Austria, nationality is Croatian
Arrived April 12th, 1903 in the US after departing from Le Havre in France
Arrived with Massimino and Francesco Zorzi
Destined for New York
Joseph Zorzi
Born about 1880 in Italy
In 1920, was a coal miner in Pennsylvania
Joseph Zorzi
Married to Lena Zorzi
Four Children
George, Frank, Georgina Zorzi Lee, and Adele Zorzi Lee
Lived in Columbia Falls, Montana as of 1926
Guiseppe Zorzi
Born August 11th, 1877 in Austria
Worked at the H E MILLARD LIME AND STONE COMPANY in Pennsylvania
Sister is Josephina Zorzi
Joseph Lawrence Zorzi
Born August 21, 1883 in Venice
In 1942, lived in Las Vegas Nevada and worked at the Shamrock Bar
Joseph “Joe” Zorzi
November 20th, 1877 in Austria
Guiseppe Zorzi
Born 1883 in Italy
Immigrated in 1904, headed for Roslyn, Washington
Joe Zorzie
b. October 20th, 1896-1897
d. 1965
Coal miner
- Guiseppe Zorzi at age 25 arrived in New York on April 12th, 1903
- Aboard La Lorraine
- Arrived with Massimo and Francesco
- Apparently a mason from Austria
- https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYT715_340-0346?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=c39eecdd195c06f1d84223e52f260f33&usePUB=true&_phsrc=OTJ331&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=4001852802
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