The Stratosphere Guitar Mfg Co - Springfield, Missouri

About

The Stratosphere Guitar Manufacturing Company was founded in Springfield, Missouri by brothers Russell Herman and Claude Luther Deaver. According to the 1950 census, both brothers worked as painters and they were listed as painters in the 1953 city directory [1][2]. The 1954 city directory is unavailable but by the time of the 1955 city directory they were both listed as working at the Stratosphere Guitar Manufacturing Co [3][4].

The factory was located at 341 Boonville Avenue in Springfield, Missouri which was a manufacturing block just north of the city center. 

300 block of Boonville Avenue in Springfield c.1959
Boonville Ave runs vertically on the right side of the photo
The exact building the Deavers used is unknown
Image Credit: Historic Aerials

From L-R: Russell, Russell Jr, Mina, Ruth, and Claude Deaver
Image Credit: Ancestry.com user gcdb53

1957 Patent application for a double neck electric guitar
Image Credit: Google Patents

 Sources

[1] https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/138944082:62308?tid=182251037&pid=312374524275&hid=1040242460821

[2] https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/141938487:62308?tid=182251037&pid=312374524313&hid=1040242461354

[3] https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/546416993:2469?_phsrc=zMK1371&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=russell&gsln=deaver&ml_rpos=6&queryId=65db53ebef41366f80a12da362b7d4f0

[4] https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/632312403:2469?_phsrc=zMK1373&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=russell&gsln=deaver&ml_rpos=10&queryId=65db53ebef41366f80a12da362b7d4f0