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| Portrait c.1912 Image Credit: [3] |
About
Franklin Howard Griffith was born December 19th, 1867 in Baltimore, Maryland. His father Isaiah was a carpenter while his mother stayed home tending to the house [1][2]. He often signed his name as F. Howard indicating his preference for his middle name. According to a 1912 biography, Griffith began working at the largest music house in Baltimore in 1886 and shortly after was offered the position of manager of a Philadelphia music house. In 1888, Howard went into business for himself and by 1890 had begun manufacturing musical instruments
F. H. Griffith & Co - (1890-1897)
Howard opened his first music store at 1102 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia where he sold banjos, mandolins, and guitars. Whether these instruments were actually built by his company or were ordered from other firms requires more time spent inspecting the existing instruments.
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| 1891 ad Image Credit: Google Books - The Étude Music Magazine |
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| 1891 ad Image Credit: Google Books - Book News |
In 1892, Griffith patented a package for instrument strings made of wax paper with separate pockets for each string intended to protect gut strings from being exposed to the environment and deteriorating.
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| Patent 488,005 Image Credit: Google Patents |
By 1895, the firm had moved to 131 South 11th Street and advertised their mandolins and guitars almost exclusively.
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| 1895 Ad Image Credit: Google Books - The Étude |
In 1897, Griffith sold off his instrument manufacturing firm and spent the next 6 years seeking gold in Alaska. He moved back to the United States in 1903 and lived in Arizona and California, continuing as a miner, before moving back to Philadelphia where he continued to manage his mines across the country and became a director of three oil companies [3]
Sources
[1] Passport application - https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1174/images/USM1490_580-0103?pId=1044623
[2] 1880 census - https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4241604-00584?pId=49336657
[3] Notables of the Southwest - 1912 - https://www.google.com/books/edition/Press_Reference_Library/j-IDAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22f+h+griffith%22+music+instruments&pg=PA211&printsec=frontcover
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