National Musical String Company Records

Dates

Majority of material found within 1891-1978

Scope and Content Note

This collection of the records and printed output of the National Musical String Company (NMSCo.) contains materials from about the years 1890-1978. Although NMSCo. was formed in 1897, all of its founders were experienced workers0in the string industry and thus some stray papers (especially patents and trademarks) date from before 1897.

The strengths and weaknesses of the collection vary according to the decade under scrutiny. I shall divide the eighty years included in these records into three periods, and study the strengths and weaknesses of each.

I. Nelson-Emerson (1897-1917). The vast majority of correspondence dates from this period, as well as many of the legal documents. There is also a good amount of printed materials and photographs. However, there are very few financial documents of any sort; those existing are single items, hardly enough to present any sort of continuous picture.

II. McClelland (1917-32). There are more financial documents for this period, but the documentation is strongest in the area of printed materials and photo-graphs. There is very little correspondence and not a great deal of legal documents.

III. Stockholding group (1932-70). The financial documentation. is very strong and has very few gaps. There is very little correspondence, and a reasonable amount of printed material. There are quite a few legal documents, many relating to financial matters.

Extent

35 Cubic Feet (49 volumes, 18 cartons, and 2 framed items.)

Physical Location

Stored offsite: Advance notice required to consult these records.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Correspondence, accounts, printed matter, scrapbooks, and other records.

Biographical / Historical

Chronology - History

1897
: Thomas Nelson, Jr. and George D. Emerson organize National Musical String Company (henceforth NMSCo). Both are experienced in this field: Nelson owns Rice Musical String Company in New York City, and Emerson owns in Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey. NMSCo incorporated and recognized by the state as such May 14. Soon afterward, construction begins on a plant in New Brunswick.
1898
: Plant opens in February at an address later known as 100 Georges Road.
1898
: Nelson is designated president, Emerson treasurer, and William R. McClelland secretary.
circa 1911
: Nelson leaves the company. Emerson becomes president, and William R. McClelland becomes secretary-treasurer.
circa 1917
: Emerson (1853-1936) retires, selling the plant to McClelland. McClelland becomes president and sole owner.
1932
: McClelland, aged 67, dies suddenly on April 29. Unmarried and without heirs, he has left his shares of NMSCo stock to current and former employees. Within several years the stock has come into new hands, those of Charles Sonfield, Jerome Harris, Samuel Buegeleisen, and James and Frank Gibson. These five become the executives of NMSCo.
circa 1950
: Frank Gibson sells his family's shares in NMSCo to the three other stockholders.
1970
: Descendants of Buegeleisen, Harris, and Sonfield oversee acquisition of NMSCo by Kaman Corporation, a Connecticut organization newly entered into the music field.
1979
: Through reorganization, National Musical String Company becomes Kaman Musical String Corporation. This corporation moves to Bloomfield, Connecticut. Papers of NMSCo and predecessors, 1895-1969 (before acquisition by Kaman) donated to Rutgers University, Special Collections.

Arrangement Notes

The records of the National Musical String Company (NMSCo.) create a remarkably rich and detailed picture of a New Jersey business. from 1897-1970. NMSCo. was (and still is) the largest manufacturer of musical strings in the United States. These strings are made with the amateur and/or popular musician in mind, and for such instruments as violins, 'cellos, guitars, and banjos (in other words, most plucked or bowed instruments). They have never made piano or harp strings.

Though a musically-oriented enterprise, this New Brunswick company's records do not really reflect this, and they can be studied by anyone wishing information on business or factory life. The correspondence and legal documentation surrounding the founding of the company are in a very complete state; there is also a good deal of information about the patents and trademarks held by NMSCo.

Further, the financial documentation is rather weak for the period 1897-1932. After that time, however, there is a veritable wealth of information surrounding sales, payroll, total income, etc. Finally, there is a fairly complete record of the many price lists and catalogs NMSCo. issued from its founding until its departure from New Brunswick in 1979.

The collection has been as well arranged as space and time have permitted. Certain items, such as payroll books, could not be boxed together simply because of their size and great weight. The container listing and shelf listing will hopefully be of help here.

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title: Inventory to the National Musical String Company Records MC 890
Status: Edited Full Draft
Author: Judith A. Huenneke
Date: May 1983
Language of description note: Finding aid is written in English.
Sponsor: Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.