• Leblanc Alto Sax Serial Numbers Value

The history of Leblanc dates back to 1750 when Ets. Noblet was established in France making instruments for the court of Louis XV. Noblet would help establish France as the center of woodwind manufacturing. In 1904, Noblet found himself with no heir to the family business, and it was sold to Georges Leblanc. Jun 06, 2009 I have been searching the web for Leblanc Saxophones trying to put a serial number list together this is what I have found. Serial Number Type.

Holton is a brand owned by Steinway Musical Instruments' Conn-Selmer division. The original business was a used instrument shop owned by Frank Holton, a trombone player, in Chicago, Illinois, started in 1898. The firm built brass instruments for ten years in Chicago, then in Elkhorn, Wisconsin from 1918 until 2008, when production of Holton-branded instruments moved to Eastlake, Ohio.^[1] The business remained independent until it was acquired by Leblanc in 1964. Leblanc was acquired by Conn-Selmer in 2004 and its properties became subsidiaries of Conn-Selmer.

• 2The Frank Holton Company

Frank Holton[edit]

Frank E. Holton was born March 10, 1858 in Allegan, Michigan to farmers Otis (b. 1827) and Hanna A. (b. 1829) Holton. He grew up with three sisters: Emma E. Holton, Alice Holton and Leona Holton.^[2][3] By the time he was 34, Frank Holton was an accomplished trombone player and principal trombone of the Sousa Band, a role that would later be filled by Arthur Pryor.^[4] In 1885 he had partnered with James Warren York in York & Holton, before he established his own company in 1898.^[4]

Frank Holton's wife Florence was a music teacher.^[5] They had no children.^[6] Frank Holton, though not an instrument maker himself, expanded his company to manufacture instruments^[7] which was his occupation until retiring at age 80. Frank Holton died after a protracted illness on April 16, 1942 at the age of 84.^[6]

The Frank Holton Company[edit]

Chicago[edit]

Frank Holton's first business venture on his own was a small rented shop with a desk, two counters and two chairs that he had to paint himself at Clark and Madison streets in Chicago, in 1898, where he sold used instruments and his own formula slide oil for trombone. Unable to make the rent at times, Holton was known to pawn instruments at a shop on Clark Street between 1898 and 1900.^[7]

By 1907, a skilled horn maker had been hired, and the production of Holton instruments required the construction of a factory on the West Side of Chicago.^[7] It would be home to Frank Holton & Company for only a decade.

Elkhorn[edit]

In April 1918, Holton opened a factory in Elkhorn, Wisconsin moving over 200 employees and 85 carloads of machinery from Chicago. The city had lured Holton to Elkhorn through the efforts of a group of local businessmen, who, acting under city mandate, built the new factory which was turned over to Holton and Co. upon their arrival.^[8] That building remained as the core of the Holton factory until the decision in 2008 to merge Holton horn production with King and Conn instruments in Eastlake, Ohio.

While the factory had been paid for by the city of Elkhorn, the cost of training skilled labor resulted in the first profits there not being seen until 1920.^[4]

Along with machinery and employees, Holton brought the company band to Elkhorn^[8] which would quickly merge with the storied Elkhorn Band, which had been founded in 1840 by Charles Seelye only 3 years after the town of Elkhorn itself. The band had served as the 12th Regimental Band from 1861 to 1864 during the Civil War.^[7]

Already building a full line of high-end brass instruments, Holton recognized the growth of music in the schools and began selling student-line instruments built by other workshops under the trade names Pertin and Beaufort. Holton also began production of saxophones in the late Chicago days, and would remain in production of such instruments into the post World War II era. Holton saxophones never enjoyed the reputation or sales of their competitors C.G. Conn, Buescher, Martin, or King, but generate interest for the idiosyncratic keywork on some early models.^[9][10] In the early 1930s the Holton Collegiate line of student horns was introduced, which would last through the 1970s.^[11] After 2004 the defunct Collegiate line was re-introduced by Conn-Selmer under their Holton brand, again targeting a balance of quality and price suitable for school music programs.^[4]

In addition to building the company in Elkhorn, Frank Holton also built a subdivision of 5 and 6 room bungalows in 1919. The 25 homes were priced in the $3,000 to $4,000 range.^[12]

Post Frank Holton[edit]

After retiring, at age 82 Frank Holton sold the company to employee William Kull. The company was run from that point forward by sales manager Elliot Kehl, though Kull would retain the title CEO until he died in 1944.

During World War II, the company performed defense work, as did most all instrument manufacturers. Following the war, Elliot Kehl secured a controlling interest in the company and began development of several new products including the Farkas ModelFrench horn and a new line of saxophones.^[4] The Stratodyne was Holton's top line saxophone from 1948 to 1958 and the last model sold as a professional saxophone by Holton.^[10]

Holton became the supplier for Leblanc's Vito line of student-line brasswinds and (briefly) saxophones in 1951. Leblanc acquired Holton in 1964 and phased out the Collegiate saxophone line in favor of their Vito-branded instruments.^[13] The Collegiate brand for brasswinds was terminated in 1980. From 1971 on, Leblanc used the Martin Committee brand on some Holton model brasswinds.

Under Conn-Selmer[edit]

Leblanc was acquired by Conn-Selmer in 2004. In 2008, the Elkhorn factory was closed and production was moved to the Eastlake, Ohio plant that produces King and C.G. Conn brasswinds.^[14] Conn-Selmer currently produces Holton-branded cornets, trumpets, french horns, trombones, and slide and valve oil.^[15] Some of the featured products built during the post-acquisition period include:

• The Holton Collegiate and New Collegiate line of student brasswinds
• The Maynard Ferguson Trumpet series
• The Farkas Model French horn
• The Merker-matic Model French horn
• The Harvey Phillips Model tubas
• Frank Holton's trombone slide oil (the original formulation) and valve oil

Holton artists[edit]

The Holton company relied on endorsement by leading artists as one of its primary marketing tools. Often these artists collaborated on the design of instruments that they would then play and promote. Some would subsequently leave Holton to build instruments themselves.^[4]

Among these were :

• Frank Holton (1858–1942), the former lead trombone with the Sousa Band and an accomplished performer who could demonstrate his product.
• Ernst Albert Couturier (1869–1950), cornet virtuoso and instrument maker behind the Holton Couturier New Model, performed as a Holton artist from 1907 until starting his own firm in 1916.
• Vincent Bach (1890–1976), cornet and trumpet player and manufacturer of trumpets and mouthpieces performed as a Holton artist in 1917-18 prior to starting his own firm.
• Edward Llewellyn (d. 1936), principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony, began performing as a Holton artist in 1919.
• Renold Schilke (1910–1982), principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony and instrument maker, performed as a member of the Holton-sponsored Chicago Symphony Brass Ensemble in the 1950s.
• Philip Farkas (1914–1992), principal horn of the Chicago Symphony, left what became Schilke Music Products in 1956 and joined with Holton, designing the Holton Farkas Modelfrench horn.
• Maynard Ferguson (1928–2006), trumpet and flugelhorn virtuoso and namesake of the Holton Maynard Ferguson Trumpet line, performed as a Holton artist and designer starting in the 1960s.
• Harvey Phillips (1929–2010), tuba player, professor, creator of the Harvey Phillips Foundation and Tuba Christmas, and namesake of the Holton Phillips Model Tuba teamed with Holton in the 1990s.

Not all ventures with artists were successful. The Holton Falcone Model baritone horn, developed at the end of the 1970s with input from the namesake of the Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival was dropped after only a short run when Leonard Falcone refused to endorse or play on the production version. There is no record of the popular 1920s saxophone player Rudy Wiedoeft ever having played on his namesake instrument produced by Holton.

References[edit]

1. ^'The Frank Holton Company'. Dictionary of Wisconsin History. Wisconsinhistory.org. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
2. ^United States Census of 1860 (Heath Township, Allegan, Michigan)
3. ^United States Census of 1870 (Allegan Village, Michigan)
4. ^ ^abcdef'Holton Timeline/Key Events'. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
5. ^United States Census of 1910 (track M5, city of Chicago, Illinois)
6. ^ ^ab'Frank Holton' (obituary),that may be what was listed in the obituary, but there was a daughter, Leta, who passed away in her early years. The Sheboygan Press, 17 April 1942.
7. ^ ^abcdThe Guide, A Trip through the Holton Factory, The Frank Holton Company, Elkhorn, Wisconsin, 1920.
8. ^ ^ab'Band Instrument Factory to open in Elkhorn Monday', The Janesville Gazette, 18 April 1918.
9. ^Hales, Pete. 'Holton History'. saxpics.com. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
10. ^ ^abOverton, Mark. 'Holton Saxophone Models'. saxophone.org. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
11. ^'Serial Numbers'. HoltonLoyalist.com. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
12. ^Elkhorn, The Grand Rapids Press, 12 June 1919.
13. ^Holton serial number charts lump brasswinds and saxophones together, so the terminal date of saxophone production remains vague. (see discussion: https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?70892-Holton-Saxophone-Serial-number-registry)
14. ^'Holton Page'. Conn-Selmer, inc. Conn-Selmer, inc. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
15. ^'Holton Horns Website'. Retrieved 25 July 2011.

Leblanc Alto Sax Serial Numbers Value

External links[edit]

• The Holton Loyalist, website of the history and instruments of the Frank Holton & Co.

Vito is a brand name of Leblanc which was started in 1951.

History[edit]

Vito is a brand name for Leblanc USA, now part of Conn-Selmer USA.The Vito name was used for student instruments. Leblanc USA was formed in 1946 by Vito Pascucci,and the French woodwind manufacturer, G. Leblanc Cie of France. To meet high demand, Leblanc USAstarted to manufacture clarinets in the US from plastic bodies and French keys. Eventually all of the partswere made in the US. These student clarinets were named 'Vito'.

There were also Vito saxes and flutes. Some saxes may have been assembled in the USA, but they were basically of foreign manufacturer. This author has no information concerning where the flutes were manufactured.

Addendum: Many, if not all, Vito flutes were 'stencil' instruments manufactured in Japan by Yamaha. They were roughly the equivalent of a Yamaha YFL-200 series student instrument.

The following information was provided by the original author of this post concerning the origin of Vito saxes or component parts.

• Beaugnier of Paris, France - Beaugnier made saxophones as Beaugnier and stencils labeled Leblanc, Vito and Noblet for the French market and U.S. export and also Selmer for U.K. export.
• Yanagisawa of Japan - (VSP Soprano, Alto and Baritone Saxophones)
• Yamaha of Japan (7131 model Alto and also Tenor Saxophones)
• KHS/Jupiter brand (7133 model Alto and Tenor Saxophones).

Serial Numbers[edit]

Vito Alto Saxophone Model 7131 Japan Stamped Serial Numbers.

These serial numbers ignore the leading zeros at the start of the serial numbers.

1970

1-500

1971

501-2155

1972

2156-3529

1973

3530-4421

1974

4422-12000

1975

12001-25603

1976

25604-30827

1977

30828-33947

1978

33948-38844

1979

38845-42434

1980

42435-47975

1981

47976-52455

1982

52456-58306

1983

58307-62177

1984

62178-68524

1985

68525-72535

1986

72536-78579

1987

78580-85091

1988

85092-89758

1989

89759-501000

1990

501098-510332

1991

510333-511518

1992

511519-515800

1993

515801-519845

1994

519846-526925

1995

526926-533097

1996

533098-537807

1997

537808-552998

1998

552999-560613

1999

560614-575843

2000

575842-587455

2001

587456-624567

2002

624568-654084

Vito Saxophone Models[edit]

• Vito 7133SS Soprano Sax
• Vito 7131R(K) Alto Sax
• Vito 7133 Alto Sax
• Vito 7131T(K) Tenor Sax
• Vito 7133T Tenor Sax
• Vito 7190BA Baritone Sax
• Vito 7136 Alto Sax
• Vito 7140 Alto Sax

External links[edit]