Century-old Globe Musical Instruments The Orphane guitar
 

A friend brought over a couple of guitars for me to work on... went over what he wanted done, then pulled this out and asked if I'd be interested in taking it. Well yes, I think I would! It was given to him. He is not an acoustic player, and the cost to get it repaired... he just wasn't interested in it.

I know very little about Globe Musical Instruments, so if any of you can provide any information, I'd really appreciate it.

It appears to be from the teens or twenties, Brazilian fingerboard, back, and sides. The original bridge is in splinters, several cracks on the front and back, some lose braces, needs a neck reset, and missing some of the wood marquetry inlay pieces on the back strip. These are all repairs I can do, and I should end up with a nice little century-old, Brazilian parlor guitar. The original case is in nice shape as well.

https://i.ibb.co/23Yrsxn/IMG-3794.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/6DJjpsC/IMG-3793.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Y3vQ646/IMG-3796.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/gdQq53B/IMG-3795.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/3RWyyLj/IMG-3797.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/NF72jvH/IMG-3799.jpg

Interesting - I’ve never heard of Orphane brand guitars before.


whm

Wow! For its age it looks to be in pretty good shape all in all! Best of luck with the restoration. I can't wait to see it!

Yeah, it doesn't appear to have been played much or abused, other than being dried out. The cracks don't show well in the pictures, but they're pretty bad. I hope they'll close up when I get it properly hydrated.

I can't wait to hear it!

Bob

Nice one! They were made in a suburban Chicago. They made all sorts of stringed instruments from the early 1900's through WWII and at one point were in a partnership with Regal although I believe it was just a promotional/advertising partnership. They're probably most remembered for mandolins and ukes. Most of their guitars were your pretty typical low-mid level Chicago jobber instruments and the bulk of their output was not branded Globe. Now days, people often just lump these in as Harmony and Regal built as they can be very similar and from the ones I've seen, it seems like they were either buying parts from Harmony or at least using some of the same suppliers, but they were definitely assembled in house.

Yeah, I thought of Globe as a Chicago company too. Interesting that this label says New York. It is higher quality than most Harmony stuff I've encountered. The neck carve is also quite different.

I think New York was probably to make them sound a little more worldly. Even Martin stamped their guitars New York for like 50 years after moving to Pennsylvania :)

I have run across a few Globe ukes, bowlback mandolins and guitars. I do not know much about them other than that Globe started off in NYC later moving to Chicago. They were distributed by Charles Meisel Music of NYC. Meisel started business as an importer and wholesaler in the late-1880s. Based on the reverse tuners alone, my guess would be the guitar was built sometime between then and maybe 1920. Like Harmony and other jobbers, Globe apparently churned out an incredibly large number of instruments every year.

Thanks! Based on that bit of information, I was able to find this at Jedistar.com:

“In referring to [your database] today though I noticed you have Globe down as a Harmony Brand. This is quite a common thing that people say as Globe instruments look a lot like Harmony one and also came from Chicago but it is not the case. The Globe Musical Instrument Company of St. Charles Illinois (a Chicago suburb) was a completely separate company. I don’t have the full company history but I know they were contemporaries of Harmony starting in the early 1920’s and certainly still in business at the beginning of the second world war. Looking at their ukulele output I believe they survived the war and like Harmony and a lot of others moved production to Japan in the 50’s. They are not in business today though. [Source: Lardy, Lardy Fatboys Ukulele Data Base, email 11/6/2012]
According to Mugwumps The Globe Musical Instrument Company in New York is the same as Globe Music Co. of Chicago with the Charles Meisel Company (wholesaler established 1878) claiming “Sole control of the output of the Globe Musical Company."

And according to Mugwumps database Globe Music was in business from 1898 to 1940. I wonder if the reference to the '20s is when they moved from New York to Chicago? My guess is that this guitar was built sometime in the teens or early twenties.

I don't believe they were ever built in New York. There's certainly no record of a factory there. They definitely had a distributer in New York but I'd be shocked if they were manufactured there for a few reasons The main one being that they just don't look like New York guitars of the era but have pretty much all the hallmarks of Chicago made instruments. The second is that there are records going back to at least 1908 of their Chicago factory. Originally in Chicago and then moving to suburban St. Charles in 1915. It's always possible that they were made in New York prior to 1908 but I seriously doubt it.

You obviously have more experience with these guitars and a much better eye than I do. I own, as example, an Oscar Schmidt-made Galiano. I know for a fact it was built in New Jersey and not one made by Antonio Cerrito or one of the other builders of the NYC Italian Guild and then sold by Schmidt. Based on outward appearance, a Cerrito looks very much like an upper end Schmidt Sovereign. It is the structure that though which tells the story - the neck joint, bracing and such.

Mugwumps List of Fretted Instrument Makers shows the Globe-Meisel trademark first appearing in 1885 but gives no place of manufacture. So where these early guitars were bult is anybody's guess. They then list Globe Music Co. as being in Chicago from 1898 until 1940.

I've had a number of Schmidt built Galiano's as well as guitars by Cerrito, Ciani, Netunno and others. One thing you'll find with these "Italian Guild" guitars is that some of them actually have higher end Schmidt built bodies. I've seen several that were obviously Schmidts with fancier necks etc.... I guess when I'm talking about New York built guitars, I lump Schmidt in with them, even though they were across the river. I'm currently working on a really cool 15" flat top Ciani that was made at the time John D'angelico was running the shop! All very cool instruments and the Globe's that I have seen don't really resemble them at all on inspection from either a design or build standpoint.

As for Mugwumps. It's a very cool resource for sure but I've found that it can be less than reliable. I wouldn't really trust a date that I saw on there unless they could site a source.