1930s-1940s

In early 1936, a few months after his 51st birthday and more than 30 years work at the H.N. White Company, Foster A. Reynolds (1884-1960) founded the F.A. Reynolds Company. The new company was located at 2845 Prospect Avenue in Cleveland, near the campus of former Fenn College, now Cleveland State University. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported in late March of that year that:

Another new industry has been located in Cleveland in a transaction reported closed yesterday by Granger Factory Space Brokers, 320 Hippodrome Building.

It is the F. A. Reynolds Co., Inc., recently organized. Its president, Foster A. Reynolds, decided to locate here because of manufacturing conditions, nearness to supply of raw materials and convenience of distribution of the finished product.

The company has leased for ten years a modern three-story brick building at 2837-53 Prospect Avenue S. E., containing 21,000 square feet of floor space and is expending $40,000 in alterations and installation of equipment for making high grade band instruments. A subsidiary, the Ohio Band Instrument Co., will operate at the same place, making medium-priced band instruments for the commercial trade.

According to its officers, the Reynolds company has orders booked ahead for six months’ production from dealers in this country and Europe. Twenty men now are employed and the force will be increased to 100 as soon as machinery and equipment are in.

President Reynolds has been engaged for 32 years in making [sic] of band instruments and also in the development of special mechanical equipment.[1]

According to trademark documentation, the Reynolds name was first used for commerce in February 1936, which is consistent with the facts of the newspaper report. In May 1940, the paper further reported that Reynolds had secured a second five-year lease (meaning the original report was incorrect, or that the first lease was later modified) through Granger for $18,000. They also note that the company started with four employees and now (1940) employed 80 men.[2] Reynolds’ brother, Harper A. Reynolds, served as treasurer of the company.

Reynolds’ early instruments have much in common with the designs he was familiar with from his work at H.N. White and it is not unthinkable that Reynolds leaned heavily on his experience and relationships at his former employer as he began operations (especially H.N. White workers whom he convinced to join him or whose services he “borrowed”). Regardless, he quickly moved to separate himself from his past work and establish his company’s own place in the industry.

1940s: Reynolds’ early success in producing technical advancements in brass instrument manufacturing was recognized by the United States military and the company was awarded considerable contracts to provide instruments for Army Air Force (USAAF) service bands during World War II. These contracts allowed the relatively new company to continue focusing on instrument production when many more-established manufacturers, e.g. Olds and Conn, were forced to shut down instrument lines and produce wartime equipment. Reynolds made instruments for the military service bands until c.1950; these instruments have a large “U.S.” mark engraved near the rim of the bell.

While Reynolds continued making band instruments during World War II, they also made their facilities available for companies needing plating work on defense items. Newspaper advertisements throughout 1943 advertise the company’s services for silver or gold plating of radio parts, electrical contact units and other parts through light or heavy deposit plating. Large tank capacity was available and satisfaction was guaranteed through 40 years of plating experience.

1946: After spending over ten years building and securing his company’s place in the brass instrument industry and over 40 years in the industry overall, Foster Reynolds sold his shares of the operation to Max Scherl and/or the Scherl & Roth Company. Max Scherl is referred to as president of the F.A. Reynolds Band Instrument Co. in a July 1946 newspaper listing.[4]

1947: Under Scherl & Roth ownership, operations for Reynolds and Ohio Band were eventually merged and the latter’s Regent instrument line discontinued. The Roth trumpets, cornets and trombones that had been manufactured by Ohio Band were rebranded under the F.A. Reynolds name and became the budget line of the consolidated catalog — professional value and ease of playing were emphasized as the key characteristics of Roth instruments.

In November, the Reynolds expanded their instrument lineup with the moderately priced Emperor trumpet, cornet and tenor trombone models in an effort to reach more advanced student musicians. The Emperor models acted as intermediate “step up” horns from the entry-level Roth (and later, Medalist) models. According to the trademark application filed with the U.S. Patent Office, the model name “Emperor” was first used on November 1, 1947. Registered in 1952, the trademark registration was renewed once in 1972 before being allowed to expire by the current owners.

Deluxe versions of Emperor and Roth cornets, trumpets and tenor trombones featured a two-piece brass and nickel-silver bell. The nickel-silver bell flare remained a design element of the Emperor models until the early 1970s (the Roth “Tone Tempered” version was discontinued in the early 1950s) when models produced at the Olds plant in Fullerton had a nickel plate finish over the entire instrument and were similar, if not identical, to the Olds “Special” line of instruments.

1949: Following on the Emperor line, Reynolds introduced “Contempora” in May 1949 as a new premium model line. While most existing Reynolds instruments were simply rebranded as Contempora models, the Reynolds trumpets, cornets and tenor trombones were renamed as the Professional model line and new designs were introduced for the Contempora models. These new instruments featured larger bore sizes and golden bronze-alloy bells with nickel-silver tone rings, as well as other distinctive features such as Monel valve pistons and tuning slide triggers for improved intonation control.

The new models were allegedly designed and produced in collaboration with local musicians from the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. According to the trademark application filed with the U.S. Patent Office, the name “Contempora” and original stylized script were first used on May 5, 1949 and designated for “cornets, trumpets, trombones, altos, baritones, basses, french horns, clarinets, oboes, piccolos, flutes, bassoons [and] euphoniums.” Registered in 1951, the trademark registration was renewed once in 1971 before being allowed to expire by the current owners.