Klarinet Archive - Posting 000336.txt from 1995/05

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: French clarinet manufacturers including Freres Martin
Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 06:38:11 -0400

Rein Stein of the Netherlands inquires about a clarinet with the
name "Freres Martin" stamped on it. Let me contrast the making
of clarinets in France with the manufacture whiskey in Kentucky.
At one time, there were 100 distilleries manufacturing whiskey and,
what with time, competition, and marketing skills, it has fairly
well dropped down to about 7-10 major manufacturers. Schenley
bought out at least 2 dozen smaller houses, etc., etc. Most Kentucky
whiskeys (and there are hundreds of brand names) are produced by
7-10 houses. They change bottles and labels but not much else.
On Monday they make whiskey for A&P brand, on Tuesday for Lucky Stores
brands, etc.

And, until WW2 (the 50th anniversary of whose conclusion we
commemorated just yesterday), that is the way it was in France.
There were the Freres Martin (originally begun by a bunch of brothers
named Marin [last name]), and LeMere, and dozens and dozens of
other houses. They were uniformly good but they could not survive
the war and the competition.

Now I am not suggesting that Freres Martin went out of business at
the time of the war; they might have lasted a little longer or they
might have been gone by 1930, but they were one of a dozen such
smaller manufacturers who could not compete. Eventually they got
bought up, or they went into the mass market, or they gave up.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
====================================