Klarinet Archive - Posting 000658.txt from 1996/03

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: First Appearance of Plastic Clarinets
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 18:50:03 -0500

Conrad,

Thanks for the info on your plastic clarinet. A couple of others have
also offered testimony regarding their early purchases. About Pruefer:
a friend of mine at Eastman picked up a no-name mouthpiece at a music store
in Oakland, CA a few years ago. It just sounded to him like it had
potential, so he paid ten bucks and took it home. When he took a closer
look at the mouthpiece, he could see "Pruefer" stamped on it. This still
meant nothing to him, until he broght it to Clark Fobes, who identified
it as a Chedeville blank! Who was Pruefer, and did he also dabble in
mouthpiece making?

Neil

On Mon, 25 Mar 1996, Josias Associates wrote:

> Neil,
>
> I bought my first clarinet in 1946 from money I earned in a summer
> job loading trucks and running errands. All I could afford for the
> instrument was $60.00, with nothing left over for lessons. The $60.00
> fetched me a new ebonite (plastic) Pruefer clarinet. So you can tell your
> student that, from my limited first-hand knowledge, plastic clarinets
> were on sale in 1946 and very likely earlier.
>
> Obscure as the name Pruefer might sound, there was actually an
> inquiry about the instrument line on Klarinet within the last year,
> following which there was a brief discussion thread.
>
> Regards,
>
> Connie
>
> Conrad Josias
> La Canada, California
>