Ludwig contracted the William Frank Company of Chicago to fabricate an instrument with the piston positioned horizontally instead of vertically.' Plus, the Barrington plant opened in this time, too.įrom the Middle Horn Leader website( 5): 'There's evidence that sometime during, or shortly after 1927, William F. (Simlar to Martin who discontinued 'handcraft' after WWII.) 'National' and 'Artist' apprear to have been initiated in 1945. The name 'classic' appears to have been discontinued at this time. The 'established' 1938 end of first run of Frank horns (based on the above SN list) makes sense for two reasons: first, there was a recession in 37-38 that caught a number of businesses (York ceased production of saxophones around this time).

With figures like that, Frank's small company could easily have been busy filling military orders for years. According to the army's own figures, 143,000 instruments were purchased. US Army documentation ( 4) could explain why there appears to be no early documented horns from Wm Frank Co, even though he was in business from 1909. His business prospered and he expanded to new quarters in 1919.( 3)

He began in his business in 1909( 1), in addition to his professional career as a orchestral horn from 1904.( 2) Were there multiple sequences for different instruments? Were sequences reliably chronological? Were the sequences reset when the factory moved to Barrington Ill, etc. There are many unanswered questions about the Frank serial number sequence(s).

Holton trumpet serial number list