Vintage 1960s Flute/recorder Minimal Use Trophy Production Co. Plastic

Description

Vintage Trophy Production Co. Flute/recorder- Plastic 1960s. One vintage trophy production flute. This flute was acquired from a school closing in upstate N.Y. It was auctioned off and I happened to win the auction, 30 in total all are gently used and in great condition, each separates into three separate pieces making for easy storage. there is some tape residue from numbering them for the students. Minimal use with only light wear. I have a total of thirty. This offer is for one or more, The more you buy the better the price. once again all are in great working condition and ready to use. U.S. only please. Feel free to read a brief history of the trophy Production Co.
Trophy Products began in the 1940s and continues to this day. The company was originally run by Max Berger and his son Joseph, and it's now operated by third-generation relative Richard Berger. Some of the plastic musical inventions patented by Joseph Thompson/Trophy Products are still available.
Henry Grossman was in the musical instrument business-both wholesale and manufacturing-for most of his life. In the 1920s he went into business as Grossman Bros. Music with his brother Julius. They produced thick books called Counter Catalogs, updated every few years, to offer and distribute all things musical worldwide. Grossman Music was and currently is operated out of the downtown Cleveland, OH, area. When Mr. Grossman started offering Joe Thompson's mouthpiece puller to the public it was the start of a relationship that led to various plastic instruments (trumpets, horns, whistles, and kazoos) throughout the 1940s. To be able to bring the gift of music to both children and adults in times of war became a great service to the world.
Restrictions during World War II required that metal used in anything not intended for the war effort-such as musical instruments-be an amount less than 10 percent.
The relationship of Mr. Thompson and Mr. Grossman continued through the 1950s and 1960s, as Grossman bought the Rogers drum company in the early '50s. Mr. Thompson was from Covington, OH, and that's where the drum factory was built. In the early days of the factory, Trophy products were assembled in a room next to the Rogers office. The plastic instrument Mr. Thompson is most known for is the Flutophone, which became the standard for every elementary band class eager to embark on a music education. That was in the 1940s; later in the '60s, he went with the times to revamp the early learning instrument and designed the Cambridge recorder.
The first and most complex plastic instrument was a full-size plastic trumpet. Mr. Thompson had the gift for making things in a fun and practical way to be enjoyed by children and adults alike. The Spike Jones-endorsed Sax-o-fun was a small saxophone-shaped kazoo. The Sousa-fun was kazoo that resembled a small tuba. The riveted Blasto whistle is modeled after U.S. Army and Navy issue pea green whistles-built to last. The Hezzie slide whistle is simple fun for any age. Some of these musical inventions were used in professional pit orchestras to achieve the sound that only a Trophy product can produce. The art of encouraging the gift of music through simple, played musical inventions. Simply hum or blow.
The first batches of 1940s Rocket whistles, Hum-a-zoos, Flutophones, Sax-o-funs, and Skylark whistles I've found are in that swirly, multicolored plastic of the times. Some Grossman text refers to them as variegated colors. The later 1950s examples are solid in color. The Dixie and Piper fifes also varied in colors over the years. The main solid colors found are red, and bright yellow for the older Trophy Products. On most of the instruments, the mouthpiece color contrasts that of the body.
I hope you have enjoyed this display and brief history.