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1950's Philadelphia factory


Roosto

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  • 10 years later...

I know this topic is over 10 years old but I found myself asking the same question so wanted to provide what info I could find (so far) just in case anyone else wondered the same.  As a resident of the Philadelphia area, I've always had an interest in this topic and, should I find a Philly made Zepyr Regent or Emperor, will hopefully have the cash on hand to make it mine!  Now, I don't know if any of this is already known (or if it appears in Carter's Epi history book -my copy doesn't get here until later this week) but here is what I've found so far...

EVERY article or webpage I could find about this topic usually mentions it in passing, and never gives an actual location or approximate address.  There was even a write-up in a local paper about "Philly's Guitar History" and the fact that Epiphone had a "factory" in Philly still only gets passing mention.  Without being an "expert" on this stuff, I'll make some sweeping generalizations / assumptions here and hope they are true:  we know that the switch to Philly happened in 1953 or thereabouts, and continued roughly until 1957, right before they were bought by Gibson.  We also know that at that point C.G. Conn had acquired some type of interest in Epiphone, and had moved "production" to Philly to avoid a strike / unionization at the NY factory.  Philly made Epi's still have stickers that read "New York" so the guitar's labels aren't going to help us, and frequent references to the Gibson purchase always state that they ended up with a bunch of "New York made" parts that were subsequently "used up" on Gibson-made Epi's.  

Without any evidence to back up my next assertion, and based on the "evidence" (such that it is) that we have, I'm going to guess that the reality is that no parts were actually made in Philadelphia, and that guitars were merely assembled here out of stock parts, previously manufactured in NY.  I looked at several historical phone books from the 1930's through the 1950's and the only "C. G. Conn" affiliated address was at 24 S. 18th Street.  Within a few blocks of City Hall and Rittenhouse Square, this is (now) a very high rent area of Philly.   Phone numbers at the time were "RIT nhse-6141" and then "LO cust 4-2274."   Currently, the address is for the "Pastrami & Things" eatery, listed by Google as an "Unassuming sandwich shop with a variety of options, including pastries, bagels & salads."  (hahahaha).  Physically, the building at this address *might* have been big enough to house an assembly room / "factory" but without looking into the history of that particular building, we'll never know how many times it has been cut up / sub-divided / etc., in the 70+ years since Conn was resident there.  I would guess that if Epiphone guitars were made at this address, it was all done in a small-ish assembly room.  Without myself knowing how many were actually made between 1953 and 1957, there's no way for me to know if it would be feasible at this address.  Of course, it is completely believable and possible that they were made somewhere else, in one of Philly's numerous warehouses / factories, most of which have been turned into high-rent apartments and condos by now.

IF anyone has any other info they have found on this topic, please share! 

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  • 6 months later...

Forgive me as well for replying to a very old post, but I've actually (almost) figured it out. @LesB3 was on the right track with old phone books, but was looking up the wrong company: May 1953 lists Epiphone Inc. at Rector and Main.

Based on the city's property database and the size of the buildings, I suspect it is the building at 4236 Main Street, but I am still investigating. It doesn't have to be right on the corner, after all.

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  • 1 month later...

The thing that is throwing me is the "cross canal bridge" part of the directions.  Rector street doesn't have a canal crossing, but Cotton and Lock streets do ( 1 block in either direction).  

Turning LEFT from either of the TWO bus stops on Main and Rector can put you in two different places.

Manayunk is like 7 miles from my house.   Might need to take a field trip tomorrow!

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According to some of the historical sites I have visited, a lot of the pedestrian canal bridges have since been taken down, so it is entirely feasible that there was a canal bridge at the end of Rector.  Since we have ruled out #3 as a plumbing warehouse from 1950-1996, #2 (site of the Bourbon Blue) restaurant might just be it.  

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I've found a telephone book entry for the "Wood-Lines Manufacturing Company, Inc." at Main & Rector Streets, in the Ivyridge section, but no number for an address and still not unique enough to produce meaningful search results.

 

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