Pedler Boehm System Clarinet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This clarinet was made by The Pedler Co. in Elkhart, Indiana, 1940s. It is a Boehm System clarinet in B-flat, serial #E33169, made of hard rubber with nickel silver ferrules and keys. The barrel is made of rosewood with nickel silver ferrules and is stamped “Renault.” The bell is stamped:

Harry Walter Pedler (1872-1950) was born in England and immigrated to the United States in 1905 as a musical instrument maker. By 1919, Pedler established his musical instrument making firm in Elkhart, Indiana and continued there until his retirement in 1930.

This clarinet was previously owned and used by Harold I. Woolridge (1895-1971), after serving in the Sousa Band from 1924 to 1927.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1940s
• user: Woolridge, Harold
• referenced: Sousa, John Philip
• maker: The Pedler Company
• Object Name: clarinet
• Physical Description: rubber (overall material)
• Physical Description: nickel silver (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 23 1/2 in x 3 1/8 in; 59.69 cm x 7.9375 cm
• Measurements: clarinet: 20 in x 2 3/4 in; 50.8 cm x 6.985 cm
• Measurements: bell: 4 3/8 in x 3 1/8 in; 11.1125 cm x 7.9375 cm
• place made: United States: Indiana, Elkhart
• ID Number: MI.75.29
• accession number: 314090
• catalog number: 75.29
• Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Richard N. Peterson
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.