Wurlitzer Serial Number Lookup Cornet ~UPD~

The so-called Wurlitzer Disposition of Instruments Manufactured ledgers are just that, a collection of several sets of ledger pages that generally conform to a certain layout standard, and which sequentially list instruments manufactured by serial number. Each entry consists of a single line containing terse but essential handwritten information. Later sets of ledger pages actually have the preprinted heading, "Disposition of Instruments Manufactured," while the earlier 10,000 series (1905-1911) page set does not. Additionally, notations are plentiful in the 10,000 series pages, such as noting repairs to an instrument, in contrast to the later ledger sets, which are nearly devoid of any special notations.

One curiosity that remains an enigma is raised by this cryptic notation: "Numbers marked with small red cross do not apply on order of 500." Each ledger page has hand-lined columns, with a separate column for each style of instrument, i.e., Pianino, 88 player, Mandolin Quartette, etc. A vertical hash mark in the appropriate column indicates the instrument style for each line item. For some reason only Mandolin Quartettes within a certain serial number range are excluded from the "order of 500," with the normal column mark ("|+") accompanied by a small red cross. The first exclusionary instance is for #10210, dated 2/24/1906, with the last being #11487, dated 6/13/1907. A Mandolin Quartette dated June 15, 1907, was not excluded, nor were any Mandolin Quartettes thereafter listed, and so it seems that a simplified cutoff date for the "order of 500" was probably June 14, 1907. But what the so-called "order of 500" was all about remains a mystery. Clearly, some manufacturing output was included, while at least Mandolin Quartettes were not.

The last automatic musical instrument mentioned in the serial number list is #120,498 (Mortuary Organ, 5-18-33, Bozeman, Mont.). Although #108,116 (a Style LX-B Orchestra Piano, 8-3-32) shows a shipping date well into 1932, this instrument was given its serial number during what seems to be a 1928 manufacturing timeframe. Thus, it is probable that few, if any, automatic musical instruments were manufactured by Wurlitzer after 1930, although the company is known to have had a few pieces of remaining stock that were eventually fully liquidated in the early 1960s.

The Wurlitzer Disposition of Instruments Manufactured for new band organs shows serial numbers ranging from #2847 (#17 band organ, dated 3/7/1914) to #4338 (#165 band organ, dated 6/14,1939), then with blank entries up to #4375 (#180 band organ, dated 8/14/1935), which is also the last organ to be listed. In contrast, these lists do not perfectly coincide with the so-called Wurlitzer Shipping Dock Ledgers (courtesy of David Reidy), consisting of three separate ledger books. Curiously, in ledger book #1, an earlier band organ tally was written in (inserted with no logical reason discernible for its odd placement) right smack in the middle of the 1914 ledger pages, for which the earliest serial number is 2141 (#150 band organ, dated 1908), while the last serial number in this inserted material is 2672 (style not specified, dated December 27, 1911). The normal registry entries begin in ledger book #1 with #2673 (#125 band organ, dated January 11, 1912), and ledger book #3 ends with #4341 (#103 band organ, dated August 17, 1943).

This page contains a list of Pan American serial numbers for brass instruments. That includes cornets, trumpets, horns, trombones, euphoniums and basses. It appears that Pan American woodwinds (saxophones, clarinets, flutes) use a different serial number list. 2b1af7f3a8