Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Administrative History
The Hammond Reed Company produced patented reeds for organs and harmoniums, as well as octave couplers and fan tremolos, during an era when these mechanical musical parts were entirely handcrafted. Andrew Hammond was an ironworker who came to Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1851, where he worked at, and eventually took over ownership of, the organ reed business of Edward Harrington and Augustus Rice. The Hammond Reed Company is believed to have been the largest manufacturer of organ reeds between 1890 and the advent of World War I.