In a room adjacent to the BRC workshop is a collection of vintage banjo cases. In case you are wondering, our favorite is a circa 1972 near-mint condition Ess & Ess case that housed a Baldwin Ode 2SR banjo. The Ess & Ess Mfg. Co. was founded in 1950 and three years later became the Ess & Ess Music Case Company. The owner`s son Marty ran the business from 1964 to 1984 when the enterprise was sold to Harptone who had made Martin guitar cases for years in Newark, NJ.
Because of finely crafted workmanship, the Gibson Guitar Co. subcontracted to Ess & Ess starting in 1969 to produce cases for the E-335, Les Paul, and Barney Kessel guitar lines. Ess & Ess also supplied Gretsch (an affiliate of Baldwin Ode), Guild, Kramer and other instrument manufacturers with sturdy luggage-like products bearing alligator grained hide exteriors. You can make a case for what is your new or old favorite jewel box, but the Ess & Ess is a classic beauty.
Essentially all that remains of the Company today is the ghostly painted name over its former main entrance at 95 Grand St. Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NY.
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