The First NAMM member photograph...ever!

NAMM was originally formed in 1901 and provided its first trade show the following year. There is little we have in our archives of those early years (perhaps the closing of the headquarters for two years during the Great Depression had something to do with that). In 2007, while searching on eBay for materials related to our history, I discovered and quickly purchased (for $4.75 including postage) a faded photograph of the attendees of our 1904 show! It may not include all of our original members, but it surely must include some of the first 53 dealers that formed NAMM just three years earlier. In looking at this great image, I think of those who must have served during the Civil War and those who started stores and sales techniques that are still around today. Take a close look and tell me what you see?

Dan Del Fiorentino
NAMM Music Historian
dand@namm.org