Grinnell Brothers Music

Grinnell Brothers Music House was founded by Ira L. Grinnell in 1879 and was headquartered in Michigan. While this "Cool Item From the Archive" boasts 24 stores with their headquarters in a now designated historic building in Detroit, Michigan, Grinnell Brothers Music House continued to grow to include roughly 40 locations throughout the United States and Canada. This artifact, about the size of an average campaign button, served as a great marketing tool for the store on one side and housed a mirror on the back (not pictured). Grinnell Brothers Music House eventually closed its final store in 1981, but NAMM is lucky to have artifacts such as these in our collection to preserve the history of such profoundly successful retail operations.

For more information about Grinnell Brothers Music House and its flagship store pictured on this artifact, visit historicdetroit.org.

Elizabeth Dale
Archivist & Oral History Coordinator

Dan Del Fiorentino
NAMM Music Historian
dand@namm.org