A. G. Badger Flute

[lag61]

Hello All and thank you for your help.

I bought a lovely old flute at a yardsale. It's in a very old wooden case with red lining. I thought I would watch a few videos and maybe learn how to play it a little. It was quite cheap, just $20. But there's not a scratch or ding on it so I thought it was worth seeing if I could learn to play it. It also says " J. Howard Foote, New York & Chicago" engraved above a nice gold shield. The name of the original owner is engraved on the gold shield. Then is says "1001". It has black ebonite (?) roller keys. So far I can play C and D quite well and it sounds very nice (to my untrained ear).

From what I can tell it is quite old, so I imagine I should take it somewhere and have it serviced. I don't think it's been played for many, many years. Any suggestions for what type of cleaning or servicing? I live in the NW USA. Thank you again!

[pied_piper]

Is this flute made of metal or wood? J. Howard Foote was a New York music dealer. Very likely the flute was made by another company and the Foote name added specifically for that store. If the flute has rollers on the the pinky keys, it is not a standard, modern flute. A photo would help. Upload photos to one of the photo hosting sites (Google Photos, ImageBam, PhotoBucket, etc.) and then you can insert the links here to your photos so we can see what you have and maybe help find some info about it.

[lag61]

Thank you and I appreciate the help. It's a metal flute. I'll attempt to add links to a couple of photos here.

[lag61]

I did more searching on the Web and here are the two flutes I found which most resemble mine. Both seem to have the same features. One has the same "J. Howard Foote" marking with s/n 2511. J. Howard Foote sold musical instruments in NY and Chicago during the late 1800's. Both have the gold shield marked with A.G Badger. But on my flute, the gold shield has the name of the original owner engraved. A.G. Badger was a flute maker who lived in NY at roughly the same time as J. Howard Foote. One of these flutes from the links below even has the same ebonite roller keys as mine. So I think mine is of the same 'vintage' as these. Mine is s/n 1001 and I believe J. Howard Foote received it from the shop of A.G Badger for resale. Now I just need to do some research and find out how or to whom I should take it to be cleaned and serviced. I continue to practice with it and can play a few simple songs. Flutes are fun!

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collectio ... mah_606230

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/504158

[pied_piper]

Very interesting. Regarding where to get it serviced, I suggest you seek a flute specialist. While ordinary band instrument shops can work on flutes, many will not have the skills to do the best possible job on a vintage flute like this. Many large cities will have a flute specialist, but smaller communities probably will not. If you tell us your general geographic location, we can suggest someone in that region.

[lag61]

Thank you very much. I live in the NW US, near Spokane, Washington. I travel to Portland, Oregon fairly often. Again, thank you for your help.

[pied_piper]

These are Straubinger certified flute technicians in the NW area. I don't see any in Spokane, but there is one in Portland. Any of these should be capable of doing good repair work on your flute.

Oregon
Marc Grafe
4390 Lords Lane
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
Tel: (503) 351-5176
Email:marc@grafeworks.com

Audrey Harrison
1622 NE Sumner St
Portland OR 97211
(503) 816-5148
Email: Audreyaharrison@gmail.com

Katie Rasmussen
1305 Main St., #1020
Philomath, OR 97370
Tel: (541) 609-1672
Email: katie@windsmithmusic.com

Washington
Chris Arent
Ted Brown Music
6228 Tacoma Mall Blvd.
Tacoma, WA 98409
Tel: (253) 272-3211 Ext. 37
Email: chris@tedbrownmusic.com
Web: www.tedbrownmusic.com

Courtney Westcott
Fluteworks
1029 NE 69th Street
Seattle, WA 98115-6623
Tel: (206) 729-1903
Email: cwpn@mindspring.com

While this one is not in your area, I highly recommend Adam Pettry. He is a member of this board.
Pettry Flute & Piccolo Service
Chattahoochee Circle
Roswell, GA 30075
By Appointment Only
Tel: (502) 330-0723
Email: pettrypiccolos@gmail.com
Web: www.piccolorepair.com