ALFRED G. BADGER
Early Innovative American Flute Maker
– Catherine Thompson

Badger Mark

Born in Connecticut in 1814, Alfred Badger has the distinction of being one of America’s most original and accomplished early flute makers. He began making fifes and recorders at the early age of 12. Soon after, he apprenticed in the 1830s with instrument makers Ball & Douglas located in Utica, NY.

Over the course of his 50+ years as a flute maker he had several collaborations and locations verified by his changing mark. In 1838 he went to Buffalo, NY and it was during the years 1839-1841 that Alfred Badger went into partnership with Nickels as Nickels & Badger. Nickels & Badger was a music store and during this partnership Alfred Badger produced simple system flutes. After leaving Nickels he made flutes and clarinets and these instruments carry the mark BADGER/BUFFALO. This short-lived partnership led him to establish himself independently in 1842. Soon after, in 1843 he moved his shop to Newark, NJ only to relocate his business again in 1845 to New York City. It was at this time that he began to participate in exhibitions. From 1845 to 1856 he displayed his artfully crafted flutes and his final exhibition in 1856 consisted of an 8K Gold flute in the Boehm style. He won silver medals and diplomas participating in these various events.

He succeeded in obtaining stability and focus in the following years and maintained his shop in New York City until his death in 1892. From London, Paris, Boston and New York his presence as a maker of quality flutes continued to encourage him to pursue inventive aspects for the instrument distinguishing him as one of the most important manufacturers of fine flutes during the 19th Century. It was here that he developed his innovative efforts in improving the ‘8 keyed-flute’. This was done in collaboration with the prominent flutist of the time Mr. Kyle.

Always seeking inventive and forward-thinking individuals Badger also associated himself in 1858-1859 with flutist/flute-maker Tebaldo Mozani. It was at this time his mark changed to Badger & Mozani. Other influential collaborations included during this era were with industrial tycoon Charles Goodyear; where Alfred Badger became the first flute maker to produce four flutes in Ebonite, an alternative to wood. These were exhibited in London in 1851 at the Great Exhibition and in Paris at the Exposition Universelle during 1855. In 1859 he purchased the patent rights to the Ebonite material, giving him exclusive rights to the Ebonite for the construction of the Boehm flute.

Another extremely influential collaborator referred to in conversation by flute historian David Shorey was “Philip Ernst, a famous New York flautist, who probably influenced American flute making more than any of Badger’s many collaborations. Ernst did the legwork in discovering the great flutes, bought them, and brought them back to New York. Ahh, if we could only find the Philip Ernst collection!”

During his lifetime, Alfred Badger succeeded in achieving the honor of being the most important flute specialist in the United States - most notably, he earned a place in history as the first commercial manufacturer in the United States of Boehm flutes. Producing some of the earliest Boehm flutes, he was an early promoter of this innovative model. Badger made his first silver Boehm flute in 1886 and a few years later a silver alto flute.

According to vintage flute specialist, David Shorey, “Badger deconstructed the metal flute from the collection of Philip Ernst who had returned from Europe in 1851 with flutes from Boehm, Louis Lot, and Rudall Rose. Alfred Badger ignored Boehm’s patent of 1847 and became the fourth maker of cylinder flutes in the world” …making Badger one of the earliest makers of silver Boehm C flutes and silver alto flute during the mid-1800s.

It was not uncommon for him to produce silver flutes with Ebonite head joints. He also produced piccolos, some experimental flutes and a hybrid instrument that was a flute-clarinet. A progressive thinker, his widespread campaigns to advertise his products were innovative for the marketing practices of his time. His pursuit of invention and innovative enhancements to the instrument produced improvements to the metallic cylindrical Boehm flute as well as the technical innovation of screw-mounted pads.

He was a superb craftsman and was always motivated to make each instrument as perfect as possible, striving to make each flute superior to its predecessor. He demanded excellence in his efforts in flute making and many of his flutes exhibit superb engraving. This consistent quality of work combined with support from contemporary flutists assisted the flute community at large to accept the new and innovative design of the Boehm flute.

After his death in 1892, his widow Sarah Badger oversaw his business and soon after W.S. Richards became proprietor. Following WWI, his company was sold in 1920 to Penzel and Mueller. In addition to his work as a flute maker, we must also acknowledge his contribution as a writer with his book An Illustrated History of the Flute, and Sketch of Successive Improvements made in the Flute & a Statement of Principles upon which Flutes are constructed with Description of the Newer Boehm Flute (NY 1853, 4/1875)
Held in high esteem, eleven Badger flutes are included in The Dayton C. Miller Collection in Washington D.C., along with others in the Yale University Collection, as well as many private and public collections.

Summary of his ten different marks:

• NICKELS & BADGER/BUFFALO
• BADGER/BUFFALO
• (lyre)/A.G.BADGER/NEW YORK (lyre)
• A.G.BADGER & Co/NEW YORK
• (lyre) A.G.BADGER & Co/NEW-YORK (lyre)
• (lyre) BADGER & MOZANI/181 BROADWAY NEW-YORK (lyre)
• A.G.BADGER & Co/NEW-YORK (in scroll)
• A.G.BADGER/179 BROADWAY/NEW YORK (inscroll)
• A.G.BADGER (gothic)/New York (cursive)
• A.G.BADGER (gothic)/MAKER/NEW YORK (cursive)

We encourage flutists and collectors seeking a Badger to contact specialist David Shorey at www.antiqueflutes.com. He specializes in quality vintage flutes and has considerable knowledge about this flute maker and his work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Langwill Index – William Waterhouse (pub. Bingham)
Musical Instrument Makers if New York: a Dictionary of Eighteenth & Nineteenth Century Urban Craftsman – N. Groce
Alfred G. Badger (1815-1892) – Nineteenth Century Flute-maker: his Art Innovations, and Influence on Flute Construction and Performance, and Composition 1845-1895 Dissertation by Mary Jean Simpson – University of Maryland 1982
The First Hundred Years of the Boehm Flute in the United States 1845-1945(Biographical Dictionary of American Boehm Flutemakers) –dissertaion – University of Minnesota 1985 – Susan Berdahl
A Treatise on the Construction, the History and Practice of the Flute – R.S.Rockstro
(London 1890/1928)

Photographs generously provided by David Shorey.

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