died in 1978 at the age of 93,
not knowing that he would be remembered for having ordered
a guitar for Earl McLaughlin in 1927.
Earl
McLaughlin...
kept his guitar, and kept playing it.
Curious to know its value, at the
age of 81
he contacted Guitar Trader, an
appraisal firm,
inquiring as to its worth.
They responded thusly:
The thrifty Earl, unwilling to spend $25 for the appraisal, never responded.
The last record we have in Earl's
paperwork
indicates that, at the age of 84, he
took the guitar to his local music store
and had it polished, as well as having
a single string replaced:
Earl
McLaughlin...
died in 1995 at the age of 93.
His 0-28K Martin guitar was still under his bed.
In august of 2000, on the fifth
anniversary of Earl's death,
his widow, Josephine, finally decided
to sell the guitar.
As Executress of Earl's Estate, she
entrusted the sale
to their grand-daughter, Linda Keller.
Linda wisely sold the guitar to
vintage Martin guitar expert Eric Schoenberg...