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Hammond Organ Company

Chicago-based manufacturer, founded 1928 as the Hammond Clock Company by Laurens Hammond. Produced an estimated two million organs — "probably the most successful electronic organs ever made."

Timeline

  • 1935 — first organ, the Model A, ships in June.
  • 1936 — FTC false-advertising complaint; famous blind listening tests vs. a $75,000 Skinner pipe organ at Rockefeller Chapel. 1938 cease-and-desist on some claims — but the publicity sold more organs than the legal fees cost.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-hammond-organ.md]
  • 1954 — the B-3 and C-3 introduce harmonic percussion.
  • 1968 — first factory-integrated Leslie (T-200 spinet), after decades of official hostility toward Leslie's speaker.
  • 1970s — abandons tonewheels for integrated circuits; the new organs flop.
  • 1985/86 — company goes out of business.
  • Brand passes to the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation, which still builds digital Hammonds and Leslies today.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-hammond-organ.md]

Market strategy

Originally targeted churches as a cheap pipe-organ alternative — not professional musicians (Hammond saw no return there). The jazz/R&B market adopted it on its own. Marketing tools: dedicated dealers, the bi-monthly Hammond Times newsletter, family-centered ads.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-hammond-organ.md]

A pivotal grassroots moment: Rev. Clarence Cobbs of Chicago's First Church of Deliverance replaced his piano with a Hammond and used it on his radio broadcasts — creating the gospel-organ tradition that fed jazz (Wild Bill Davis, Fats Waller) and eventually nearly every genre.^[raw/articles/hammondorganco-hammond-story.md]