RUDOLPH H. WURLITZER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/16/1945 - HFSID 295413

RUDOLPH E. WURLITZER
After his retirement as the Wurlitzer Company's CEO, he writes of a visit with Henry Ford.
Autograph Letter signed: "Rudolph", 1 page, 7¼x10½. Harbor Beach, Michigan, 1945 July 16. On personal letterhead to "Dear Charlie", in full: "The Junior Chamber of Commerce will appreciate your check of 50/00 dollars which I am sending to H. W. Bessing, President! We are having the first sunshine since our arrival here Thursday. We had the pleasure of again contacting Mr. & Mrs. Henry Ford at Dearborn. They are both in the best health. He is now nearly 82, but as vigorous as he was ten years ago. You and I, will, I hope be as healthy as Henry when we are 82. Sincerely". Rudolph E. Wurlitzer (1873-1948) was the one of six children of Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer (1837-1914), founder of the Wurlitzer Musical Instrument Company. After the founder's death, his three sons succeeded him as heads of the company. Rudolph E. Wurlitzer was company President from 1927 to 1932, and CEO from 1932 to 1942. The Wurlitzer firm made all sorts of musical instruments, included automated instruments like juke boxes, but was most famous for its pianos and pipe organs, including "the Mighty Wurlitzer" organs. Rudolph E., who had studied violin in the family's ancestral Germany, was the company's expert on that instrument, turning it into a major collector of valuable stringed instruments. The company survived until it was purchased by Baldwin Piano in 1988. The last piano bearing the famed Wurlitzer name was manufactured in 2009. Multiple mailing folds. Lightly toned. Fine condition.