Nose Flute Pioneers: Ernest W. Davis - Part II

With the "Nose Flute Pioneers" series, Noseflute.org enters a little cycle of research. I hope it won't be too arid for a blog, but I really think that the facts I found have to be published. The sources : Google patents, US Census and an access to newspaper archives. But also, depending on the topic, correspondence by e-mail with descendants. Let's better say : internet searching tools available for a Frenchie not able to access US real paper archives.

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Nose Flute Pioneers: Ernest Davis

Newspapers: Ernest Davis' life

Patents give no more info that what we published in Part I, but fortunately, local newspapers and census sheets do.

What stood for the "W", in "Ernest W. Davis" ? William? Walter? Wayne? Wilbur?
There is one and only place where I found it : the Town Records book of the city of Boston, MA. So, Ernest Winfield Davis was born in Boston, on March 19, 1881.



The Davis live at 2709 Washington St. in Boston, and we also learn that his parents were both born in Lubec, Maine. The father, Luther J. Davis is a baker (his father was a millman). He was born Jan. 3, 1846, and was the youngest of 8 children. Elle B. Davis (born Berganson), was born Aug. 2, 1850.

In 1870, the Davis Sr. are married and live in Boston :



And in 1880, they have a 7 years old daughter, Lillie, Ernest's sister :



The next year, Ernest was born, and in August 1883, it's the turn of the young Alice.
The Davis family moved later to Chicago, and the occupation of Luther will become "Engineer Stationary".

We know, from the patents, that Ernest lived in Forest River and Oak Park, Cook district, in West neighborhood of Chicago.

The two first "Ernest W. Davis" of Oak Park/Forest River entries I found date from 1895 - Ernest is already 14 - and deals with Tilton School graduation. The first one teach us that he interpreted Douglas Club Two Step (1894) by George Schleiffarth (1848-1921), as a commencement exercise. So, the boy was already musician and played the piano (according to the sheet music).
The second article tells that Davis has decided to continue his studies.

Oak Park Vindicator, Jun.21 and Jul. 5, 1895 :




A Tilton school class in 1887 :



Then, no news from Ernest Winfield Davis until 1900. His older sister has disappeared from the census (married?). Ernest lives at his parents home in Chicago, with his youngest sister Alice, and work as a clerk.



In 1910, Ernest has become Head of the family, hosting his father Luther (64), who has become "Electric Engineer". What happened to the mother Ella B.? We know she's still living. But another name is written on the census sheet "Davis Mary C." as "mother"... Did the Davis parents divorce and Luther re-married with Mary? Probably.



But more! Ernest married Anita C. (born Ashler) on the 6th of March, 1910.

Anita - sometimes written Hannah - Ashler was born in October 1874 in the State of Illinois, from Frederic W. (b. Oct 1830) and Ivanna (b. 1838, Altenberg, DE), both German. Frederic imigrated in 1851, was naturalized in 1858 and was laborer.
Anita has 4 sisters and 1 brother.

On 28th of September 1919, Luther J. passed away.

In 1920, Ella B. lives at her daughter Alice, who has married a dentist, Charles E. Douglas. They have one son, Malcolm E. (b. 1915) :



The Davis live in Marion St., Oak Park (West of Chicago). They have a 7 years old daughter, Ruth Estelle, and they host Fred W. Ashler, Anita's father (certainly after his wife Ivana's death).



In Oak Leaves, Dec. 31, 1936, we learn Ruth Estelle was born in Kenniwick, WA.



But in 1924-25, she is "freshman" at Oak Park Highschool (Oak Leaves, Dec. 13, 1924), "senior" in 1927-28 with an average of 90 per cent or more and elected member of the National Honor society (Oak Parker Jun. 22, 1928), register to Wisconsin University in 1930 (Oak Leaves, Dec. 5, 1930) where she is elected to the Sigma Epsilon Sigma fraternity (Wisconsin State Journal, Oct. 24, 1930) and enrols in the general Letters and Science course (Oak Leaves, Feb. 3, 1933). She awards sophomore honors in 1931 (Wisconsin State Journal, Oct. 6, 1931).

Ruth Estelle is a very good student, and besides the school, she's scout girl, member of Troop 12 and of the Citizen Troop of Oak Park district. It's a pleasure to notice she's fond of wind instruments (she plays the bugle) and physics :

Oak Leaves, Apr.7 and Oct. 28, 1928 :




Occasionally, Ernest W. is involved in his daughter scouting activities... as a singer :



But when at university, Ruth Estelle is more interested in dancing and parties with her friends, notably a certain C. Byron (sometimes Barney) Flinn, whom name is always printed just besides hers (hehe!), and who'll become her husband after 1937 and before 1940, according to her name (Oak Leaves, Apr. 8 1937 and Aug 29, 1940). On Aug. 29, 1940, Ruth Flinn is invited to one of her High School friend :



The Flinn will move then to Ashland, IL (Jacksonville Daily Journal, Sep. 16, 1948), and Ruth become member of Soroptimists on Dec. 8, 1952 (Pottstown Mercury, Dec. 9, 1952)



What did she become? Here is the answer, Ruth E. passed away in 1986 :




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In 1933, Ernest is 51, works for Stewart-Wagner, and has already applied for 63 patents... He regularly receives awards for his inventions. He is married with Hannah(Anita) C., who's member of a circle of Forest River Presbyterian church and of the Forest River Women's Club. We don't know much about Anita, but thanks to the "Social Affairs" chronicle of the Oak Leaves newspaper, we are aware of the Davis' holidays, hobbies and residential address...

Oak Leaves, Aug. 18, 1938, Jul. 6, 1939 and Aug. 29, 1940 (year of Humanatone filing) :





Indeed, as learned in this last newspaper article, Ella B. left Illinois in 1928 for California, where she lived 10 years, before to come back to Oak Park and live her last years at her son. She passed away on 14th of August 1944, at the age of 96.



After his daughter's wedding and his mother's death, another event left Ernest W. totally alone : Anita's death, which happened on 24th of May, 1948 :

Oak Leaves, May 27, 1948 :



Daughter married and away, wife and mother dead, were probably the reasons which made Ernest W. move from his big house to a smaller one. Indeed, thanks to the very inquisitive newspapers, we can even precisely trace Ernest's homes, and we can notice he moved from Park Avenue to Washington after Anita's death.

1881 -          : 2709 Washington St., Boston
1900 -          : 31 Lincoln Street, Chicago
1910 -          : 2134 Hampton Court, Chicago
1918 - 1922 : 229 N. Marion St., Oak Park
1930 - 1938 : 133 S. Harvey, Oak Park
1938 - 1948 : 538 Park Ave., Oak Park
1950 -          : 448 Washington Blvd., Oak Park
1956 - 1965 : 808 S. Cuyler Ave., Oak Park

I don't know when exactly Ernest retired, but it was probably around 1950, after his last patents were filed.

In november 1965, Ernest Winfield Davis passed away at the age of 84, after a life of work, rich of 132 patents, among which the plastic Humanatone one.



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One last thing : in 1893, at the Columbus Chicago Fair, the first metal nose flute was presented. Ernest is 12 and (probably) lives already in Chicago. In the 1920s, several Jug Bands of Louisville came to play nose flute in Chicago. Ernest is in his thirties. He is musician, engineer... His first professional wishes were turned to entertainment. Is it so astonishing he drew the plastic Humanatone in 1939/40 ?



Ernest Winfield Davis is elected to The Nose Flute Hall of Fame !


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On the same topic :

- Nose Flute Pioneers: William G. Carter - Part I
- Nose Flute Pioneers: William G. Carter - Part II
- Nose Flute Pioneers: William G. Carter - Part III
- Nose Flute Pioneers: Ernest W. Davis - Part I
- Nose Flute Pioneers: Ernest W. Davis - Part II
- Nose Flute Pioneers: Nelson Ronsheim
- Nose Flute Pioneers: Garrett J. Couchois

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Japan News !

I left for 2 weeks of holidays, but when I cam e back, I had to admit Japan had not been lazy at all! Just take a look at this gorgeous crop of videos... Friends or noseflutits we already know, but also newcomers on the nosey scene.

Master Mosurin, with several new videos with his famous Sasaki hanabue :



Mister Kunio Katada himself, the famous nose flute maker, playing his hanabue (video on the Askitdeki channel):



Hanabue 114, who continues to break the record of nose flute videos (160 since december!) and who traveled to Sounyan, but also accompanied a singer with a jazzy orchestra in a restaurant :




Mr. Hiroshi Tachibana, aka tcbnhrs, recorded a live and very interesting version of the Super Mario theme, with his shakuhachi and a Bocarina^™ :



But Hiroshi also climbed the holy Mount Fuji with some Bocarinas^™ and recorded the Great Gig in the Sky, by the Pink Floyd, and took some historic pictures!



Shownoseflute appears to have performed a concert-presentation of hanabue :



And one can see him also with his friends of the Hanabue Hansin organization, for a collective performance :



But other Japanese videos were published during this period of time, such this incredible Flamenco on the Venvenyoshing channel :



Or this funny duet on Mikiyasu888 Youtube page :



The creation(?) of The Humanatones, a punk-rock hanabue band which concept looks strangely similar to the Original Oberkreuzberger Nasenflötenorchester



But the biggest surprise came by the videos from an electro-hip-hop band, found on smgfnk and akihabaraBANKINYA channels (and performing as a demonstrators for some electronic devices) :

Nose flute at 7'06" :

Nose Flute Pioneers: Ernest W. Davis - Part I

With the "Nose Flute Pioneers" series, Noseflute.org enters a little cycle of research. I hope it won't be too arid for a blog, but I really think that the facts I found have to be published. The sources : Google patents, US Census and an access to newspaper archives. But also, depending on the topic, correspondence by e-mail with descendants. Let's better say : internet searching tools available for a Frenchie not able to access US real paper archives.

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Nose Flute Pioneers: Ernest Davis

What is the link between these 4 items ?



No idea? ... : Ernest W. Davis ! Yes, the father of most famous nose flute in the world, the plastic Humanatone, invented in 1939/40, has not been a "one shot" designer.
But who knows more about Davis? A so common name that it is very difficult to make researches about him, and since he was not famous... But I decided to focus many efforts in trying to know him better.


Patents : Ernest Davis' career

Ernest W. Davis applied for no less than 132 patents! And maybe more, since I found the trace of some others, out of Google search. Extremely prolific : 8 in 1924, 10 in 1925, 6 in 1926... and so on. From 1910 until 1949 (the last I found), Davis didn't stop filing patents, the most of them as assignor to big Chicago companies, but some in his own name, at his beginnings, and mostly after WWII.

Ernest's occupation name evolved in the time : On the 1910 census sheet, one can read "Mechanic (for a) Wire Chain(?) Co.", then "Mechanical Engineer" in "Auto(mobile) Access(ories)" in 1920, "Engineer" in "Experimental" business in 1930 and "Research Engineer" for a "Radio Manufacture" (we'll see it was Stewart-Warner, also auto accessory producer) in 1940.



From the patents, it becomes obvious that Ernest W. Davis was an engineer who specialized in lubricating systems : 118 among those 132 sets of innovations regard lubricant compressors, lubricating systems, lubricating means, grease dispensing apparati, a pneumatic motor for lubricant pumps,... and a few couplings, liquid dispensers, etc. Those devices were used mostly in car industry maintenance.



Now, the patents allow to trace Davis through his different jobs.

From 1910 to 1919, Ernest works in Chicago. The first years, he applies for some very personal patents, besides another job I wasn't able to identify (we know he is Mechanic in a Wire Chain(?) company, according to 1910 census). His first patents wear 2 following numbers (US1004382 & US1004383), but were filed on September 3 and on October 22, 1910.

The first one is a moving picture device which is a toy for kids with a ingenious system used to block an image, using the persistence of vision. The second one is an automatic electric switch dedicated to devices such as flashes. Then, in January 1911, Davis files a patent (US1014953) for an aerial toy : it is a small manual "helicopter".

Fun and serious! Engineering and entertainement! It is like Davis was destined to design a nose flute 30 years later...

From more or less 1917, armed with his cinema-related inventions, Ernest is employed at The Universal Camera and then for Burke & James Inc., 240-258 E Ontario Street. Burke & James was founded in 1897 and described themselves as manufacturers and representatives to the trade.



The Universal Camera is a "moving photography" device, developed and built by Burke & James, and dedicated to outdoor filming. It was used by ethnological expeditions for instance, but also as second camera in Hollywood.



For this camera, Ernest Davis filed 5 patents, and clearly is the inventor of the Universal Camera (patent US145433), and of some of its options or accessories, notably a focusing device, a turntable support (rotative tripod) and a very innovative dissolving apparatus that allows to produce image fadings.



In 1920, Ernest began at Bassick Manufacturing Co., then joined Alemite in 1924, then Stewart-Warner in 1934, which all were parts of the same conglomerate. Bassick had bought the Alemite Lubricator Co. after WWI to form Bassick-Alemite, specialized in high-pressure auto lubrication equipment, and in 1924, Stewart-Warner, manufacturer of vehicle instruments (and radios, refrigerators,...), bought Bassick-Alemite. The manufacture was established on Diversey Parkway.



For those companies, during 23 years until 1943 (this means the plastic Humanatone was conceived during this period), Davis conceived dozens of improvements on existing lubricating devices, and designed many new ones, from the smallest oil gun to the largest equipment.



But, sometimes, Ernest W. files a patent "for himself", besides his regular job.

In 1928, he applies for an improvement upon the safety razor, in order to prevent rust formation : « The operation of successfully drying a safety razor involves disassembling the entire razor, drying each part separately and the re-assembling. (...) I employ a substance that is electro-positive to the steel blade, and in electrical contact therewith, whereby a weal current of electricity is generated (...) with with any water remaining on the blade after using. »



In 1937, Ernest Davis invents a musical instrument, a kind of electric keyboard with an electric oscillator driven by moving a finger on a rail. This device is very interesting on 2 particular points : First, it's really the ancestor of the Stylophone, which was patented in 1968 in London by Brian Claude Jarvis, with no claim of Davis' invention (!!), and which, 31 years later was just a bit smaller and had replaced the finger by a stylus.



But more important for us, nose flute lovers, is the goal pursued by Davis because, despite the hand playing and the sound source radically different from a nose flute, the instrument tries to regulate 2 parameters (pitch/volume) with one "move" :



The next year, in 1938, Davis applies for a patent of a boad game! It is composed of an hexagonal board, a "spinner", 2 x 24 cards and tokens. The rules are a bit complex...



On January 22, 1940, Davis files... a "musical instrument" that will become the famous Humanatone, with its "true tremolo" hole [check this post]. And, funny coincidence, the Time Magazine issue dated of the very same day shows Siegfried blowing his horn.



And, in 1941, it's the turn of an "acoustical device", including a transmitter, an amplifier and a loud speaker, designed to produce a "sound effect derived from a single sound" "choral effect"...



From 1943, Davis multiplied "personal" patents, *serious ones*, for improvements upon lubricating devices. It seems that he has stopped working for Stewart-Warner and has established as a free-lance inventor until 1948. But he filed absolutely no patent between September 22, 1943 and June 15, 1945 (8 were filed in 1943, and 6 in 1945). We can assume that Ernest (who was around 62 years old in 1944) was recruited or applied as an engineer for the US army hereafter involved in WWII. This could be the reason of his resignation from Stewart-Warner Co. (which converted to war production, though).

Finally, in 1948 and 1949, Ernest Davis files 2 last(?) patents as an assignor to, respectively, Oil Rite Corp. and Gits Brothers Mfg. Co.
Ernest was 67, and probably opted then for a well-deserved retirement.


To be continued...


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On the same topic :

- Nose Flute Pioneers: William G. Carter - Part I
- Nose Flute Pioneers: William G. Carter - Part II
- Nose Flute Pioneers: William G. Carter - Part III
- Nose Flute Pioneers: Ernest W. Davis - Part I
- Nose Flute Pioneers: Ernest W. Davis - Part II
- Nose Flute Pioneers: Nelson Ronsheim
- Nose Flute Pioneers: Garrett J. Couchois

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NF.Org Holidays - Part V : Baglamas and Nose Flute

As a conclusion for this tour of the Noseflute.org holidays, I also recorded a "World premiere" performance : a baglamas/nose flute tune. The baglamas is a greek stringed instrument. It's a kinf of "half bouzouki" (the neck is half long and the tuning at the octave), but with a much smaller body.
Mine was built by the master luthier Ioannis Alexandris, in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2002.

NF.Org Holidays - Part IV : The Nosy Diva's Holidays

Nosy Diva's holidays were very noseflutistic! Indeed, before and after the Pied-Pouzin RAOUL gathering, she traveled in France, from historic sites to touristic places, recording here and there short nose flute melodies.



In Pied-Pouzin, with Luthval, she worked at a World premiere : a duet with Lute, violin and nose flute!



And then, the Diva offered a spontaneous performance in the garden, before a very attentive audience. Her Queen of the Night aria was a real success!



Later, in Normandy, she played the Badinerie, by J.-S. Bach, with her ukulele :



But the Diva's holidays have also been very pedagogic, even proselytistic. As you may know, the Nosy Diva's mission on earth is to spread the nose flute virus... And she did well, at Pied Pouzin, and then, in Normandy :

NF.Org Holidays - Part III : Our video clip

One of the highlights of the RAOUL gathering in Pied Pouzin was the recording of "30 millions d'Amis" in Ukeval's farm. A real cacophony, but quite a funny moment.