A Brief History of C.F. Martin and Company

The American history of C.F. Martin and Company begins with Christian Friedrich Martin, Senior, who immigrated to the United States of America from Germany in 1833. The original C.F. Martin had been a guitar builder and cabinet maker in Germany, as had been his father. After he arrived in New York City, he set up shop as a musical instrument vendor, dealing principally in instruments imported from Europe while he built guitars in the back of the shop. Over the next few years, Mr. Martin expanded his business to include brokering imported instruments to other retailers.

But the Martin family was not happy in NYC, and they grew homesick for their old home in Germany. They learned from friends of a growing German community in southeastern Pennsylvania, a land which resembled their homeland in topography as well as the predominant language of the inhabitants. So, in the middle of 1838, Mr. Martin sold his business in New York City and moved with his family to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where the company has kept its headquarters ever since.

After the move to Nazareth, C.F. Martin set to work building a business that concentrated upon building new instruments, leaving retail sales to other businessmen whom Mr. Martin had known through the business relationships that developed during those first years in New York.

C.F. Martin ran the company from Nazareth for 35 years, until his death in 1873, when leadership of the company passed to his son, Christian Frederick Martin, Junior. The succeeding regimes of C.F. Martin and Company have been:

Christian Friedrich Martin, Senior

1833 - 1873

Christian Frederick Martin, Junior

1873 - 1888

Frank Henry Martin

1888 - 1948

Christian Frederick Martin III

1948 - 1986

Christian Frederick Martin IV

1986 - present

By the time that Frank Henry Martin took over the company in 1888, the principal distributor for Martin instruments was the firm of C.A. Zoebisch and Sons. This arrangement limited the control that the Martin company had over sales and marketing of their instruments and limited their product line to the products that the Zoebisch company was willing to present to dealers. At the opening of the 1890s, the mandolin was the most popular instrument of the time, and F.H. Martin wanted to take advantage of the small instrument's popularity to expand his product line, but his distributor opposed introduction of the new line. The conflict led F.H. Martin, after consultation with his mother, to end the arrangement with C.A. Zoebisch, taking control of the company's future into his own hands.

In 1898, F.H. Martin instituted the practice of assigning a serial number to each instrument, and it is for this reason that the year of manufacture of every Martin instrument made after 1897 can be precisely determined.

Serial Numbers of Martin Guitars

Year	Last #	Year	Last #	Year	Last #	Year	Last #	Year	Last #
1898	8348	1918	13450	1938	71866	1958	165576	1978	407800
1899	8716	1919	14512	1939	74061	1959	171047	1979	419900
1900	9128	1920	15848	1940	76734	1960	175689	1980	430300
1901	9310	1921	16758	1941	80013	1961	181297	1981	436474
1902	9528	1922	17839	1942	83107	1962	187384	1982	439627
1903	9810	1923	19891	1943	86724	1963	193327	1983	446101
1904	9988	1924	22008	1944	90149	1964	199626	1984	453300
1905	10120	1925	24116	1945	93623	1965	207030	1985	460575
1906	10329	1926	28689	1946	98158	1966	217215	1986	468175
1907	10727	1927	34435	1947	103468	1967	230095	1987	476216
1908	10883	1928	37568	1948	108269	1968	241925	1988	483952
1909	11018	1929	40843	1949	112961	1969	256003	1989	493279
1910	11203	1930	45317	1950	117961	1970	271633	1990	503309
1911	11413	1931	49589	1951	122799	1971	294270	1991	512487
1912	11565	1932	52590	1952	128436	1972	313302	1992	522655
1913	11821	1933	55084	1953	134501	1973	333873	1993	535223
1914	12047	1934	58679	1954	141345	1974	353387	1994	551696
1915	12209	1935	61947	1955	147328	1975	371828	1995
1916	12390	1936	65176	1956	153225	1976	388800	1996
1917	12988	1937	68865	1957	159061	1977	399625	1997

Under F.H. Martin, the company grew steadily and introduced many new product lines, which included not only mandolins (three lines) but also ukeleles and the 000 and D size guitars.

In 1921, the C.F. Martin and Company was re-organized as a corporation (C.F. Martin and Co., Inc.) whose stock holders were F.H. Martin, his wife Jennie, and their sons Frederick and Herbert.

To learn more about the modern C.F. Martin and Company, check out their web site at www.mguitar.com. To get the full details, read Mike Longworth's Martin & Co. est. 1833. Other books about Martin guitars and the history of C.F. Martin and Company include:

1. The Martin Book, by Walter Carter is a colorful book written by one of America's greatest authorities in the area of vintage acoustic stringed instruments. Walter Carter is also co-author (with George Gruhn) of Acoustic Guitars and Other Stringed Instruments.
2. Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker by Jim Washburn and Richard Johnston is a slightly longer volume (256 pages) and may be a suitable substitute for Mike Longworth's C.F. Martin & Co. est. 1833 when Longworth's book is between editions or reprintings.

If you're new to Martin guitars, you might be mystified by the seemingly large number of Martin model names and numbers. Well, don't be! It's really very simple and logical, and you can read all about it on our Martin Nomenclature page.