On October 29th, we received the following message from NAMM’s Dan Del Fiorentino:
Gary [Schireson] provided the sad news that his father passed away today. Stanley was a month shy of his 99th birthday.
Stanley’s father opened up a small music store in 1902 that would eventually branch out into manufacturing and distribution of musical instruments. The company began making ukuleles and acoustic guitars under the Hollywood brand name before developing the Volutone name. Stanley took to the road selling the company’s solid body Hawaiian guitars before World War II. After the war and thanks to Stanley’s leadership, a separate distribution company, called Volutone was created that expanded the product line around the world. As an electronic and pro-audio distributor, the company was the first in the United States to offer such brands as Sony and Yamaha electronics.
To view a clip from Stanley Schireson’s 2005 NAMM Oral History interview, click here:
