noseflute.org: Nose Flute Pioneers: Charles M. Berry

Dec 11, 2012

Nose Flute Pioneers: Charles M. Berry

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: Charles M. Berry

This notice about Charles M. Berry will be short. Indeed, there were so many homonyms that it is very difficult to distinguish what archive is appropriate or not to the right person. I prefered to expose only those I can ascertain as being proper to "our" Charles Berry.

We know Charles M. Berry through the patent US 2,197,993, filed for the « Vocamonica » Mar. 19, 1938, and registered Apr. 23, 1940. As stated in the patent description, Berry was living then in Inglewood (South/West of Los Angeles), California.

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Charles M. Berry was born in Indiana Feb. 15, 1864. What he did during his 50 first years is a mystery, but it seems that Charles became an engineer and an inventor specialized in airplane parts.
In 1915, Berry filed a patent for a propeller (US 1,228,874, fil. Jul. 31, 1915 and reg. Jun. 5, 1917) that is supposed not to be affectable by climate changes (contrarywise to wooden ones). The Berry propeller is made of metal sheet shaped in a manual mould, then coated with carbon.

At this time, Charles Berry was living in New York, NY. I was able to track him 15 years later, already in Inglewood, CA. In the 1930 census sheet excerpt shown below, it is clearly stated that Charles' occupation is "Inventor" specialized in "Airplane parts".
Charles is married with Pearl A., 50, born in NY. Plase notice that their neighbours are the McDowells, and that John A. is "Mechanical engineer", working in the "patents" business... Are Berry and McDowell associated in some way?

In 1938, Berry, 74, patented the Vocamonica. It's a nose flute with a movable blade in the labium, in order to set the instrument tonality.

Two years earlier, Oscar Cobia had filed a patent for a nose flute with a set of exchangeable labiums, but the Berry's patent is the first, as far as I know, to propose a variable fipple. Berry names it a toner gate.

A detail is very interesting in this patent:

Yes! Berry's attorney is his own neighbour John McDowell!
Indeed, in the 1940 census sheet, McDowell occupation has changed from "Mechanical engineer/patents" to "Patent attorney/law".

In 1940, Berry is apparently retired (he's 76) and both him and John McDowell, only 44 though, are widowed.

Charles M. Berry died Jun. 6, 1959, at the age of 95.