George Riblet and His Olds Trombone Patent

George Ernest Riblet was born in Erie, Pennsylvania on May 17th, 1864, youngest of six children of John and (Eliza) Jane Riblet. John had been a brick layer and grocer, but went into farming for just a few years about the time that George was born and with a sizeable estate. By the time that he was 21, George was on his own, working as a machinist. He soon married Annie Daggett and they had a son, George Archibald, in 1889. Their son lived only two months and Annie died 9 months later. George never married again and lived for many years with his mother and sister Nettie (Annette, sixteen years senior).

In 1891, Hendricks Commercial Register of the United States listed “Riblet Heater Co., Erie, Pa.” It is likely that George Riblet was involved with this venture, but no direct evidence has been found.

George had at least 13 patents to his name, earlier for industrial steam power, one for a thread cutting tool, later automotive and one for improvements in trombones. While most years, he appears to have been an independent machinist and inventor, he worked for Erie Manufacturing and Supply Co. from about 1901 to 1907. At least five or six of his patents would have been applied for and/or approved during his employment there and and all applied to steam engines and feed water heaters such as those manufactured by Erie. Feed water heaters were a method of improving the efficiency of steam engines by pre-heating the water being fed to the boiler using the steam exhausted by the engine. These devices are still used today for pre-heating water for steam turbines that generate electricity.

The images below show “The Hardwick Feed Water Heater” that was being made by Erie Mfg. & Supply Co. in the 1890s and George Riblet’s improved device that he patented in 1901. The new design was more efficient in transferring the heat from the steam to the water and removing the mineral scale that would build up and also incorporated an oil separator at the bottom.

While Frank Ellsworth Olds was involved with sales and maintenance of steam powered Locomobile automobiles in these years, it seems unlikely that steam power was what brought the two industrialists together. Of course, without further evidence, we can not rule out this possibility.

In May of 1910, George stayed for a short time in a boarding house in Santa Monica, California. It is not known if he was there for business or pleasure, but it is likely the time that he first met F.E. Olds. While the two were only three years apart in age and both grew up on the shore of Lake Erie (more than 200 miles apart), it is unlikely that they had met previously.

In 1911 and 1912, George was living in the Waikiki Inn in Honolulu, Hawaii and working as a musician at the Bijou Theater. He continued ownership of his real estate in Erie (comprising two or three houses), where his sister continued to live. It was in 1911 that he applied for a patent for improvements of the slide trombones and it was granted in April of 1912. At some time in 1912, he was back in his home in Erie and listed in the city directory as a musician. He made another trip to California in July of 1913, travelling by car with a musician friend and conductor, Henry Weisbauer. He continued to be listed in Erie as a musician in 1913, but by the publication of 1914 directory, he was back to being listed as a machinist and in 1915, as “inventor”.

The image below is from George Riblet’s 1912 patent that included tuning slide in the hand slide and brace assembly mounted on a longer cork barrel than in any previous trombones. The latter improvement, seen in all modern trombones, allowed for longer outside slide tubes and a more secure seventh position. Both of these improvements were used in the first several thousand trombones made by F.E. Olds (& Son). While it isn’t known when the first of these trombones were built, it seems likely that it wasn’t long after the granting of Riblet’s patent. It is assumed that Olds purchased the rights to this patent. Interestingly, the ovoid section brace was used much later, after World War 2, in the Olds Ambassador trombones, but not in the early instruments.

In 1917, George’s sister Nettie died and in 1918 he moved to Long Beach, California, presumably selling a portion of his real estate in Ohio. His new home was right on the beach near the outlet of the newly reconfigured Los Angeles River. This was also about the time that F.E. Olds built a trombone for George Riblet. This instrument was recently (2022) found by Don Rugg of California Music Supply and stimulated additional research into Mr. Riblet and his connection to Olds. The serial number of this trombone, 212, indicates that it was not one of the first, but made at least several years into production.

The Photos below were provided by Don Rugg. Click on image for larger view.

George lost no time in starting a new business, Riblet Manufacturing Company, with three investors fronting $50,000 in exchange for capitol stock. The new company was to “manufacture carburetors and kindred products”. George had patented a novel carburetor in 1917. This was a very complicated device that included three barrel shaped valves, two for air control and one for fuel. The patent doesn’t specify, but later description indicates that it was intended to be used on many different gasoline engines and could be fine tuned for differences in ambient and engine temperatures as well as engine size and speed.

The business was in the brand new (completed in 1919) Markwell building just a few blocks from his home. This must have been an office for the company which had set up a factory several blocks to the west, both on Ocean Blvd. The Markwell building was six stories and included an 1800 seat Leow’s theater (renamed “State Theatre” in 1922) for vaudeville and movies and was right at the end the Pacific Electric Railway for easy commerce with Los Angeles. The image below is an advertisement for an ignition timer for Ford Model Ts.

In December of 1920, George was in Miami, Florida, where he applied for and was granted a passport using the local Elks Lodge as his home address. He spent several weeks in Cuba then returned to Florida, listing his home as Erie, Pennsylvania in the ships manifest.

He must have had a reversal of fortune about this time. The corporate charter for Riblet Manufacturing Co. was suspended by the State of California in 1921 and he was living in a boarding house in Long Beach. The company was reorganized and became the Standard Manufacturing Company. He was granted two additional patents, both automotive. One, granted in 1922, was for a new design for automobile wheels with demountable rims, clamped between two dished discs that would replace wood or steel spokes. The last was for another carburetor, with novel adjustments and fuel metering pin that moved with a gate air valve and also a lever for adjusting from the dash for cold starting. This is very similar in concept to the English SU carburetor that was patented in 1906 and extremely popular around the world for most of the 20th century. Sadly, this patent was granted in 1926, three years after his death at the age of 59 years. Interestingly, his later patents list his residence as Erie and his obituary in the Long Beach Telegram states that he had just arrived in Long Beach four months previous. It seems likely that he retained ownership of at least one of his houses in Erie as a home base.

This story is missing many details of George Riblet’s life, making for much mystery. Future research will likely fill in some gaps, but this presents what has been found so far. I welcome any corrections, additions and comments.