Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

296 c   (MUSIC.) Armstrong, Louis. A friendly letter to a fellow musician, with a signed photograph. Autograph Letter Signed “Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong” to Milton Mesirow in Jackson Heights, NY. 3 pages, 7 1 / 2 x 6 inches to sight, on one folding sheet; folds, minor toning. Framed and matted with a facsimile of the first page, the original stamped and cancelled envelope in Armstrong’s hand, and a signed photograph of Armstrong; not examined out of frame. Chicago, 9 February 1935 [2,000/3,000] A friendly letter to the clarinet player, marijuana dealer and all-around character known in the jazz scene as Mezz Mezzrow. “Dear pal Mez: Hello, Pops, how is everything going these days? Alpha and I were expecting you to come back and say goodbye before you returned to New York. . . . I tried my best to make it possible for you while I was there. Now, pal, you and Bonnie must not worry about anything. . . . I have everything under control. I have really made up my mind to never work for Collins any more, so that’s that. . . . Well, I won’t say too much, pal, so send the orchestrations. Also, write me at once.” Armstrong had recently split with his volatile manager Johnny Collins. The photograph is 9 1 / 4 x 7 inches to sight, depicts Armstrong seated with his trumpet, and is inscribed “Best wishes to Arthur, a swell little fellow, Louis Armstrong, 21/7/34.” “IFYOU SHOULD STOP MAKINGTHE SALVE, I SHALL QUIT PLAYINGTHETRUMPET” 297 c   (MUSIC.)Armstrong,Louis. An enthusiastic personal letter to the manufacturer of his favorite lip balm. Letter Signed “Louis Armstrong, Satchmo,” to [Erich] Kauffmann of Mannheim, Germany. 2 pages, 10 1 / 2 x 8 inches to sight, on illustrated “Satchmo in Africa” letterhead; mailing folds. Matted and framed with a lobby card for the film Satchmo the Great; not examined out of frame. Corona, NY, 2 June 1961 [1,200/1,800] German trombonist Franz Schuritz developed and marketed a special lip balm for horn players in the 1930s. Armstrong became a devoted customer, and by the mid-1950s it was sold as “Louis Armstrong Lip-Salve.” See “Louis Armstrong’s Lip Balm,” New York Times, 26 August 2016. This letter was written to Schuritz’s son-in-law Erich Kauffmann, who managed the family business: “I received the lip salve. Thanks very much. I was getting down to just a few tins left.” Armstrong continues with health advice for Kauffmann, particularly recommending an antacid called Bisma-Rex: “With your lip salve, Bis Ma Rex, and a good laxative, I shall be happy healthy a long long time. They are the rudimentals of life. . . . Don’t ever stop making salve. When and if you should stop making the salve, I shall quit playing the trumpet.” He looks forward to receiving Schuritz’s trombone as a keepsake, and hopes to tour through Mannheim once more.