Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Jan 12, 2021 12:49:14 GMT -6
A tribute to someone in this region who was a MAJOR influence on music and musicians for many years. Anyone who played music in the '60s and '70s, and lived in east North Dakota or northeast South Dakota or west/northwest Minnesota -- even up to Winnipeg -- would somehow have been to this place.
When I bought the Silvertone 1450, the seller tossed in a woven guitar strap, branded Marguerite's Music, with a Jamestown (ND) location. Now, this was news to me, as I first visited their shop in 1977, and it was in Moorhead (MN).
Fans of my screeds on Frugal Guitarist may recall some mentions of Marguerite's, specifically:
The place was opened by Marguerite Mowry in 1961, selling greeting cards and vinyl (which we called "records" back then).
When her son (Don) took up guitar, Mowry began expanding into musical instruments. The family opened a second store in Moorhead in 1975, then closed the Jamestown shop as business boomed in the new location.
bismarcktribune.com/news...f-b8d8-001cc4c002e0.html
margueritesmn.com/about/history/
Marguerite was always responsive to musicians, whether raw beginners or touring pros; many dozens of regional acts could trace their origins to this store.
Helpful to the last, Mowry retired from the business in 2004, only because of declining health, & died 2010.
I'd send you to the site... except it don't work.
In fact, they ALL don't work. margueritesmusic.com just routes you to marmusicmn.com, which is almost entirely empty pages; margueritesmn.com is nothing but a mirror of the latter. They also own margueritesmusic.net, which manages to have even LESS content.
A Yelp review from April says "There is a large space of nothing."
I'm still managing to be bummed that such a historically significant regional name has been left to sink.
When I bought the Silvertone 1450, the seller tossed in a woven guitar strap, branded Marguerite's Music, with a Jamestown (ND) location. Now, this was news to me, as I first visited their shop in 1977, and it was in Moorhead (MN).
Fans of my screeds on Frugal Guitarist may recall some mentions of Marguerite's, specifically:
The place was opened by Marguerite Mowry in 1961, selling greeting cards and vinyl (which we called "records" back then).
When her son (Don) took up guitar, Mowry began expanding into musical instruments. The family opened a second store in Moorhead in 1975, then closed the Jamestown shop as business boomed in the new location.
bismarcktribune.com/news...f-b8d8-001cc4c002e0.html
margueritesmn.com/about/history/
Marguerite was always responsive to musicians, whether raw beginners or touring pros; many dozens of regional acts could trace their origins to this store.
Helpful to the last, Mowry retired from the business in 2004, only because of declining health, & died 2010.
I'd send you to the site... except it don't work.
In fact, they ALL don't work. margueritesmusic.com just routes you to marmusicmn.com, which is almost entirely empty pages; margueritesmn.com is nothing but a mirror of the latter. They also own margueritesmusic.net, which manages to have even LESS content.A Yelp review from April says "There is a large space of nothing."
I'm still managing to be bummed that such a historically significant regional name has been left to sink.