Initial stage of gut preparation from casings. Gut for strings stretched out to dry.		Catgut String manufacturing Reproduced from the "Musical Observer" February 1931 The musical merchandise wholesaling and retailing trade has for a long time been acquainted with the gut string as an essential sales article, but few in the business are familiar with the art of making these strings and few know how painstaking a process has to be gone through to bring the strings to a point of perfection where the finest tonal qualities of instrument will be brought out to the best degree. The Italian firm of E. and O. Mari (with offices in New York City), one of Europe's leading manufacturers of gut strings for the violin family of musical instruments, is generally acknowledged to know all the ins and outs of the difficult art of gut string manufacture. To produce a good gut string, it is necessary to purchase raw gut of animals that spent their lives grazing in a climate where the sun shines much of the time. Italy has such a special climate, ideally suited for the production of raw gut. After the raw gut is received at the factory, it is washed and cured in a chemical solution for several days which kills off all odor and germs, making strings stronger for best tonal quality. After this washing, the gut is sorted as to size and is then put out in the open air for a couple of days to dry. The dried gut is then hand scraped and hand polished. Following this, the gut is gauged according to thickness. Another polishing machine is then used to apply the finishing touches to the gut and bring it to a perfected state where it is ready for packing. The E. and O. Mari factory is located in Lanciano, Italy. Scenes of the Mari expert workmen engaged in manufacturing the strings are shown in the accompanying cut. The factory is one story in height, but is really composed of two buildings. There is some 7,500 square feet of floor space. The skilled operatives number 28. The factory recently increased its capacity and production as well. With the plant enlarged and new automatic machinery installed and with a larger force of experienced workmen, the Mari Company expects a bumper year in the output of its strings. The 28 men in the Mari factory are as follows: 15 men in the washing and sizing department, 5 men in the spinning department and 8 men in the hand polishing department. These men know their strings and the business having grown up in the art. The 8 men who do the hand polishing for Mari are recognized experts and perform their difficult jobs to produce a string true in gauge and tone.

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