Biography

Edward F. Droop was a business partner of Metzerott Music Company. Born in Osnabrück, Germany, Droop arrived in America in 1857, first working as a tobacconist in Baltimore. Moving to Washington to stay with an uncle, he started working for Metzerott. He lived nearby on 10th Street, just a few doors down from Ford's Theatre, and was on the scene of the Lincoln assassination shortly after it transpired, keeping for the rest of his life a small cluster of flowers and swatch of red wallpaper from the President's box. A large and gregarious man sporting mutton chops that would put Chester A. Arthur to shame, Droop was also a committed bodybuilder ever ready to boast of his personal feats of physical strength.

By 1867, Droop became a partner in Metzerott's business, working side by side with him for the next 18 years. After Metzerott died in 1884, Droop inherited the music store, fending off a legal challenge from Metzerott's widow. Henrietta Metzerott and her sons subsequently opened a separate Metzerott's store on F Street, while Droop continued at the Pennsylvania Avenue address under his own name. Droop's Music House became one of the best known DC stores and a major dealer in Steinways and other pianos. "Every American Citizen should have a piano in his home," declared a 1907 Droop's advertisement. "Years ago, this was a luxury; now it is almost a necessity." At the time of Droop's death in 1908, his store was said to be the oldest continually operating commercial store on the avenue. His sons Edward H.—an accomplished musician—and Carl continued the business for many more years, at least into the 1940s, eventually adding a second store at 13th and G Streets NW. (From streetsofwashington.com.

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