died in 1940. His brother, Hugh E. White, acted as president, and his widow, Edna White, took over as president in 1941. During World War II, the company received government contracts to assemble radar units and fuses. Edna's daughter, Cathryn White Ludwig, married William F. Ludwig, Jr of the drum-percussion company W.F.L. Drum Company. Cathryn was named the Vice-President of H.N. White in 1945, making it one of the few companies in America headed by two women. H. N. White became a major player in the saxophone market dominated by Buescher, C.G. Conn, and Martin during the interwar years. King saxophones had brazed-on tonehole chimneys, which have significant advantages over both the soldered-on and drawn types used by other manufacturers. Brazing was also a relatively high cost process. The King Saxello was a soprano saxophone with a downward curve near the mouthpiece and a bell curved 90 degrees from the body, for optimal playing position and acoustic qualities. With improvements to saxophone design embodied by the King Zephyr in 1935, H. N. White's position as a leading manufacturer of saxophones was firmly established. In 1937 the Zephyr gained a double-socket neck that eliminated the large collar on the body tube at the neck joint and the Zephyr Special was introduced as a deluxe version with a changed bore, improved keytouches for the left hand table, and mother of pearl inlay on all keytouches. Sterling silver necks and bells became available. The King line's run of success continued after World War II, with highly desired lines of woodwind and brass instruments. Several famous musicians were featured playing King instruments, including Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Parker, and Harry James. The Zephyr Special was rebranded the Super 20 in 1945, with a changed lever mechanism for the neck octave key. With improved left hand cluster mechanisms introduced around 1949, the Super 20 represented the zenith of H. N. White's achievements as a saxophone manufacturer. The visually and aurally striking horn was one of the most desired ever. However, new competition from Selmer (Paris), aided by the exchange rate between the French Franc and the US Dollar in the postwar era, put price pressure on the American manufacturers and H. N. White was no exception. Through the mid-1950s into the 60s, the imperative of cutting costs grew and features were dropped to simplify manufacture. During that same period, the Zephyr was sold as a student-line