Cornet, B-flat, A
Maker
C. G. Conn, Ltd.
Date1923 ca.
Place MadeElkhart, Indiana, United States, North America
ModelVictor [before 1920, Victor New Wonder]
Serial No.204779
SignedEngraved on bell: VICTOR / C. G. Conn / Ltd. / ELKHART, IND. / - U. S. A. - / AMERICAN / U S / LEGION / Awarded To / Monahan Post Band / Sioux City Iowa / Fifth National Convention of the / AMERICAN LEGION / San Francisco, Oct. 15th – 19th 1923 / PRESENTED BY / C. G. CONN Ltd. / ELKHART, IND. U.S.A.MarkingsStamped on valve casings, respectively: 1 2 3
Stamped on second valve casing: * / 204779 / PATENTED
DescriptionGold-plated, satin (sand-blast) finish. Inlaid mother-of-pearl finger buttons. Three tower-spring pistons, two guidepins each. Water keys on tuning slide and third valve-slide. “Opera glass” micro-tuning mechanism located between first valve and bell bow. Marking rod used to designate necessary pull for quick change from B-flat to A.
As the inscription on this cornet indicates, it was awarded as part of a set of gold-plated instruments representing the first prize in the American Legion's national Band and Drum Corps Contest. According to a letter published in the Spring 1924 issue of Conn's Musical Truth, “Monahan Post Band is proudly displaying the beautiful musical instruments which your organization donated as prizes at the recent [convention]. . . . This is the second time that our Band has thus been favored by you.” Like many other bands of its day, this Sioux City group, directed by Harry T. Johnson, prided itself on being entirely equipped with Conn instruments.
Custom engraving includes an American eagle above, and looking down upon, the signature; the American Legion insignia flanked by two heraldic trumpets; two fanciful animal faces; two unfurling ribbons (blank areas, presumably for later inscriptions); six, five-petal flowers; leafy vines; and, scrolling, extending around entire bell and back to the bell bow.
A star (indicating a custom order) and the word PATENTED stamped on second valve (patent #1,240,177 by C. G. Conn, September 18, 1917, for micro-tuning mechanism).
DimensionsHeight (without mouthpiece): 420 mm
Bell diameter: 120 mm (4-5/8")
Bore 0.478" (12.15 mm)
ProvenancePreviously owned and played by Ralph Henderson, former mayor of Sioux City, Iowa.
Published ReferencesScott, Marshall L. _The American Piston Valved Cornets and Trumpets of The Shrine to Music Museum_. D.M.A. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1988. (p. 156-157)
Banks, Margaret Downie. _Elkhart's Brass Roots: an Exhibition to Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of C. G. Conn's Birth and the 120th Anniversary of the Conn Company_ Vermillion: The Shrine to Music Museum, 1994. (p. 44)
Credit LineGift of Dale Caris, 1979
Object number02561
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