Who knew the Sousaphone in 1892?

The October 24, 1925 edition of Presto speaks of Sousa and his band "in those exciting days of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1892 in Chicago. . . . Who in that time . . . knew the sousaphone? That was the March-King's own device for obtaining a distinctive sound; and today the sousaphone is part of every big band, of many small ones, and has a place in the great modern orchestras" (p. 20).

Photo courtesy of Paul Bierley, John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon, p. 60

Above is the Sousa Band in 1893 - which does not yet have a Sousaphone. What you see in the top right is Herman Conrad playing a Helicon bass - the forerunner to the Sousaphone.



Clues from Sousa's uniform

In trying to determine the year that the first Sousaphone was made, the engraving of Sousa on the bell offers some important evidence:

 

It turns out that this engraving is based on a photo (or is it a drawing?) that shows up on this poster for the 1895 season - however the photo negative was loaded backwards (note the "S"s on Sousa's collar):





So here is that photo flipped and enlarged, and - voila! - it matches the engraving on the bell (note in particular the embroidery on the jacket):

Now, when was this photo taken? We can't say for sure, but based on extant photos of Sousa from 1892 and 1893 (see below), it would seem that this particular uniform was new either in 1894 or 1895. And, of course, the Sousaphone had to be made after the photo was taken, eliminating 1893 as an option (well, unless the horn originally didn't have an engraving on the bell, but it was added a year or more later).

September 1892

 

1893 (month not specified)

 

June 1893

When was this horn actually built?

All of the evidence points to the Sousaphone made by J. W. Pepper, serial number 8800, and shown a few posts below, as the very first one. Sousa gave Pepper the idea for the horn back in 1892, but what year was it actually built?

Having examined the horn close up, it seems that the answer is provided right there on the bell - 1893:

However, many Pepper instruments have this, or something like this, on their bells (see this website for a detailed list). For example, here is a tuba, serial number 9293:

And here's a trombone, serial number 11054 - although now it clarifies that it is referring to receiving some sort of award at the "World's Fair Columbian Exposition Chicago 1893":

Same goes for this cornet, serial number 11158 - quite a ways from 8800, meaning it may very well have been built later than 1893:

It would seem that this information on the bell of these instruments is not providing the date of construction, but only boasting of the award received at the World's Fair in 1893.

Photo courtesy of Paul Bierley, The Incredible Band of John Philip Sousa, p. 18

Sousa's Band performed at the Fair, both at the dedication of the buildings in October 1892 (shown above), and for parts of May and June 1893, but did they feature the first Sousaphone in the band that latter year? We simply don't know - yet.

What we do know is that in 1893, Pepper received a World's Fair award for band instruments (noted in the September 30, 1893 edition of The Music Trade Review - vol.18, no. 10, p. 1). And this fact was stamped on the bells of many of their instruments from that point on.

So was the first Sousaphone built in 1893? Possibly, but we'll have to look elsewhere to find a certain answer.

Don't try to order this at IHOP

It looks more like a tuba than a Sousaphone, but my Mom, who is famous for her custom pancakes, was taking requests from my kids (her grandkids) the other day, and then asked what I wanted. Being immersed in Sousaphone history this summer, my request made perfect sense. Here's what she came up with. Pass the syrup, please!

The very first Sousaphone - up close

Right before our family left for vacation in southern California four weeks ago, I learned that the very first Sousaphone, made by J. W. Pepper in 1893 (or perhaps a few years later), is currently on loan to the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA (great museum, by the way).

That was just 45 minutes south of where we were staying in Laguna Beach, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see that horn for myself. Actually, I took my Dad along with me, as he played Souspahone in his high school band back in the 1940s. Here's what we saw:

The engraving suggests that the horn was built in 1893, but I'm not so sure. The idea for the horn was given to Pepper by Sousa in 1892, but, as far as I can tell, Pepper didn't publicize the new instrument until a number of years later (more on that shortly). And the engraving of Sousa on the bell, seen below, shows him in the uniform for the 1895 season (more on that shortly as well).

Just below the engraving of Sousa himself is a ribbon that contains the two words "SOUSA" and "PHONE" - just not together as one word. Is it possible that this is the earliest use of this term? Here's the first word, with the second just beginning to start on the lower part of the ribbon:

Other parts of the horn feature beautifully stamped brass, as shown in the two photos below:

Again, you can currently see this historic instrument for yourself at the Museum of Making Music (in the NAMM building) in Carlsbad, CA. It's a great little museum!

More Sousa on the Sousaphone

A few years after making his quote about the origin of the Sousaphone in the Christian Science Monitor (see post below), Sousa wrote this in his autobiography, published in 1928:

I strove in every way to improve the quality and variety of the instruments. Way back when I was with the Marines they used a Helicon tuba wound around the body. I disliked it for concert work because the tone would shoot ahead and be too violent. I suggested to a manufacturer that we have an upright bell of large size so that the sound would diffuse over the entire band like the frosting on a cake! He designed a horn after that description and it has been in use ever since, by many bands, under the name of the Sousaphone (p. 334).