So where did the original Sousaphone end up?
Having examined Pepper's horn up-close, it clearly has a lot of miles on it, but where was it played after it left Sousa's Band? Well, a possible answer appeared in the January 16, 1937 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, where the topic was . . .
First of all, note that the author, J. S. Willing, confidently affirms that the original Sousaphone was "manufactured here in Philadelphia," rather than in Elkhart, Indiana. He's right, of course, but I wonder how he knew that? For years, even at this point (1937), Conn had claimed to build the very first one, and that seems to be what everyone believed.
Second, I've contacted the folks at the Ringgold Band to see if they have any record of that historic horn being used in their band way back then. But, so far, they have not been able to find anything.
After searching a bit myself, I did find a few photos of the band. Here's one from 1904, eight years after the Pepper horn was last seen. There is a helicon shown, but no Sousaphone:
And here's a shot from around 1911, or about seven years later. Now there are two monster helicon basses dominating the back row, but still no sign of a Sousaphone:
Of course, the article mentions the original Sousaphone being in the Ringgold Band around 1937, so perhaps it was added to that historic ensemble closer to that time. We just don't know - yet!
However, it should be noted that John Bailey, the man who re-discovered the Pepper Sousaphone back in 1973, and sold it to the Pepper Co. in 1991, is still active in the Ringgold band! Interesting, huh?! And he found the long lost horn 45 years ago at Renninger's Flea Market in Adamstown, PA - not too far from where the Ringgold Band is based.
Very curious indeed!
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