Evolution of Conn's first Sousaphone

About two years after J. W. Pepper created the first Sousaphone and delivered it to Sousa, C. G. Conn produced his own Sousaphone - at which time he supplied the entire band with beautiful new Conn instruments. Here's the notice about this, in the January 22, 1898 edition of The Music Trade Review:

The announcement makes it sound like Conn both created and named this new instrument, which suggests that either the reporter wasn't aware that Pepper had already done that, or that the journal just printed what Conn had supplied, which was perhaps a tad misleading! (Both Pepper and Conn were known to stretch the truth in some of their advertising back in those days.)

But Pepper's Sousaphone did indeed exist, and even went on tour with Sousa's Band in 1896. But then it seems to disappear. The next time we see a Sousaphone in that great band, it's Conn's first one, which was most likely built in late 1897.

From the notice above, we can safely assume that Conn's new horn was silver-plated. But what did it look like? Below is a visual history of this important instrument, which reveals that it evolved through at least three slightly different versions.

1898 - Conn's first version

Once his Sousaphone was built, and Herman Conrad, the "Primo Basso" of Sousa's Band, was available for a photo session, this wonderful image was created:

The instrument has four valves (Pepper's Sousaphone only has three), although the tubing is rather odd, going in different angles, and with a good bit of it buried where we can't see it. Further, notice that the lead pipe extends over from the top of the second branch of the main coil of the body. And it looks like the neck is custom-fitted for Conrad, as no tuning bits are evident.

The engraving at the bass of the bell shows the capital letters "S O U S," with an "A" almost certainly around the curve. And then there is a more elaborate engraving above that, the details of which are virtually impossible to make out. But it must have looked spectacular!

Here's the earliest known photo of this instrument in the context of the band, which was taken in St. Louis in September of 1898:

While the angle of the horn in this photo, in comparison with the studio photo, might explain this, the loop of the upper part of the tubing that leads down to the main tuning slide seems more pronounced in the photo above (looking much like all later Conn Sousaphones). Was that possibly a tweak before the Sousaphone went on the road? Who knows. But we know that one major tweak was eventually made.

1899 - Conn's second version

Almost exactly a year after the above photo was taken, an illustration of Conn's Sousaphone appeared in The Pittsburgh Post (Sept. 17, 1899), and the valve cluster is significantly different:

Now the fourth valve tubing is in the open, extending out with a larger loop, and laying over the middle of the second branch. And the lead pipe emerges not from the top of the second branch, as in version one, but from within what I assume is the top loop of the main tuning slide.

Here's an undated photo of Conrad with this version of the Sousaphone (and those straps are curious; had Conn just replaced the valve cluster with the newer version?). The bell appears to be identical to the one seen in version one:

And here is that same version of Conn's Sousaphone in Hamburg, Germany, in late May or early June 1900, when the Sousa Band was touring Europe for the first time:

And just to be clear on the differences between the valve clusters in version one and version two, here is a side-by-side comparison:

Version two of Conn's Sousaphone returned to Europe in 1901 (just England and Scotland this time), as evidenced by this photo in London's Illustrated Mail, dated October 2 of that year:

1903 - Conn's third version

But Conn still wasn't done tinkering with his Sousaphone. For while we don't know exactly when version three was created, our first glimpse of it comes in this photograph when Sousa's Band was performing in London in early 1903:

Before examining the new layout of the valve cluster, it's worth noting the bell engravings - to the extent we can make anything out! Is it the same bell as in versions one and two? I'm not sure, although it seems possible to detect, however faintly, where the "S O U S A" might be on the lower part of the bell. But perhaps I'm imaging things!

Regardless, the third valve tubing now runs the length of the valve cluster, with the longest part positioned below the fourth valve - something we hadn't seen before. And the lead pipe appears a bit lower, more in line with the valves, and, based on later photos, apparently curls up and around the upper part of the main tuning slide tube, rather than right through the middle of that upper loop, as it did in version two.

This is the version that we see Jack Richardson playing with Sousa, after he replaced Conrad, who left the band in August 1903. Here's the earliest known image of Richardson with Sousa, at Willow Grove Park in 1905:

Again, just to be clear, here are all three versions of the valve clusters side-by-side. They are clearly different:

And here's a better look at version three from the Conn Sousaphone that is in the Greenleaf Collection at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, whose serial number (88983) suggests that it was built in 1905 - just a few years after Conn's third and final version appeared (and yes, that's me!):

The layout of the valve cluster in this horn appears identical to the one in 1903. Conn seems to have landed on a configuration that needed no further tweaking for his monster four-valve Sousaphone. For even as late as 1924, C. G. Conn Ltd. was still producing this exact model, as seen in this Sousaphone which resides in the Sousa Archives at the University of Illinois (serial number 208098):

Where did Conn's first Sousaphone(s) go?

Thankfully, the original Sousaphone, built by Pepper, has survived the ravages of time. But what about any of the three versions of Conn's first Sousaphone? We simply don't know if one of them still exists.

However, version two appeared in an artistic rendering of a photo of Jack Richardson that I found in a 1913 edition of Conn's Musical Truth:

Whether the photo was taken that year, or it was from years earlier, we simply don't know. But if it is from 1913, that means it didn't perish in the Conn factory fire of 1910, which means it's entirely possible that this version is still out there somewhere.

And version one? Well, if only the valve cluster was changed out, the rest of it would exist in version two. And version three? Perhaps the same issue. Although if it was an altogether new Sousaphone, which seems more likely, given the photo of Richardson with version two, it might possibly still be out there somewhere. But it's almost certainly not the Interlochen Sousaphone, as has been claimed for years, as the serial number seems to date it a bit too late for that.

So, keep your eyes open! That's what I'm doing!

Feast your eyes on this great photo!

As I shared in the previous post, one of my favorite things to have happen when I engage in research is to stumble upon something I wasn't even looking for, and that happened again the other day!

While researching Warren G. Harding, and his history as a helicon player, I found the original photo of Herman Conrad posing with the very first Conn Sousaphone back in 1898 (or perhaps late 1897). The source of the photo had no idea who was in it, or when it was taken (and why it showed up in a search for Harding is a mystery to me!).

Conn used this photo in his publications for a few years, but the newsprint version, which is all I had up to this point, is pretty grainy. Now we can see Conrad, and this first version of Conn's Sousaphone, in glorious detail. Take particular note of the valve cluster, as that is what Conn replaced pretty quickly with version two, a year or so later.

Enjoy!

The helicon - presidential, war hero!

I love stumbling upon things in my research. Here's a wonderful little article I came across today, from the April 7, 1927 edition of the Lincoln Journal Star, that talks about Warren G. Harding's history with the helicon bass (the forerunner to the Sousaphone), and an episode where a helicon took on shrapnel in the Great War, but kept on tootin'! As the writer put it in the last line, "All hell can't stop a helicon." Enjoy!

The Most Wonderful Endorsement?

 Sousa regularly enjoyed a good cigar, but in 1912 a friend introduced him to Tuxedo Tobacco, and he added the pipe to his smoking repertoire. He also began showing up in advertisements for that brand in newspapers around the country. Here, for example, is what appeared in the September 6, 1912 edition of the St. Joseph News Press Gazette:

Magazines were in on this as well, as seen here, a few weeks later:

As the ad put it, "The live, virile men who make this country what it is, recognize the relaxation from nervous and mental strain, the restfulness - that comes from smoking Tuxedo Tobacco." 

For the next year, that brand was being endorsed by such "live, virile men" as athletes, trapshooters, authors, explorers, millionaires, and even opera singers! Check this out, from the January 29, 1914 edition of The Evening Journal, out of Wilmington, Delaware:

Wow. Who knew that smoking a pipe could help you in your singing career?!

Not surprisingly, by early 1914, newspapers featured such headlines as this one, from the February 16, 1914 edition of The Evening Mail, out of Stockton, California:

A year later, Tuxedo Tobacco went back to featuring Sousa on his own to sell their product, as seen here in the January 14, 1915 edition of The Kenosha [Wisconsin] Evening News (and, once again, the touted benefits of smoking a pipe are truly amazing!):

But then Tuxedo Tobacco, or Sousa, or both, pulled off something almost unbelievable, leading to "The Most Wonderful Endorsement Ever Given Any Product." This headline began appearing on the back covers of popular magazines in late 1915, and eventually made it into newspapers as well, as seen here in the December 29, 1915 edition of The North Adams [MA] Transcript:

The key paragraph says this: "Mr. Sousa has been a smoker of Tuxedo Tobacco for years. Recently, at the Panama-Pacific Exposition [in San Francisco, where his band played from May 22 through July 23, 1915], a newspaper representative made the discovery that every member of Sousa's Band is also a Tuxedo smoker!"

Now, what are the chances of that?! Or is the truth being stretched a bit here? Well, the ad goes on to say, "Whereupon, the following endorsement of Tuxedo was gladly given and signed by Mr. Sousa and the sixty-six members of his Band. Read it - as sure-fire and convincing as a Sousa March. . . . No other product has ever received such a remarkable endorsement as this."

And here are those sixty-six signatures - a real rarity, identifying every member of the band on that cross-country tour, which started on April 5 and ended on September 26, as well as the instrument they were playing (the list varies in how it is edited on each version of the ad, but here are the four columns put together) :

Of course, of greatest interest to me are the six bass players, who appear in the list as follows:

1. "John M. Kuhn, Sousaphone" (third from the top)
2. "Arthur Storch, Tubaist" (ninth from the top)
3. "J. W. Richardson, Sousa Phone" (twelfth from the top)
4. "O. R. Cott, Tuba" (eighteenth from the top)
5. "Oscar S. Peterson, Tuba" (twenty-first from the top)
6. "Emil M. Weber, Tuba" (thirteenth from the bottom)

There are a number of things worth noting here:

• To my knowledge, the bass section had never been that large before, featuring six players. And given the players, the section must have sounded awesome!
• Kuhn, according to one report, was discovered by Sousa at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, and added to the band at that time. I'm still trying to confirm that, but at the very least, we know he hadn't played with Sousa prior to the 1915 cross-country tour.
• This is also the first time we see two Sousaphones in the band instead of just one. By late 1921, Sousa went with all Sousaphones for his bass section.
• Note that Kuhn calls his instrument a "Sousaphone," and Richardson, a "Sousa Phone." Either way, the "S" is capitalized, which makes sense, given that the name is based on a person, "Sousa."
• Note also that Storch refers to himself as a "Tubaist." I've found this term used of a tuba player as early as 1871, although it is no longer used today, as we've gone with "Tubist."
• Emil M. Weber was the father of both Herbert Weber, who played Sousaphone with Sousa in 1924 and 1926, and Albert Weber, who played Sousaphone with Sousa in 1926.

Okay, put all of that in your pipe and smoke it! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

[Special thanks to Doug Yeo who shared the band ad with me earlier today, which really intrigued me, resulting in the post above!]