Rescuing a 1925 Pan American 64-K

One of my favorite tuba-related stories is very personal, and goes back eleven years. I was surprised to discover that I hadn't blogged about it before, but then it dawned on me: this was before I stumbled upon the hobby of researching the history of the Sousaphone!

So, finally, here's the story . . .

As a seventh grader, in late November 2011, my son, Jonathan, expressed interest in seeing what it was like to play a Sousaphone. He mentioned that he saw some old Sousaphone pieces high up on a shelf in the instrument storage room at his middle school, where he was playing tuba in the band. So he approached his director about this, and she responded that those instruments hadn't been touched for at least the 23 years she had been there.

Here's that storage room:

His director then surprised him by saying that if he could find anything among those dusty and long-neglected Sousaphone parts that worked, he could keep them, as they had no future there!

Having pulled me in to help with this rescue operation, we rummaged through the remains and found the bell and body for the horn pictured above, which had valves that worked surprisingly well, and only needed a neck, tuning bits, and a good cleaning.

The back of the bell had this engraving on it, identifying it as a Pan American Sousaphone, built in Elkhart, Indiana:

And on the second valve casing was the serial number 44389, suggesting that the Sousaphone was built in 1925, so, when we acquired it (2011), it was 86 years old!

Now, about Pan American: Carl D. Greenleaf, who was president of C. G. Conn, Ltd., from 1915-1949, established the Pan American Band Instrument Company in Elkhart in 1917 to produce a student line of instruments. Presumably, our Sousaphone had been played in our local school(s) for all of its history, until it was tossed on the shelf of the band room at some point (again, at least 23 years before we rescued it).

In the 1928 C. G. Conn, Ltd. Chicago Branch catalog, which was the closest I could find to 1925, the Pan American BBb Sousaphone Grand carried the model number 64-K, as well as this brief description (courtesy of Mark Overton at saxophone.org):

Ours had the "silver gold bell finish," costing $250 in 1928 (perhaps a bit less in 1925), although the finish was heavily worn and tarnished, as you can see from the image at the top of this post.

Based on the look and size, I assumed the horn was essentially a student version of a Conn 14-K - until I later learned that Conn didn't introduce that model until around 1955. However, in 1929, Conn did introduce this lighter weight Sousaphone (again, image courtesy of saxophone.org):

It would appear, then, that the Pan American 64-K was the precursor to the Conn 32-K, with the latter having fancier trim and perhaps more robust bracing to bring it up from 22.5 pounds to 26.

Now, back to late 2011: Jonathan and I took the Sousaphone home and cleaned it up with Tarn-X, baking soda, and silver polish (as per the directions of a Sousaphone expert I had been connected with), and got the horn looking pretty sharp! Here's a before and after photo:

We then inquired with the renowned "Tuba Whisperer" at Dillon Music, Matt Walters, about what could be done to get the instrument into playable shape.

Matt indicated that all it appeared to need was a new tenon soldered on, as well as a neck and bits - all of which would cost about $200. We also asked him to resolder the three loose contact points on the body, to check the alignment of the valves, and to roll out the worst of the dents in the bell (as it had apparently been whapped on the floor numerous times, as well as used as a makeshift cymbal by thoughtless drummers, leaving many dimples).

On December 7, 2011, Jonathan and I drove the horn out to Matt, and he liked what he saw and said he would get to the repair as soon as he could. Then, much to our surprise, he called us at home later that evening and said to me, 

I've made the repairs, and you've got a great sounding horn! In fact, I usually play a horn I've just worked on for no more than 30 seconds, to make sure everything is working and sounding good. But I played yours for about 5 minutes, because it really sounded great! Oh, and one of the guys at the shop here has offered to buy it from you for $500, as he is looking for a decent Sousaphone.

Needless to say, we did not sell it!

It turns out that one instrument dealer (Taylor Music) has overhauled some of these old Pan American Sousaphones, getting them into tip-top shape once again, and selling them for $3,522.00 (back in 2011)!

So, just in time for Christmas that year, we had a fantastic looking and sounding Sousaphone from 1925 (although the gold wash in the bell had mostly worn away):

But now the story really takes off, as far as the Sousaphone finally seeing action again! 

Two years later, when Jonathan entered high school, he enthusiastically joined the marching band, and it turned out that his reconditioned Pan American 64-K sounded much better than the war-torn Kings that the school had. So he was allowed to stand out in the section with his silver Sousaphone:

By 2015, we were able to help his high school purchase, through Lee Stofer, a couple of restored Conn 14-K's to replace those old Kings, bringing a unified sound to the section. Here's one of those "new" 14-K's, after Lee kindly dropped them off for us:

 And here is Jonathan with his 1925 Pan American 64-K that year:

And here's the section that year (note how his cool bell engraving stands out!):

Of course, I had to give the horn a try myself, which I did at TubaChristmas (this is from 2012, but I've now brought it many times in recent years, after Jonathan went to college and now works on the west coast):

We even got my Dad into the action, when he and my Mom were visiting us back in 2013. He played Sousaphone back when he was in high school in the 1940s. I wonder if he may have played a similar horn back then?!

If Jonathan ever has a son (or daughter!) who wants to play the Sousaphone, it would be super cool if this rescued treasure was still available for service. We'll see!

When Conn opened a branch in NYC

The September 1, 1906 edition of the New York Tribune

Having recently been given a Conn tuba built in 1899, with both "Elkhart" and "New York" engraved on the bell, I decided to see what I could learn about the years when Conn had a branch store in New York City. I first became aware of this period a few years ago, when I read Margaret Downie Banks' 1994 work, Elkhart's Brass Roots, where she revealed that Conn

put his efforts into establishing a retail store in New York City (October 1897) for the sale of his Wonder line of instruments, as well as his inventory of fine violins. Instruments sold at this outlet bore both the Elkhart and New York designations [on the bell] for about eight years. However, following a relocation of the store in 1905, this practice was discontinued (pp. 2-3).

That explained where my tuba was originally purchased, 123 years ago! But I was eager to learn more about Conn's New York establishment, and found that the digital library of The Music Trade Review provided lots of help.

1897-1899: 23 East Fourteenth Street

Here's the earliest mention I could find, from the July 10, 1897 edition:

It appears that this new eastern headquarters opened the first week of November, "without any set ceremonies or formalities," according to the November 6, 1897 edition:

This "new emporium," which was managed by C. S. Palmer, who had been with Conn for 20 years, quickly became "the Mecca for all musical pilgrims to the Greater New York," as the December 11, 1897 edition declared. That edition also provided a detailed description of the warerooms, which included, in the front window at that time, "a monster brass Helicon with a forty inch bell and weighing sixty-three pounds." This huge horn served to attract the attention of Christmas shoppers!

The following Spring the warerooms were declared "a model of judicious arrangement and good taste," and it was revealed that Palmer was assisted by W. Paris Chambers, "the famous Conn cornet soloist, also well-known as a talented composer, and bandmaster" (April 2, 1898 edition). 

(Photo from the March 23, 1901 edition)

That same edition also provided the following photos of Conn's new establishment at 23 East Fourteenth street:

Exterior of the Conn building with the large display window

One of the display cases inside the building

C. G. Conn's private office area (Conn is standing on the left, leaning against the desk)

By early September, it was reported that "The members of Sousa's great concert band have been frequent visitors equipping themselves with instruments for their fall tour, upon which they left this week" (September 10, 1898 edition). Traveling with the band at that time was Conn's first Sousaphone.

And, according to the November 12, 1898 edition, the success of Conn's New York branch brought to an end his business in Worcester, MA, near Boston, which had been established over a decade earlier (late 1886):

After a full year of business that was described as both "brisk" and "tremendous," the December 10, 1898 edition playfully noted that the ongoing success of Conn hadn't gone to his head:

While Conn toyed with the idea of adding a small factory above the present warerooms, he instead moved his burgeoning business to a new location, just down the street, the following June (reported in the June 10, 1899 edition):

1899-1902: 34 East Fourteenth Street

Now there was lots of room to expand - all the way up to five stories, in what the October 14, 1899 edition referred to as "Conn's Musical Palace"!

And here is one of the instrument cases inside the new facility, featuring Conn's outstanding tubas where they could be examined more closely:

At this point in his career, Conn was riding high, as noted in that same edition:

But The Review had already celebrated Conn's success four months earlier, by placing him on the cover of the June 3, 1899 edition:

The following year, it was reported that "The members of Sousa's Band, since their return from Europe, are showing in many ways their appreciation of Conn merit and enterprise. The Conn warerooms have practically become their rendezvous. Their visits at the Fourteenth street establishment are frequent" (September 22, 1900 edition).

Three months later, Chambers took on a greater role as Conn's representative in New York City (replacing Palmer?), as reported in the December 15, 1900 edition:

But this relationship only lasted fifteen months. In the March 8, 1902 edition, Conn briefly explained that "The agency for the sale of the 'Wonder,' Conn-queror and American model instruments at 34 East Fourteenth street, New York City, has been discontinued."

And then Conn gave his reason: "I have concentrated my business interests at Elkhart, Ind., where the needs of my patrons will receive personal supervision. All correspondence and orders should in future be addressed to me at Elkhart, Ind., where they will receive the most careful and prompt attention."

Conn continued to advertise in The Review, but now he directed them to Elkhart, rather than his New York warerooms, which were no more. Here's one example, from the September 17, 1904 edition:

But by mid-1905, after a three-year hiatus, Conn was ready to revive his New York Branch.

1905-1909: 46 West 28th Street

Note the typo, 48, in the notice above; it was in fact 46 West 28th street, as confirmed by all subsequent notices, such as this one, from the November 25, 1905 edition:

Boyer, who eventually became Conn's "right-hand man," and helped lead the company after Conn retired, was both a gifted musician and a savvy businessman, as reported years later, in the January 8, 1927 edition of the Presto-Times:

And this portrait was included alongside that article:

Boyer's impact on Conn's revived New York Branch was almost immediate, as noted in the December 30, 1905 edition of The Review:

Two months later, Boyer did indeed expand his present quarters, as revealed in the February 10, 1906 edition:

The success of the establishment continued through 1909, leading Boyer to move to a larger and better location at the beginning of 1910 (as revealed in the May 28 edition, seen below).

1910-1912?: 48 West 34th Street

This prepared the branch for continued growth, as explained in the May 10, 1910 edition:

But on May 22, 1910, the Conn factory in Elkhart was destroyed by fire, and this brought about a role change for Boyer once the factory was rebuilt (and it was rebuilt remarkably quickly, by the end of the year). Here's the notice on the change in the October 29, 1910 edition:

Conn's New York Branch, under Boyer's management, continued through at least the beginning of 1911, as noted in this December 31, 1910 report on Boyer returning to NYC to see the Sousa Band off on its world tour:

However, the last reference to this establishment I could find was in the October 26, 1912 edition. You'll note that Boyer was still connected with it, although not as manager, and it was still understood to be the "Eastern representatives for Conn instruments":

How long this business continued beyond 1912 is not known at present. But the Conn company in Elkhart, of course, continued for decades, well after Conn himself sold the company and retired in 1915. Boyer helped lead it until his death in 1934.

Conn Makes a Monster Helicon Stir

In the December 11, 1897 edition of The Music Trade Review, the following front page notice appears:

What exactly was that "immense big tuba or helicon in the window" that a uniformed bandsman was "manipulating"? I'm guessing it was this, or something like this:

Here's additional information later on in that same edition of The Review (p. 27):

Notice that it says, "In the window, at present, is a monster brass Helicon with a forty inch bell and weighing sixty-three pounds." That about matches what we can see in the photo above!

And here is a photograph of the Conn facility at 23 East Fourteenth street, in NYC, about a year later. Presumably, that main front window is where the huge helicon was displayed:

The "monster brass Helicon" was one of two huge horns built by C. G. Conn in 1897, which I'm guessing served as the prelude to Conn's first Sousaphone, which was introduced to the world a month later (January 1898). You can read more about that here.