Chris-Kratt/A. K. Huttl Sousaphone

This past Tuesday we had our quarterly staff training day, called "LCBC U," where, at lunchtime, we decided to have a little fun by hosting a "Hidden Talent Show." The planning team knows that I am a tuba player and Sousaphone historian, so they pretty much demanded that I play my Sousaphone in the show! While the introvert in me hesitated briefly, it was ultimately an easy yes. Here's the back story . . .

When I joined the LCBC staff eleven years ago, I learned that the Lead Worship Pastor, Matt Goss, was also a tuba player, and a serious one at that (he's on the left above, and that's me on the right)! He had studied jazz tuba at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Ever since discovering our mutual love for the tuba, we have kicked around the idea of doing something, just for fun, to play together there at the church. Now, after all these years, we finally had the perfect opportunity!

I grabbed one of John Sass's cool bass lines ("Soul of Song"), and pulled in Jeff Culp, an accomplished drummer (and also a Berklee grad) who oversees music production at the church, and we put together this short Sousaphone feature:

The staff had no idea it was coming (we were introduced as a heavy metal band!), but it was great fun!

I played my son's 1925 Pan American 64K (basically a Conn 14K), and Matt played his grandfather's Chris-Kratt/Huttl Sousaphone - an importer and maker about which I knew almost nothing. Here's more about that apparently rare horn, starting with some photos of it:

The bell engraving, in case you can't make everything out, says this:

Chris-Kratt

INSTRUMENT CO. INC.

HUTTL

BAIERSDORF

UNION N. J.

MADE IN

WEST GERMANY

From what I've been able to piece together from some quick online research, Christian Kratt (1899-1982) was born in Trossingen, Germany and emigrated to New York in 1926 as a clerk. By 1934 he was a musical instrument importer living in Brooklyn and by 1940 was located in Union, NJ, running his own importing business. He lived there until his death (census & immigration records).

In 1877, Anton Konrad Huttl founded his instrument company in Graslitz, Austria/Bohemia (now Kraslice, Czech Republic), and in 1954 the company moved to Baiersdorf, West Germany. This is exactly what we see on the bell, which means that Matt's Sousaphone was built no earlier than 1954. Huttl Band Instruments went out of business in 1979, so, in theory, the horn could have been made anytime between 1954 and 1979.

However, given the very low serial number of "27" on the second valve casing (seen above, assuming that is a serial number), it suggests that it is one of the first Chris-Kratt instruments to come out of the Huttl factory in Baiersdorf. So, perhaps 1954 is a safe bet for dating Matt's Sousaphone.

Regardless, it was cool both to play with Matt (and Jeff), and to become better acquainted with a lesser known Sousaphone maker and importer from years ago!