Early Conn Trumpets

Before the end of the 19th century, cornets were the soprano and mezzo-soprano voices in popular music and trumpets were signal instruments in the military and appeared only in the most sophisticated orchestras in the largest cities in the United States. Instrument makers such as Boston and Conn were willing to provide trumpets for musicians of the symphonic orchestras early in their histories, but so few were sold to this tiny market that none are known to exist in collections today.  Sousa's and other large bands had been including them regularly by 1890, Gilmore’s Band before that and they were showing up in small ensembles on the Chataqua circuit. Conn had been making trumpets since at least 1881, although the earliest listed for sale were F trumpets, both with and without valves.  

It’s uncertain when Conn first started making Bb trumpets, but it was at least by 1899, when they were illustrated in their catalogs.  Two extant instruments made in 1903 belonging to Bill Faust and Mark Metzler appear very much like the illustration below.  A very similar trumpet is also in Mark Metzler's collection and a slight variation is advertised in 1906 in Conn's "Truth".  They are pictured below and are remarkable for having a spring return trigger on the third slide, a mechanical option rarely seen on trumpets before the 1950s.  These early examples also utilize Conn's 1886 patent valves, which were removed from production shortly after.  

The trumpet featured below was made in 1911 and retains most of its original gold-plated finish with deluxe engraving.  The original case contains all the original parts excepting the mouthpieces.  It is pictured with a Conn Symphony model mouthpiece from the same era and might have been one of the models originally included in this kit.  This trumpet is 18" long with the mouthpiece removed, the bell rim diameter is 4 15/16" and the bore measures .485".  This is a good example to be used to dispel the myth that early trumpets have tiny bores!

Click on image below for larger views.

During the years between 1900 and 1915 Conn continually redesigned many of their instruments including cornets and trumpets.  This includes at least six distinct models of trumpets by Conn between 1903 and 1911.  In Conn's promotional material, they insist on their trumpets being very different in character from their cornets, but close inspection reveals that they share many parts.  Compared with a large bore Circus Bore cornet from the same time, the valve section of this trumpet is identical aside from different porting in the third valve and bells with identical measurements.  In 1910, they introduced the “Booster Trumpet Model Cornet” that is exactly the same design as the trumpet shown above, aside from the mouthpiece receiver and perhaps the mouthpipe taper. The trumpet/cornet dichotomy is explored in detail in the essays on the history of the modern trumpet and the difference between trumpets and cornets.