Conn patented his rubber-rimmed mouthpiece in 1875 (with patents to follow through 1877) described as "an elastic face where the mouthpiece comes in contact with the lips, the object being to prevent fatigue and injury to the lips."
It was in 1874 when Conn converted a discarded sewing machine frame into a simple lathe and started to turn out his mouthpieces and was soon in full production (Subsequently, Conn and Del Crampton became best of friends, and when Conn embarked on his political career, he was a staunch advocate of temperance). He needed a rim with a groove which the rubber cement would adhere to more easily. Conn then began to contemplate manufacturing his new mouthpiece. After he showed his friends his idea, he realized that there was tremendous demand for his invention. He decided to try adhering rubber stamp material to the rim of a mouthpiece which he hoped would conform to his lips. In addition to running his store, Conn also made rubber stamps and re-plated silverware. Conn's upper lip was severely lacerated, and it pained him so to play his cornet that he thought his playing days were over. There are three existing stories of how this occurred, but the popularly accepted version is that Del Crampton slugged him in the mouth outside a saloon where both of them had been drinking. Conn's entrance into the musical instrument manufacturing business was the result of a split lip. He also played cornet in the local community band. Army who, after the war, established a grocery and baking business in Elkhart, Indiana. 1.5 The Paul Gazlay - Lee Greenleaf era, 1949-1969.1.2 Growth of Conn's musical instrument business.Conn survived as a brand of musical instruments manufactured by Conn-Selmer, retaining several instruments for which it was known: the Conn 8D horn, 88H trombone, 62H bass trombone, 52BSP trumpet and the 1FR flugelhorn. The assets of UMI were bought by Steinway Musical Instruments in 2000 and in January 2003 were merged with other Steinway properties into a subsidiary called Conn-Selmer. The company was sold in 1980 and then again in 1985, reorganized under the parent corporation United Musical Instruments (UMI) in 1986. Conn was divested of its Elkhart production facilities in 1970, leaving remaining production in satellite facilities and contractor sources.
In 1969 the company was sold in bankruptcy to the Crowell-Collier-MacMillan publishing company. During the 1950s the bulk of its sales revenue shifted to electric organs. Its early business was based primarily on brass instruments, which were manufactured in Elkhart, Indiana. It bought the production facilities owned by Charles Gerard Conn, a major figure in early manufacture of brasswinds and saxophones in the USA. Conn Ltd., sometimes called Conn Instruments or commonly just Conn, is a former American manufacturer of musical instruments incorporated in 1915. Horn-u-copia is in the process of developing a tentative serial number list for Cavalier that we plan to include on this page.C.G. Cavalier was instituted in 1931, and used its own separate serial number list. If you note any discrepancies, or have additional information concerning this company, please contact us here at Horn-u-copia.Ĭavalier was a sub- brand for Pan American, used primarily as a method of supplying instruments by separate marketing and distribution. And, although, statistical measures have been used to supply as accurate a table as we are able, it is still constructed mathematically, and though various resources have been used to further accuracy, sources have not been exhaustive, so some error is likely. Like most serial number lists, this is a constructed table.
This list is intended to be used only with brass instruments as it appears that a separate sequence was used for woodwinds. Pan American Serial Number List Horn-u-Copia An Index to Pan American Instruments