It is a little-known fact that the band instrument manufacturing center of the world was in Elkhart, Indiana, in the heartland of America. Elkhart, located in the northern part of the state almost to the Michigan border, is about 20 miles east of South Bend, Indiana, the home of the University of Notre Dame.
How Elkhart became “The Band Instrument Capital of the World,” is very interesting and intriguing. The man who started this empire of manufacturing band instruments was Charles G. Conn. He was born in New York in 1844. The family moved to Michigan in 1850 and then moved to Elkhart in 1851.
At the age of seventeen, Conn joined the Union Army as a drummer boy. From a mere private he advanced to the rank of captain. Later he was captured and sent to the notorious Confederate prison camp, Andersonville, in southwest Georgia. After the war Conn advanced to the rank of colonel, and that moniker followed him the rest of his life. He also received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Connlearned to play the cornet at an early age. But an unfortunate incident lefthis ability to play in doubt. He was injured in a fight in 1873 and as a result,cut his lip so severely, he couldn’t play the cornet. He was determined tocontinue playing so he made a mouthpiece out of rubber and silver. He called itthe “elastic face.” This became so popular that he went into business makingthese mouthpieces. This mouthpiece could also be used by people with an irregular mouth structure including protruding lower jaw, upper teeth(overbite) or general malocclusion.
French instrument maker, DuPont, asked Conn if he could borrow some tools to make some instrument repairs. Conn decided after watching DuPont that he could make instruments himself and in 1875 he developed the first cornet made in America.
Until Conn started production, most instruments in the United States were made in Europe. Conn brought skilled European craftsmen to help his domestic employees. By 1880 he had 80 employees. Conn learned the methods of instrument construction through experimentation and the knowledge and skills of his European trained craftsmen.
Instrument manufacturing rapidly expanded, and he began making other instruments, including some ‘firsts’ in the United States. In 1889, Conn made the first saxophone as well as the first metal clarinet and the first double belleuphonium. By 1893 he had over 300 employees.
Many celebrated musicians and band directors used and endorsed Conn Instruments. These men included the great John Philip Sousa. Sousa took his band on an overseas tour. Conn generously gaveeach member of Sousa’s band a jeweled, engraved instrument.
In 1898 Conn made a new instrument, the Sousaphone; Sousa himself specified how the construction should be made. The Sousaphone faces forward rather than up like a tuba. Facing forward helps in projecting the sound.
Conn wasn’t satisfied with justmaking instruments; he was also active in politics and publishing and in 1880 he was elected Mayor of Elkhart. He was elected to the Indiana General Assembly in1888 and to the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. in 1892.
He also bought newspapers andstarted his own paper in Elkhart, called The Elkhart Truth in 1889. During his time in Washington D.C., he bought The Washington Times and after his termin congress he sold the newspaper when he returned to Elkhart.
Conn, unfortunately, had bad luckwith his factories. At least three burned down and each time he replaced thebuildings with a larger, expanded facility.
The success that Conn enjoyed with instrument making did not go without notice. It generated great interest from other would-be instrument makers. It was not long before other men who started working in the Conn Factory branched out on their own. They honed their skills learned at Conn and went into business for themselves.
Other noted instrument manufactures in business in Elkhart during this time were: The Martin Company, Selmer, Buescher, Blessing, Vincent Bach, Artley and Peddler, among others. It wasn’t long before instrument manufacturing began to develop rapidly. Elkhart quickly became the center of the band instrument making industry; hence the name, “Band Instrument Capital of the World.”
Conn advertising was not at all modest. Unabashedly it proclaimed that, “The Conn company was the originator ofall-important improvements in band and orchestra instruments in America,”writes author George Riebs from Elkhart,A Pictorial History.
They said they were the “Proprietor of the largest and best equipped factory in theworld for the manufacture of high-grade musical instruments.” Instruments madeby C.G. Conn were used and endorsed by all the great soloists and band masters in America.
Years went by and the instrument companies did quite well in Elkhart. But, as things sometimes do, changes usually occur. Because of a shortage of funds Conn sold the instrument company and The Elkhart Truth to C.D. Greenleaf in 1915. Shortly thereafter Conn moved to California, without his wife and daughter. He subsequently divorced his wife, married Suzanne Cohn and at the age of 70 fathered a son!
Conn lived until 1931 and died atthe age of 86. He died too destitute to pay for his own funeral. He led a“rags-to-riches to rags” life.
Although the early companies are gone, instrument manufacturing still has a presence in Elkhart. Trade names and companies were bought and sold but what is left is United Musical Instruments; that morphed into Conn Selmer and other companies still producing a full line of band instruments. The internet lists all the existing instrument manufactures in Elkhart.
My wife, Jan (Janet Olsen), was born and grew up in Elkhart. She says that when children were in third grade elementary school, teachers did not say, “Do you want to play an instrument?”Instead they said, “What instrument would you like to play?” The Band instrument companies generously provided the schools with student instruments, thereby encouraging children to embrace music and learn musical skills that they could carry throughout their adult years. Truly a beautiful gift.
If you, or a loved-one, is interested inplaying an instrument, a gift of a musical instrument is a gift that will last a lifetime and give one great satisfaction and joy.
Sunday, December 16, 2018 at 3:00pm, the Danville Community Band will present A Christmas Festival at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville. Free concert and parking. Note: Arrive early as seating is limited.
Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net. Visit our website at www.danvilleband.orgfor up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.
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