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Hi All.

Just wanted to let folks know that I had a chance to make a few mods and update the 1911 Conn Factory pic, page. I managed to lay hands on a complete set of factory post cards and thought they would be fun to share. So... enjoy.

http://www.oberloh.com/gallery/Connfactoryimages.htm


Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
http://www.oberloh.com" target="_blank

Thanks! Very interesting pictures.

Thank you for putting these pictures on your website! It's definitely interesting to see what the factory looked like in action 100 years ago.

The one of the helicon bending station made me

Tuba Guy wrote:The one of the helicon bending station made me

Funny how it takes three men to bend it into shape, but it only takes one school kid to bend it out of shape!

These pictures are really great to see. Dan do you per chance know who the postcard company was that printed the cards? Back in the day they usually printed their name on the card.

Dan-
Tremendous--thank you!
Regards-
mark

I wonder what the survival rate was in the factory and how many fingers, hands and arms were lost.

Matt Good wrote:I wonder what the survival rate was in the factory and how many fingers, hands and arms were lost.

I'm guessing about the same as for other industrial plants of the time. I'm surprised that there are so many of them and they are all sitting so close together.

On the positive side, they probably were allowed to drink beer with their lunch. A big meat sandwich on homemade rye bread and a dip into the bucket o' beer... Then, back to work....

Matt Good wrote:I wonder what the survival rate was in the factory and how many fingers, hands and arms were lost.

I'm guessing it wasn't so good, hence Local No. 335 of the Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, Brass Moulders, Brass and Silver Workers International Union of North America.

Tuba Guy wrote:The one of the helicon bending station made me

I wonder if that is my helicon they are making!!

ken k

windshieldbug wrote:

Matt Good wrote:I wonder what the survival rate was in the factory and how many fingers, hands and arms were lost.

I'm guessing it wasn't so good, hence Local No. 335 of the Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, Brass Moulders, Brass and Silver Workers International Union of North America.

Actually,
Unionization was not by force. In 1906 Charles Conn invited the Union into his company, he was the first in the industry to use exclusively Union Labor. He also voluntarily introduced the much acclaimed profit sharing to his workers in 1891. In my book, we was a good employer who cared a great deal about his business, his workers and his community. His successor Carl Greenleaf was a very good businessman but completely anti-union and fostered considerable ill feelings between management and the workforce that would later lead to the companies undoing.



Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
http://www.oberloh.com" target="_blank" target="_blank

I was merely implying that there was a reason that the workers unionized (and making a poor joke). That they were welcomed is to Mr. Conn's credit.

That is a great display, Dan. Thanks for showing it.

That would have been a very "modern" facility for the time - I have worked in places with equipment from that era so appreciate what can be done with it as well as its limitations as compared to modern equipment. In the end it is how you use it.

Your comments about the difference between management who do and don"t "care"about their employees certainly strikes a chord here. It's along the line of the time I spent working for Ren Schilke. He knew I didn't have a place to practice so he let me use his studio and paid me for the time I was practicing - testing the prototypes for the first Yamaha CC.
When Harvey rang to ask if I would go to Boston to study with him Ren told me he would fire me if I didn't accept the offer. He told me to get home and get headed to Boston - with an extra week's pay to help me get there. A year later when I stopped in to say good-bye on my way to Australia he said I really should have a bass bone to double on and gave me a brand new top of the line Yamaha. Not many employers would do that anymore.

Dan,

Great photos! Thank you.

The person testing the cornets looks very much like the great Herbert L. Clarke.

Frank

That might actually be Herbert L. Clarke testing cornets. He worked in this capacity for Conn from 1913 until about 1915 (between Sousa tours) according to the Pioneers in Brass book. Sure looks like him although if the postcards are from 1911 it would seem to rule him out.

Great photos that really make you think about what the workers went through in those days, (noise, chemical vats, all those belts, etc.). Imagine what a BAD factory was like....

Hi Paul,

I believe that is indeed H. L. Clarke in the cornet testing room. As a member of Sousa's Band, he would have been expected to play a Conn.

As I heard it, a personally signed letter came with each of the cornets he tested.

Bob

Dan:

Thank you for the GREAT photo display of the inner workings of the Conn factory.