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Hi all - the J. W. Pepper company just completed a short documentary on the birth of the Sousaphone. It was great to be involved in this project, which relates to the research I did for my article in the current ITEA Journal, "Marching Through the Early History of the Sousaphone." It also features Steve Dillon, owner of Dillon Music, and Matt Walters, a.k.a. "The Tuba Whisperer"!

Here's the link: https://youtu.be/F5k5RG4EqK8

Enjoy!

Great Video--enjoyed it very much!!
Mark

nicely done!

Very informative, Dave, especially that the prototype was never played in concert. Now we have proof that the Sousaphone was not invented by Clifton Webb and Robert Wagner! Thanks.

I watched your video with great interest. I thank you for your passion. I recently restored a Courtiere made Eb helicon from the same time period. The valve buttons, lack of a thumb ring and general tubing arrangement is the same as the horn you featured. The number on your bell was 8800. Mine has a very similar number on the bell (8831). Mine also has the same J.W. Pepper logo but includes imported by as part of it. This suggests to me that Pepper used the Courtiere design as a basis for this horn.

opus37 wrote:I watched your video with great interest. I thank you for your passion. I recently restored a Courtiere made Eb helicon from the same time period. The valve buttons, lack of a thumb ring and general tubing arrangement is the same as the horn you featured. The number on your bell was 8800. Mine has a very similar number on the bell (8831). Mine also has the same J.W. Pepper logo but includes imported by as part of it. This suggests to me that Pepper used the Courtiere design as a basis for this horn.

Pepper had Henry Distin set up brass manufacturing in Philadelphia and was already building helicons in-house. The Couturiere may well actually have been built in Philadelphia.

Excellent video and great research. I enjoyed it very much.

Thanks for sharing.

windshieldbug wrote:

opus37 wrote:I watched your video with great interest. I thank you for your passion. I recently restored a Courtiere made Eb helicon from the same time period. The valve buttons, lack of a thumb ring and general tubing arrangement is the same as the horn you featured. The number on your bell was 8800. Mine has a very similar number on the bell (8831). Mine also has the same J.W. Pepper logo but includes imported by as part of it. This suggests to me that Pepper used the Courtiere design as a basis for this horn.

Pepper had Henry Distin set up brass manufacturing in Philadelphia and was already building helicons in-house. The Couturiere may well actually have been built in Philadelphia.

You maybe correct, however my helicon has engraved on the bell " F. Courtiere Paris imported by J.W.Pepper" above the number and the rest of the standard Pepper engraving.

24 Minutes.

A "short documentary"

Compared to Ken Burn's Civil War??

Yeah, OK.

I can't wait to see it when I get home!!

My compliments - very interesting video.

Thanks for the post -

Great job!

Very nice production.
Congratulations to all involved.
I wonder how much low brass R & D Is documented for JW Pepper
like the Monster Eb s with the tiny bore? Earliest 18" or 20" bell?

Wow the advertisement gives the sousaphone an actual birthday
Thanks
Joe

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

Joe, after numerous moves over the years, the Pepper company has lost much of its historical archives. And what little remains is in dire need of being organized!

What I was able to collect and preserve digitally are many of the Pepper catalogues and journals. Digital copies can now be found at the National Music Museum at the Univ of South Dakota, Oberlin College, and (soon, I hope) the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

I'd like to echo the sentiment. Excellent documentary and all.

If you'll pardon the vernacular, this is all wicked cool.

groovlow wrote: Wow the advertisement gives the sousaphone an actual birthday
Thanks
Joe

I missed the advertisement (or couldn't read it) all i caught was the October 14th, 1895 as the date on a letter, though it would seem that is a "no later than" limitation, rather than the actual birthday, assuming i understand it?

Always looking for reasons to celebrate...

humBell - you are correct. What we have is a no-later-than date of October 14, 1895. But while the actual birth-DAY is still not known, the birth-YEAR is basically settled - 1895 - which is 2-3 years before Conn built his first Sousaphone (introduced in January 1898).

And hey, "wicked cool" works for me!