Big news - "Big Carl" did indeed have a twin brother!

[Dave Detwiler]

Hi All,

Thanks to Peggy Banks, Associate Director and Senior Curator of the National Music Museum in Vermillion, SD, we now know that "Big Carl" did indeed have a twin brother! Here's a comparison shot of "Big Carl" in 1912; "Big Carl" a few years ago; and the exact same model and size horn, in 1942, that is not "Big Carl" (and yes, that's Adolph Hitler's face on the bell, which will make sense below):

Comparison photos of 8-foot tubas.JPG

I first learned of this possibility when I stumbled upon an article, written in 1912, and in German, that said that Carl Fischer had ordered two giant tubas from Bohland & Fuchs at that time for his stores in New York and Chicago. But up until now, I had not come across any confirmation of the second horn.

Curiously, however, the earliest reference to it is in 1936, when it was in the hands of C. G. Conn, Ltd. According to Conn, this monster enjoyed "years of useful service as a display horn at various conventions and Conn branch stores" - but it wasn't even built by Conn!

Perhaps that's why, for the sake of the war effort, Conn didn't hesitate to scrap the beast for its metal in 1942. The photo on the right above is right before the first blow of a sledge hammer! A few minutes later, the historic horn looked like this:

Big Carl's dead twin brother.JPG

[bisontuba]

Great detective work Dave!

[Daniel C. Oberloh]

So much history and hard effort lost for so little material, to aid in a just but miserable cause. Heart breaking, like so much that came out of that awful war.

D.C.  Oberloh

[doddyhop]

I wonder what was the purpose of Hitler's face on the 1942 Subcontra.

[Dave Detwiler]

I wonder what was the purpose of Hitler's face on the 1942 Subcontra.

Here's the write up that went with the photos of it being destroyed with a sledge hammer in late 1942 (the horn itself was built by Bohland & Fuchs in 1912):

1942-10 Ameri-Conn 1.9.JPG

[Dave Detwiler]

That's really not much help, more was probably lost during transit. Such a shame.

Hi KiltieTuba - not sure what you mean, but yes, it is a shame to destroy such a rare giant!