Conn Wonder Cornet in Bb

Serial number 19127
United States (Elkhart or Worcester), 1890

It all started with a split lip from a brawl in 1873. Civil war veteran Colonel Charles Gerard Conn was an active member of the Elkhart, Indiana “Brick Brown Band” and realizing the show must go on, developed a rubber-cushioned mouthpiece to accommodate his injury. Other players envied it, the word spread, and soon C.G. was in the manufacturing business.

Mouthpiece making led to instrument making, first a cornet and then others, with factories in Elkhart, Indiana and Worcester, Massachusetts and a workforce composed of many of America and Europe’s finest craftsmen.

The “Wonder” model cornet was introduced in the 1880’s; modestly hailed as “the only perfect cornet in the world”. John Phillip Sousa, Patrick Gilmore and Arthur Pryor were all fans, paying frequent visits to this American marvel of musical instrument manufacturing.

The model displayed here is a relatively rare “Presentation” horn, gold-plated throughout and ornately engraved. On the bell is the inscription “To Willie Beach from his musical friends, San Francisco, California, March 14th, 1890”. Most certainly a cornettist and very likely a band leader, Willie Beach must have been inspirational indeed to earn a tribute such as this from his peers.