Here’s a photo of an old cornet that I normally have hanging on the wall in my study. (Click on the photos for larger views.) I got it at a garage sale I think. It was so long ago I don’t really remember. It’s a scrap heap really — the valves are in really bad shape and the instrument leaks air so that when you blow into it, the sound doesn’t even seem to make it all the way to the bell — but it looks nice on the wall. I hardly paid anything for it.
Here’s a photo of the bell. I polished it off so you could see the etching on it. It says “C.G. CONN ELKHART IND AND WORCESTER MASS.”
Here’s the serial number, stamped on the second valve. It looks like the numbers were stamped individually. The serial number dates the cornet to 1887.
The elaborately engraved mouthpiece. It also has the words “Levy Model” on it. Jules Levy was one of the 19th century’s greatest cornet virtuosos. He also promoted Conn cornets. I found a newer Levy Model mouthpiece for sale on e-Bay for $75.
A photo of Jules Levy in the 1880s. It looks to me as if he’s playing the same model Conn cornet that I have, or very close.
Here’s a recording of Levy playing the cornet in 1903, the year he died. He’s performing a song called “My Own Make Polka,” which he also composed. He was a triple-tonguing whiz.
Classical Life 