Music & Musical Instruments

This snare drum was made by William H. Horstmann & Sons, In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, around 1830-1857. It has a dark-brown stained wood shell with a pattern of 64 brass tacks around the sound hole, and two skin heads. There are two black-painted wood hoops drilled with 10 holes each for rope which is laced through leather ears, used to tighten the hoops. The printed label is inscribed:

WM.H.HORSTMANN & SONS,
MILITARY FURNISHERS
No. 51 North Third Street
PHILADELPHIA

Hortsmann, born in Germany, emigrated to the United States and established himself as a maker of fringe, laces, and trimmings in Philadelphia, in 1815. William Horstmann & Sons were located at North Third Street between 1830 and 1857, manufacturing and importing everything from textiles and trimmings to military goods including drums, pistols, and swords. As the company expanded, Horstmann & Sons moved the factory to 5th and Cherry Streets and their storefront to 2223 Chestnut Street. Later the company would grow to two stores in New York and an agency in Paris. William Horstmann retired from the company in 1845, and his sons, William and Sigmund continued the family business until 1872.

According to the donor, this drum was picked up by a soldier by the name of Dunlevy from the Battle of the Wilderness, fought on May 5-6, near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1864.

This doctor’s bag, also known as a gladstone bag, was made in Italy, undetermined date. The bag was used by Duke Ellington on his many travels. It is made of black stained leather with brass fittings. The bag is stamped:

DR. E.K.E.

(and has a printed sticker):

DUKE
ELLINGTON

This violin bow was made by and unknown maker in Germany, about 1880, and sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is a round imitation snakewood stick with gold-tone metal face, gold-tone metal mounted bone frog with underslide, colored pearl eyes and rings, colored pearl slide, ebony button with two gold-tone rings and a pearl eye.

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog, sold as a violin bow (#6156), for $18.00 per dozen.

This violin bow was made by and unknown maker in Mirecourt, France, about 1880, and sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is an octagonal Brazilwood stick with an ivory face, nickel silver mounted ebony frog with chamfered edges, plain pearl eyes, slide missing,, and ebony button with two nickel silver rings.

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog, sold as a Tourte model violin bow (#6188), for $12.50.

This music box was made by Charles Paillard & Cie. in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1878-1882. It is a cylinder music box, with 6 tunes. The music box has a single-piece comb with 57 teeth. The cylinder is 6" long. The music box is spring wound by a ratchet lever.

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog, sold as a large size music box (#6852), for $29.00.

This banjo was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1880-1882. It is a Five-String Banjo with a rosewood veneer hoop, sixteen brackets, rosewood veneer fingerboard, and friction pegs. There is a medallion on the lower part of the fingerboard.:

J.H.F.
NY&C

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog, sold as a “Stage Banjo” (#6959), for $6.20.

Original Cast Album. This Is the Army (Decca A-340). 4-disc set. (album for 1988.0384.02-.-05).
78 rpm.

This album is from the Broadway musical This Is the Army, with book by James McColl, and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The musical was produced by the U. S. Army in 1942, and featured a cast of U. S. soldiers, for the benefit of the Army Relief Fund. The revue ran at the Broadway Theatre from July 4, 1942, to September 26, 1942, for 113 performances.

This organette was made by Autophone Company in Ithaca, New York, about 1878. It is a hand pressure operated model, with 22 free reeds. Accessioned with cardboard music strips (MI.68.13.01 - .25)

This instrument features U. S. Patent #211821, dated December 3, 1878, by Henry B. Horton, for improvements in mechanical musical instruments that play perforated paper strips. In the patent description the inventor uses the term “autophone” to describe the instrument.

This cornet was made by the New York Musical Instrument Co. in New York, New York around 1919-1921. It is a “long model” B-flat/A cornet, Regal model serial #4171, made of silver plated brass with 3 Périnet piston valves and has a quick change slide. This cornet is accessioned with an original rectangular wooden case covered with black leatherette and lined with green plush and satin. This cornet is engraved:

THE REGAL
NEW
YORK
MUSICAL
INSTRUMENT
CO.

The New York Musical instrument Co, started as dealers and importers in 1915 and later changed the name to the New York Band Instrument Co. By 1950, the company was out of business.

This music box was made by Charles Paillard & Cie. in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1838-1842. It is a cylinder music box, Serial #1923, with 2 tunes. The music box has a cylinder with a one-piece comb with 50 teeth. The cylinder is 2-7/16" long. The music box is activated with a key wound metal spring.

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog, sold as a small size music box (#6823), for $4.20.

This music box was made by Charles Paillard & Cie. in St. Croix, Switzerland, 1841. It is a cylinder music box, with 4 tunes. The music box has a cylinder one-piece comb with 51 teeth. The cylinder is 2-3/4" long. The music box is activated with a key wound metal spring.

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog, sold as a small size music box (#6833), for $10.20.

This metronomewas made by and unknown maker in France, around 1878 to 1882, and sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is made of mahogany, with Maelzel’s improved scale, and with a bell.

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This instrument listed in an 1880 J. Howard Foote catalog, sold as a metronome (#6801), for $9.00.

This violoncello, was made in Schönbach, Germany, around 1880. It is made of a two-piece table of spruce, two-piece back of maple with fine, irregular horizontal figure, ribs of similar maple, neck, pegbox and scroll of plain maple with brass machine tuning mechanism, and an opaque orange-brown varnish.

On page 54 of the 1882 J. Howard Foote musical instrument catalog is the heading: “VIOLONCELLOS, or Bass Viols . . . German manufacture, with patent heads: No. 6013 Best quality very fine model, excellent in every respect, brass patent head ... $24.00 each.”

To give a sense of the Foote sales of bowed string instruments, there are 13 categories of cellos in grades from $10.80 to $55.00 each, while in the larger violin group, 74 grades are listed from $16.00 per dozen to $210.00 for a “Perfect copy of Stradivarius.” Only four viola grades are described under the heading: “VIOLAS. Or Tenor Viols, also called Altos by the French,” from $4.80 to $15.00 each.