A Brief History of the Conn Company (1874-present)*
by Margaret Downie Banks, Ph.D.
Curator of Musical Instruments
National Music Museum
Vermillion, South Dakota
© Copyright 1997 by The National Music Museum.
All Rights Reserved.
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*Excerpted and updated from Elkhart's Brass Roots: An Exhibition
to
Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of C. G. Conn's Birth and the 120th
Anniversary of the Conn Company by Margaret Downie Banks (Vermillion,
South Dakota: The Shrine to Music Museum, 1994).
Conn's factory as it was rebuilt after the fire of 1883. From the
Conn Archives at the National Music Museum.
© Copyright 1997 by The National Music Museum.
Conn's remarkable success as a leader in the
Elkhart business community did not go unnoticed by the town's 6,939 citizens.
In 1880, at the age of 36, Gerard was elected the city's first Democratic
mayor. He resigned during his second two-year term, however, to attend to the
rebuilding of his factory (valued at $50,000), which was completely
destroyed by fire on January 29, 1883--his 39th birthday. During the year
preceding the fire, Conn seriously considered moving his horn factory to
Tiffin, Ohio, but was enticed both by popular demand, as well as an
interest-free, cash loan of $10,000, to remain and expand his Elkhart
facility. Thus, the city retained both the factory, which produced no less
than ten percent of all the goods manufactured in town, as well the ninety
citizens employed there.
The firm grew rapidly in the next few years, as demand for Conn's
new Wonder line of instruments increased. The popularity of Conn's products
was in large part due to endorsements by many well-known performers and
conductors, such as Hi Henry, Jules Levy, Alessandro Liberati, Frederick
Innes, and Patrick Gilmore. By the late 1880s, the company boasted that it
employed 300 laborers (many brought to Elkhart from France and England) and
that its factory was "the largest of its kind in the world."
Some of the famous artists of the late 19th century who endorsed
Conn's musical
instruments. From the Postcard Collection of
Margaret Downie Banks. © Copyright 1997 by Margaret Downie
Banks.
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Dr. Margaret Downie Banks, Curator of Musical Instruments
National Music Museum
The University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069-2390
E-mail: mbanks@usd.edu
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