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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pages, may be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated or otherwise
used without the express written permission of The National Music Museum.
*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).
Instruments made between 1887-1897 usually bear reference to both the
Elkhart, Indiana, and the Worcester, Massachusetts factories, as seen on
the example at the left, from a cornet in the collections of the National Music Museum. Some
instruments made during this same time period only make reference to the
Elkhart plant, as can be seen at the right, on the bell of a double-wall
metal
clarinet made about 1895, also in the Museum's collections. Photographs by
Simon R. H. Spicer. © Copyright 1997 by The National Music Museum.
After fully recovering from the financial losses incurred in the 1883
fire, Conn publicly announced his vision of establishing outlets for his
products in various large cities around the world. His first business venture
outside Elkhart was the establishment of a subsidiary plant in the former Fiske
factory in Worcester, Massachusetts, near Boston. In December 1886, Conn
purchased the instrument factory of his well-respected, East-coast
competitor, Isaac Fiske, who was retiring. Instruments manufactured there
during the subsequent decade were marked "Elkhart and Worcester." At the
same time, Conn greatly expanded his product line, developing the first
American-made saxophone in 1888, importing French clarinets and flutes in
1885, and introducing his own line of clarinets, flutes, and piccolos
between 1888 and 1892. This was a period of high prosperity for Col. Conn,
as he was now addressed, after holding that rank while on the military
staff of Indiana governor Isaac P. Gray. In a voluntary move to distribute
some of the company's profits among the employees, Col. Conn introduced a
widely admired profit-sharing plan in 1891, distributing some $70-80,000
during the next decade. The Worcester operation itself was phased out in
1898.
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For further information, please contact:
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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