1942 Buescher cornet

Here’s a cornet stamped” Buescher TrueTone, made in Elkhart, Indiana”; serial number gives a date of 1942. Details such as flares at top and bottom of valves give a distinctive 1940s feel.

Ferdinand A. Buescher started as an apprentice for Conn in 1876 and by 1888 had become a foreman there. He later started a metal shop in Elkhart, which became Buescher Manufacturing Co. in 1894, then incorporated as Buescher Band Instrument Co. in 1904.

Buesaher had quite an innovative valve system around the turn of the century; more on that later.