Interesting photos
Photos taken by Will Connell in the early 1930’s of instruments and technicians used in catalogs and brochures
According to information supplied by Dale Olson, Trumpet 144 was delivered on August 29, 1929. It was built with a valve, leadpipe, and bell size of LM. It was originally a finish #1 (polished brass), and was initially sold to a Wm. Pohle.
Dale Olson has provided the following information on Olds Trumpet 145. It was delivered on August 30, 1929 (internal factory order #55), with valve, bell, and lead pipe sized at LM, with finish #2 (either satin silver or burnished silver), and was sold to a Mr. Sorensen.
According to data supplied by Dale Olson, this horn was delivered by Olds on August 29, 1929 (internal orders #51 and 72) to Kline Music. It was built with a LM lead pipe, bell, and valve section, with a 3 1/2 finish (deluxe burnished gold).
The above picture of two The Olds trumpets was provided by Robb Stewart. The top one is the earliest Olds trumpets (#129) and Robb’s below (#396). Notice the valve caps like #144.
Home of F. E. Olds:
Above is a photo is of the house that F.E. and Daisy Olds purchased in the early 1920’s. Reg Olds continued to live there with his mother and wife after the death of F.E.. They probably lived there until the 1950’s. Photo provided by Ollie Mitchell, (the son of the legendary Harold Mitchell), sent to me by Robb Stewart.
F.E.Olds and his first lathe:
The original precision lathe owned by F. E. Olds! The picture on the above left shows F. E. Olds at his lathe. On the right, the new owner of that lathe, Robb Stewart, following in Mr. Olds footsteps! The lathe belonged to F.E. Olds and was purported to be his first lathe, built before 1912. He was very proud of this small machine, since it was a very expensive precision tool from the early 20th Century. Long after his death, in about 1950, F.A. Reynolds noticed this machine being used to sand parts and realized its importance as a tool and artifact. He gave it to Walter (Bernie) Marston at that time. Bernie made all of the Olds rotary valves from 1949 until about 1962 and used this lathe for some of this work. Bernie gave this lathe to Robb, knowing of his great interest in Olds history.
An “Olds” rotary trumpet made by Bernie Marston in about 1956:
Above is a rotary trumpet made by Bernie Marston made in about 1956. Olds was never serious about producing such a trumpet, but Bernie was a French horn player and fancied rotary valves. Thanks to Robb Stewart for this picture!
Two-Bell Ambassador Cornet:
Here we have an interesting beast! This horn is a one-of-a-kind, apparently designed to teach someone how to play softly! It seems to have been a gag gift built at the Olds factory from new parts (note the serial number of 000000).
F. E. Olds 2-bell novelty presentation cornet #000000 (1977): Key of B-flat, three piston valves, made from Olds Ambassador cornet parts; first and third valve slides of equal length; one bell (non-functional) facing forward in usual position; second bell (functional) positioned under bell bend and facing backward toward player; both bells engraved, “F. E. Olds & Son / Manufactured for Howard / 1977”; restored by Mark Metzler.
Thanks to Tom Meacham for the cool pictures of this strange creature!
Olds trumpet #416
This trumpet was sold on ebay in May 2023 and has an interesting history as noted somewhat in the eBay listing and fleshed out by Jon Patton on Brass-History.net