blower

From this side of the Atlantic - I live in the UK - it would appear that the majority of American Brass Instruments were made in Elkhart. What is the reason for this? as an engineer I know that manufacturing companies start up where there is either skilled workers or raw materials. I have tried to find the reason for this on the internet but have found nothing conclusive, howeverI know that someone from the world of TM will be happy to tell us. I look forward to your answers.

rowuk

Some Germans had immigrated there and brought the trade with them.
Their brands: Blessing, Buescher, Elkhart Musical Instrument Co., Martin (by way of Chicago)

A Frenchman Mssr. Dupont helped Col. Conn get started.

Once you have all of these tradesmen living in the community, synergy takes effect! Elkhart also had a convenient railroad connection allowing convenient delivery of raw materials and pick up of finished instruments.

misty.sj

I am guessing that it was a combination of cheap land, being close to Chicago and Detroit for good shipping and cheap materials, and a central location. I think there was a Band Instrument movement of some kind in the early 1900's (isn't the Music Man movie based on that?), and it may have centered in the midwest.

Getzen and Holton are located in ElkHORN, Wisconsin.

It also appears that several of the instrument makers started in the east and moved west (Conn and Bach come to mind).

Sadly the musical heritage in Elkhart is fading fast. I do believe there are still companies doing metal plating, and I think Conn still has a factory there.

The Blessing retail operation is actually in Mishawaka, and the Woodwind and Brasswind retail operation is on the north side of South Bend, close to the Michigan line. I live and work right in this area (slightly south of Elkhart).

ecarroll

Not unlike http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markneukirchen

Best,
EC

misty.sj

EC: I have a violin made in Markneukirchen for the Sears & Roebuck Co. in the 1930's. It's a damned fine instrument for the price I paid. And it was definitely for the bottom-of-the-rung market. We've come a long way with our "cheap merchandise" I think. The quality of the wood and varnish are fantastic considering how much the instrument probably sold for new!

Jude

A minor point: Conn started in Elkhart because that's where C.G. Conn was living at the time. He was a cornet player and got a busted lip in a fight. He invented a rubber-cushioned mouthpiece to make playing more comfortable and was soon persuaded to go into manufacturing instruments. The Eastern connection goes back to his purchase of the Fiske company in Worcester, Mass. around 1890 in order to acquire the European instrument makers working there. (They made the first saxophones in the US, I believe.) The Fiske operation was closed down and production moved back to Elkhart around 1900.

stchasking

Elkhart, Wisconsin, Germans, Beer. They gravitate to one place. It was the beer.

The Music Man was written by Meredith Wilson. It is based on his home town of Mason City, Iowa.

The State of Iowa has a huge heritage of community and school music. The State of Iowa passed a law called, The Iowa Band Law, authorizing community's to asses a tax to support a city band. This law was adopted by other states. A band march was written also called the Iowa Band Law March. The composer was Karl King. This law was the start of a instrumental music upserge until Radio and TV killed it.

misty.sj

You're mixing up Elkhart, IN with Elkhorn, WI...

rowuk

Ed,
exactly! And right across the border (just a couple of miles)in the Czech Republic you have Graslitz (Kraslice) the center of the Czech brass instrument manufacture:
AMATI - Denak's Homepage
Horn-u-copia public forum discussing antique, obscure and out-of-production Brass Instruments
and many others!