A Brief History of the Conn Company (1874-present)*

by Margaret Downie Banks, Ph.D.
Senior Curator of Musical Instruments
National Music Museum
Vermillion, South Dakota

© Copyright 1997-2009 by The National Music Museum.
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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).

Factory in Worcester, Massachusetts (1887-1898)

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.   © 1997-2009 by he 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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