| Conn saxophones began in Elkhart Indiana in the late | | | | Alto and tenor saxophones made their debut at the |
| 1880's, when a man named Gus Buescher made a | | | | 1893 World's Columbia Exhibition. This model was |
| saxophone at the request of sax virtuoso E.A. | | | | called "Wonder" and turn of the century military units |
| Lefebre, someone who had actually known Adolphe | | | | used these saxophones in their bands. Early |
| Sax, inventor of the saxophone, earlier in the 19th | | | | instruments were made in silver plate, with gold-plated |
| century in Europe. C.G. Conn was the founder and | | | | keys. Some were made of nickel plate, and some of |
| owner of the Conn musical instrument company, and | | | | polished brass. |
| some of his models from the early twentieth century | | | | The 1920s were Conn's heyday. The company was |
| are highly prized instruments that are the choice of | | | | making instruments that were considered the "gold |
| some of the top professional saxophone players in the | | | | standard" of saxophone design. They also offered |
| world. Not only that, but Conn's innovations with | | | | custom finishes and engraving, so that the instruments |
| saxophone design and production were highly influential | | | | not only sounded great, they were quite beautiful as |
| to other manufacturers of saxophones. | | | | well. After World War II, Conn made a few innovative |
| Conn was a shrewd businessman, too. He was | | | | models, such as the Constellation alto sax, which is to |
| elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1892. | | | | this day highly coveted by collectors. |
| There he introduced a bill requiring all U.S. Army | | | | The "baby boom" years of the 50s caused Conn to |
| regiments to have their own bands, with various | | | | focus more and more on student instruments for all |
| specified instruments. This, of course, resulted in a huge | | | | those new school pupils. By 1960 Conn was making |
| influx of military orders for Conn instruments by the | | | | student saxophones in Arizona, though professional |
| turn of the century. Conn probably wouldn't get away | | | | models were still made in Elkhart. They discontinued |
| with such a blatant conflict of interest today, but he | | | | making professional models in 1970, however. The |
| certainly knew how to keep the Conn musical | | | | history of Conn saxophones is rich and storied and |
| instrument company productive. | | | | would make an excellent book. |