If you’re anything like me you keep your horn clean, but don’t really give the history of saxophone cleanliness much thought. This morning, as I was perusing Google’s rich, saxophone patent history, I happened across an odd one that made me pause for a sec and go: Oh, I never would have thought someone patented this idea.
What’s this idea you ask? Well our trusty, and in some cases crusty, saxophone swab with built-in brush.
This handy little device can be found in many a saxophone case. Yes, they’re still made today. (I bought a couple of silk pull throughs, with a brush and a plastic-coated weight, about 15 years ago from WWBW.) And if you buy a vintage horn, there’s a good chance that its case will contain a well-used pull through like this. Vintage pull throughs were often made of leather, like the KÖLBL Cleaning Swab of today…
So who invented these devices to aid in saxophone cleanliness? Well according to the patent, it was August Romao from San Fransico, CA.
August Ramao was granted Patent # 1,730,785 on Oct 8, 1929. Based on how the patent is worded however, Ramao was not a saxophone player:
One of the objects of the invention is to provide a cleaner of the character described which is small, compact and capable of being easily and quickly operated to remove dust and moisture from and to provide clean, dry surfaces on the interior of Saxophones and like instruments, thereby saving the valve [emphasis added] pads from ruinous moisture preventing spring rust and reducing repair costs.
Source: Google Patents
Last time I checked, saxophones didn’t have valves. 
This leads me to believe that this fellow might have given saxophone cleanliness some thought, but didn’t have any in-depth knowledge of saxophones themselves.
I won’t bother quoting any of the rest of the poorly-written patent, because you already know how this device works and what it does. I would like to include the original patent drawing however, because it is rather interesting to see how this device for saxophone cleanliness hasn’t changed much over its 80+ years… But then let’s face it, how much can a rag on a piece of string with a weight on one end and a brush on the other, change?
Source: Google Patents
Finally we know the person behind the mucin solution pull through.
Also it distributes the protein mucin through the saxophone which protects its inside against corrosion.
In the language of law, the word valve can be technically correct to describe a part of the saxophone.
Anywhere else it is wrong.
It was most likely the Patent Attorney who flubbed that one!
{some of them aren’t terribly bright}