Over the past few years I’ve dug through newspaper archives and found some of the most outlandish examples of saxophobia—and not of the Rudy Wiedoeft variety either. No, the saxophobia that I have written about involves the outright hatred of saxophones, and in some cases, the musicians that play them. (Check out the Saxophones Throughout History tag for a full listing of all the articles.)
Today’s little trip down memory lane is no less extreme, but rather than coming immediately from the post-sax-happy 1920s, this bit of historic saxophobia is from 1947.
For some reason, I had thought that by the end of the 1940s, the public furore had settled down, and that people had gotten used to saxophones and the sound that they made. Perhaps it wouldn’t be until the electric guitar craze really took hold, that fine, upstanding citizens would have another instrument at which to direct their anger. :scratch: I’ll have to research this some more to see if I’m correct in my supposition.
Getting back to today’s little bit of saxophobia, it comes to us courtesy of the Reading Eagle. Enjoy…
Source: Reading Eagle, August 12, 1947
Now in all fairness, saxophones weren’t the only offenders listed. Apparently the trombone, trumpet, clarinet, and vocal lessons were all offensive as well. But come one now, a urology clinic goes to court to get a restraining order because the “tremendous and intolerable noises” coming from the neighbouring music school are “endangering the lives of patients and impeding their recovery”. :wtf:
Really? Are they serious? “[E]ndangering the lives of patients…”? Are we supposed to believe that the saxophonists, clarinetists, trumpet and trombone players were in some way sneaking over to the hospital and beating the patients over the head with their instruments? Or perhaps they’re switching their medications? I’d love to have been in court to hear the hospital lawyer argue this. :blah:
Politicians were not immune to saxophobia, in fact, they spread it
This particular bit of saxophobia is among the most outlandish bit of hysterics that I have come across. It is right up with New York City’s Deputy Mayor, Henry H. Curran, who in 1939 stated that:
There is something about a saxophone that makes people either burst into tears or cheerfully do murder.
Capable of leading to cheerful murder, endangering patients’ lives, impeding patients’ recovery; saxophones were seen by some as dangerous implements, which must be controlled. I’m surprised someone didn’t organize lynch mobs, and systematically seek out and destroy this pestilence that had insidiously made its way into the homes and lives of good, God-fearing Americans. :rant:
Hell no… The majority of people were having too much fun listening and dancing to the sounds of saxophones in their favourites orchestras and bands.
Hi Helen,
This would be humorous if it were not so sad how it reveals the ignorance and concomitant demagoguery.
Peace,
paul
What I find so funny in this story, is that it was a clinic (hospital?) for urology patients. These are not what are generally considered the most critically ill patients. If it were say an emergency or cardiac clinic, then I could see the lawyers for the clinic making the “endangering the lives of patients” claim that they made in court.
It seems to me that this whole saxophobia issue, was part of the one generation’s backlash against another generation’s music. Is it any different than our parents telling us to turn “that noise” down when we were growing up? The saxophone appears to have become the symbol of this new popular music, and therefore the lighting rod for anger and backlash. Hey, all they had to do was wait less than a decade. Once rock ‘n roll burst onto the scene, the sax—and the music it came to symbolize—would seem oh so tame in comparison. 😈