{"id":51785,"date":"2022-03-30T10:29:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T17:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=51785"},"modified":"2022-03-31T09:00:12","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T16:00:12","slug":"lp-boosey-co-eb-alto-keyed-to-low-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2022\/lp-boosey-co-eb-alto-keyed-to-low-b\/","title":{"rendered":"LP Boosey & Co. Eb alto keyed to low B"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
Internet findings<\/a><\/td>\nFindings from colleagues<\/a><\/td>\nBoosey & Co. sax production<\/a><\/td>\nFacts<\/a><\/td>\nAssumptions<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Educated guesses<\/a><\/td>\nMore photos<\/a><\/td>\nConclusions<\/a><\/td>\nFurther [likely useless] sources<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\"antique<\/a>
Boosey & Co. alto sax # 20709<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I do a bit of work for Matterhorn Music as the shop\u2019s Education Rep\u2014and whatever other odd jobs come along. Included in this list of odd jobs, is vintage saxophone identification.<\/p>\n

Whenever odd, rare, or unusual saxophones come in, David calls and lets me know. Quite often I’m asked to provide my expertise on the oddities, such as with this week’s offering: an antique Boosey & Co. Eb alto with a double octave key mechanism. <\/p>\n

Now without looking at any of the other photos included in this article, a couple of things should immediately pop out at you: the bell is too short, and it has no rollers.<\/a><\/p>\n

Internet research turned up scant amounts on saxophone production at Boosey& Co. <\/h3>\n

In total I spent the better part of a day researching both the Boosey Co. and their saxophones. What did I come up with? Very little I’m afraid. <\/p>\n

I did however, find that in 2016, a woman in Australia had exactly the same horn<\/a>\u2014only in really bad condition\u2014and was looking for information about it. She posted to all the same sax discussion boards that I have been a member of for 20+ years now. (Apparently I even replied to her<\/a>.) The information she was given should have been a warning to me, but I persisted because, well, I’m a diehard. \ud83d\ude06 <\/p>\n

A quick trip to the current Boosey & Hawkes website’s company history page<\/a> tells us very little. It states Boosey & Co. was founded in 1792, when John Boosey opened up a lending library on Old Bond Street.<\/p>\n

This family business stayed the course until 1850, when John Boosey’s great grandson\u2014also named John\u2014expanded the company’s offerings to become a purveyor of both music and instruments by manufacturing woodwind and brass winds. Then in 1930, Boosey & Co. joined with Hawkes & Sons to form Boosey & Hawkes.<\/a><\/p>\n

Vintage sax specialists\/players say what?<\/h3>\n

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”Stephen Howard” link=”” color=”#0040FF” class=”” size=””]I don’t really have much to say about the old Boosey.
\nHorns that old (down to low B, double octave keys) tend to fall below the radar – unless they’re original Adolphe saxes.
\nNo-one really wants them, and they’re not worth much more than scrap value (or ‘wall-hanger’ value).[\/perfectpullquote]<\/p>\n

A couple of carefully crafted posts on popular saxophone discussion boards and Facebook groups added a bit more information, but sadly didn’t unearth a Boosey, or even a British saxophone expert who specialized in anything this old. However, a very useful post to my thread on the UK’s Cafe Saxophone forum<\/a>, did provide me with a PhD dissertation on the Boosey & Hawkes company<\/a>. (More on that below.)<\/p>\n

I had hoped maybe well-known tech from England, Stephen Howard, might be able to shed some light on this mysterious horn. But alas, he could offer very little as well.<\/p>\n

The fact is, these old-timers are simply just not of enough interest to saxophone players, techs, or even saxophone historians. Unless a saxophone this old was made by Adolphe Sax himself, it is simply an antique, and not worthy of attention, let alone restoration.<\/p>\n

Lack of value aside, by this time I had invested too much time into a saxophone that wasn’t mine; was never going to be mine; and simply put, just wasn’t worth it. Therefore I decided I might as well make an article out of it to make it worthwhile, and hopefully someone else will find this research helpful down the road.<\/a><\/p>\n

The history of Boosey & Co. and its saxophone production<\/h3>\n

As noted above, I was pointed in the direction of a PhD dissertation by Jocelyn Howell<\/a>, titled: Boosey & Hawkes: The rise and fall of a wind instrument manufacturing empire<\/em>. Chapter 3 in this dissertation is dedicated to Boosey & Co., and in it I did find some information that could be seen as helpful in the history of antique Boosey & Co. saxophones. <\/p>\n

One thing I did note is that like their flute cousins, saxophones seem to be have been seen as other<\/em>. They seemed to be neither fish nor fowl<\/em>, and how Boosey & Co. categorized them is rather unclear.<\/p>\n

There are dates given for when flute production started at Boosey & Co. (1856)1<\/sup><\/a>. When it comes to woodwinds, this is how they were described:<\/p>\n

However, it is improbable that Boos\u00e9\u2019s clarinets and bassoons were made in Holles Street as Boosey did not commence reed manufacture until 1879.2<\/a> <\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then a little further in the dissertation, we find this:<\/p>\n

When B&Co. opened its factory at Frederick Mews in 1876, only the brass manufacturing operations from Holles Street and the newly acquired Distin business were relocated there. Flute making did not move from Red Lion Yard until July 1879; however, the workshop there was retained and continued to be used until around 1881. Reed instrument production commenced four months later with the first recorded order for a clarinet on 13 August. The 1892 catalogue states that \u2018Boosey & Co. having for many years manufactured Brass Instruments and Flutes, determined, about twelve years ago, to complete their workshops by the installation of a Reed Instrument Department, in all its detail, for Clarionets, Oboes and Bassoons\u2019. 3<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It would appear that related to saxophones, Boosey & Co. took their first foray into saxophone production with the purchase of Distin & Sons in 1868.4 <\/sup><\/a>Boosey & Co. and the Distin & Sons relationship is described like this:<\/p>\n

As demand for wind instruments and competition for military custom grew, Boosey took the opportunity to ensure a dominant position for their business in the British band instrument manufacturing industry. On 19 June 1868, they expanded their brass making business by purchasing the successful company Henry Distin & Co….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Distin\u2019s company, a family firm, was established in 1845, at first selling musical instruments from their home in Manchester Street, Manchester Square, London and then in 1846 at 31 Cranbourn Street. At this address, from 1846\u201351, John Distin and his son Henry established Distin & Sons as a \u2018Saxhorn Depot\u2019, acting as the British agents for saxhorns, and from 1849, saxophones. In 1850 Henry took over the company, which was renamed Distin & Co., and within a year brass instrument manufacture commenced…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From 1862\u201368 the firm expanded into neighbouring premises, 10 Great Newport Street. According to Rose, by 1862 Distin had a workforce of 50 in their factory. Although primarily renowned for their instrument manufacturing, Distin were successful publishers of band music…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From 1868\u201374 Distin\u2019s address was given as 9\u201311 Great Newport Street, after which the business was merged into B&Co. The acquisition of Distin marked the first significant growth of Boosey, enabling them to increase and develop their design and production of brass instruments. It is likely that until this time Boosey had acted mainly as dealers, as the entries of instrument sales noted in the stock books are to bands and other customers, with only a few to dealers<\/strong>. [emphasis added] Distin continued to be run as a separate company for the next six years, at first retaining the Distin name. Many instruments in the Distin 1868\u201374 stock books are documented as being sold to B&Co. and some from the Boosey books are detailed as sold to Distin & Co.Charles Boosey (1827\u20131905), John\u2019s brother, took over responsibility for this department assisted by David Blaikley (see Appendix 2.ii) who was appointed Manager of the \u2018Distin Military Musical Instrument Manufactory\u2019 in 1873. In 1876 Boosey opened a new factory at 6a Frederick Mews, Stanhope Place near Marble Arch to which both the Boosey and Distin operations were relocated. This date corresponds with the discontinuation of stamping instruments with the Distin trademark of field trumpet with banner,<\/strong><\/span> [emphasis added] and full integration of product lines under the Boosey name. Boosey had also built 295 Regent Street in 1874 as their new headquarters and retail department, to which all instrument sales were transferred. 5<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is A LOT to unpack in this section, so let’s just grab the highlights:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. In 1868 Boosey & Co. bought Distin & Co.<\/li>\n
  2. Distin & Co. (at the time named Distin & Sons) began as an importer of saxhorns. <\/li>\n
  3. In 1849 Distin & Sons. became British agents for saxophones as well.<\/li>\n
  4. By 1951 Distin & Sons had become Distant & Co., and began making brass instruments (saxophones are not mentioned).<\/li>\n
  5. After the Boosey & Co. buyout of Distin & Co., each company operated separately under their own names for 6 years.<\/li>\n
  6. The addition of Distin & Co. would have allowed Boosey & Co. to finally expand its own design and production of brass instruments for the lucrative military market.<\/li>\n
  7. In 1874 Boosey built 295 Regent St. for their headquarters and retail centre.<\/li>\n
  8. In 1876 Boosey & Co. open up a new factory that combined both the Boosey and Distin productions. <\/li>\n
  9. 1876 the Distin trademark of a field trumpet with banner is discontinued, and the 2 company’s product lines are fully integrated.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Boosey & Co. was an exporter to “the colonies”. (And no, Canada is no longer a British colony. We adopted our own Constitution in 1982. If you research the rest of these you’ll note that most of them are no longer “colonies” either. \ud83d\ude09 ) <\/p>\n

    Much of Boosey\u2019s early export trade was to India and the colonies. Many orders in the stock books are recorded from administrations such as Bengal, Bombay and Madras in India, Victoria in Australia, or Canada and the Consulate of Siam. Colonial leaders who purchased instruments included the Maharajas of Jeypoor, Jheend, and Mysore, the Nizam of Hyderabad, Governor General of India,Viceroy of India, Rajah of Mundi and the Govenor of Bombay. Many other foreign regimental bands played Boosey instruments including some in Toronto, Quebec and Hong Kong.6<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Where does this leave us re: sax production? With a lot of question marks. Questions such as:<\/p>\n