Elden Benge's Besson Trumpet
Almost everything that I know about the history of this trumpet I
was told was told by Irving Bush, so I asked him to write it down
for me. I highly recommend that owners of old instruments do
their best to document them. As each generation passes, the
accuracy of the stories connected with artifacts become less sure
unless we carefully document them. I believe that this is
important even with objects that have much less historical
significance than this case.
Irving Bush was a highly regarded professional trumpet player,
playing with many top big bands during the 1950s and joined the
Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1962. He had been a friend and
colleague of Elden Benge from the time that Benge moved to
Southern California. I've included a scan of Irv's story of this
trumpet on his personal stationary below, but here is what it says:
September 17, 2003
To whom it may concern:
The French Besson Bb trumpet, serial number 85419 is the
instrument played by Elden Benge, the first trumpet with the
Chicago Symphony under the direction of Frederick Stock. The
instrument was disassembled in Mr Benge's trumpet studio in
Chicago, Illinois. After Mr. Benge's death in 1960 in Burbank,
California, the trumpet company was inherited by Donald and
Ronald Benge and subsequently sold to the H.N. White (King) of
Cleveland, Ohio.
Prior to the sale, Mr. Lou Duda, the foreman of the Benge
factory and outstanding trumpet craftsman, painstakingly
reassembled the trumpet and presented it to Irving Bush.
Most modern trumpets were originally copied from the French
Besson and were manufactured from about 1885.
Sincerely,
Irving R. Bush
This trumpet has been so heavily polished that the bell stamp
needed to be engraved over to make it more legible, making it
look almost as if it is a counterfeit. Close examination does show
that the original stamped lettering is there. I have no way of
knowing if the heavy polishing was done at the Benge shop in
1970 or previous to Mr. Benge dismantling it 30 years before. I
can see that some of the parts are not original, but not all are
obvious. The braces between the bell and mouthpipe and first
slide hook are definitely Benge parts. The tuning slide crook
might be a replacement. The mouthpipe is an interesting case. It
has a seam as seen in all original early Besson trumpets, but the
same is true of Benge mouthpipes made in Chicago. Either way
the mouthpipe has important history. There is at least one other
Besson trumpet in existence that had belonged to Mr. Benge. We
don't know how many trumpets he may have owned before
making his own.
The serial number indicates that this trumpet was made before
1924. It is 19 1/2" long (18 7/8" from bell rim to bell curve)
without mouthpiece, the bell diameter is 4 9/16" and the bore
measures approximately .461".
was told was told by Irving Bush, so I asked him to write it down
for me. I highly recommend that owners of old instruments do
their best to document them. As each generation passes, the
accuracy of the stories connected with artifacts become less sure
unless we carefully document them. I believe that this is
important even with objects that have much less historical
significance than this case.
Irving Bush was a highly regarded professional trumpet player,
playing with many top big bands during the 1950s and joined the
Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1962. He had been a friend and
colleague of Elden Benge from the time that Benge moved to
Southern California. I've included a scan of Irv's story of this
trumpet on his personal stationary below, but here is what it says:
September 17, 2003
To whom it may concern:
The French Besson Bb trumpet, serial number 85419 is the
instrument played by Elden Benge, the first trumpet with the
Chicago Symphony under the direction of Frederick Stock. The
instrument was disassembled in Mr Benge's trumpet studio in
Chicago, Illinois. After Mr. Benge's death in 1960 in Burbank,
California, the trumpet company was inherited by Donald and
Ronald Benge and subsequently sold to the H.N. White (King) of
Cleveland, Ohio.
Prior to the sale, Mr. Lou Duda, the foreman of the Benge
factory and outstanding trumpet craftsman, painstakingly
reassembled the trumpet and presented it to Irving Bush.
Most modern trumpets were originally copied from the French
Besson and were manufactured from about 1885.
Sincerely,
Irving R. Bush
This trumpet has been so heavily polished that the bell stamp
needed to be engraved over to make it more legible, making it
look almost as if it is a counterfeit. Close examination does show
that the original stamped lettering is there. I have no way of
knowing if the heavy polishing was done at the Benge shop in
1970 or previous to Mr. Benge dismantling it 30 years before. I
can see that some of the parts are not original, but not all are
obvious. The braces between the bell and mouthpipe and first
slide hook are definitely Benge parts. The tuning slide crook
might be a replacement. The mouthpipe is an interesting case. It
has a seam as seen in all original early Besson trumpets, but the
same is true of Benge mouthpipes made in Chicago. Either way
the mouthpipe has important history. There is at least one other
Besson trumpet in existence that had belonged to Mr. Benge. We
don't know how many trumpets he may have owned before
making his own.
The serial number indicates that this trumpet was made before
1924. It is 19 1/2" long (18 7/8" from bell rim to bell curve)
without mouthpiece, the bell diameter is 4 9/16" and the bore
measures approximately .461".
Click on image for large view.
