Vintage Horn
 

A very good friend of mine came to the house Saturday evening and brought me a car-load of vintage musical instruments that were his dad's. He wanted me to have them, rather than try and sell the stuff, and I was amazed at the condition of some of these instruments. The lot included 2 french horns, a trombone, flute, clarinet, accordion, bugle, and several other smaller instruments. What I was most impressed with was a J.W. Pepper "Surprise" cornet. This instrument was manufactured between 1894 and 1902 in Philadelphia PA. The horn is in mint condition and the etchings on the horn are really cool. I believe this horn sold new back then for around $8 to $20 dollars. I also believe (this is all from researching on-line) that the horn is made from German silver. The horn, although tarnished when I received it, cleaned up very easily and looks like new now. Everything on it works and the sound is amazing.
Here's a link if you want to see it and here it.

Moon Dance - Pocket Cornet - YouTube