Bell engraving patterns

"Marching Men" patterns

Note that the bell patterns here applied to cornets, trumpets, and trombones, although I use the cornet model number for convenience.

1971-1973 - Shooting Stars with Detailed Marching Men in arch

Early on, the 19A/21A recycled the old "shooting stars" engraving from the earlier 15A/17A Directors, minus the "U. S. A." of older bells, since the 19A/21A were Japanese-made.  The Marching Men retained the "detail" they had from older bells: facial details, uniform buttons, etc., plus, they were inside the "arch" from older designs.

It also made an appearance on some limited edition 6Bs made in the 1990s, with the original specs/tooling...

1974-1981 - Semi-Floral/"Floral Crown" Pattern with Simplified Marching Men in trapezoid

The new 16A utilized a new bell design, with a "semi-floral" pattern [as it was not extensive like Elkhart floral patterns] above a new Marching Men layout: the Marching Men were simplified [details removed, some "uniform" changes], and they were inside a simple trapezoid.  Below "CONN", there was a floral piece and "U. S. A." was re-added beneath that piece [I believe the 16As were made in Abilene, Texas by now].

1981-1990s - No Pattern with Simplified Marching Men in trapezoid/"Director" on bell

The 18A cornet originally used the "semi-floral" bell engraving, but eventually it became one of Daniel J. Henkin's new Director instruments.  The Marching Men were kept in the same trapezoid as the "semi-floral" pattern, but the "floral" part was removed.  Below the trapezoid, the word "Director" was added in a unique font, with "C. G. CONN, LTD. / U.S.A." below that.  Note that this is, to date, the last instance the Marching Men were used on a brasswind bell (when UMI absorbed Conn in 1985, the 18A was discontinued and the Marching Men were only used on printed ads/boxes/case tags until 2003, but the 20H was apparently being shipped with 18H bells by the 1990s).

^ The unique "Director" font was apparently a universally-used one for ads, bell engravings, and other purposes--note that the cornet and trumpet pictured don't have Amado water-keys ^

Model on Bell patterns

1971-1985 - "C. G. CONN LTD. / [Model] / USA" or "CONN / USA" and similar lettering on bell side

Similar to the lettering of CONNstellation bells and modern Conn Vintage One bells, the lettering was along the length of the bell in this format: "C. G. CONN LTD. / [Model] / USA".  The Swiss, Willson-made Conn 24A flügelhorn bell engraving had the double-struck "CONN" lettering with the small floral piece [see the lower portion of the "semi-floral" pattern] below it.  I have seen one 6B or 8B Victor from 1978.

1985-present - "[Model] / by CONN" & similar lettering

After Daniel J. Henkin sold Conn in 1985, UMI greatly simplified the bell engravings, changing the format to a large model number and "by CONN" underneath it in small lettering.  The Marching Men were still frequently used for labels, case tags, and other printed materials until the early 2000s.  The Conn 1B "Vintage One" trumpets use a variant of the engraving type here, with "Vintage / [offset] ONE / by C. G. Conn" lengthwise on the left-hand [holding] side of the trumpet.

^ The Conn 1000B bell photo is mine ^

1992-present - "CONN / [Model] / U. S. A." and similar lettering

New Conn student horns and some other less-promoted lines have "CONN / [Model] / U. S. A." on the bell.  Note that "CONN" can be either double-struck or ordinary lettering, although I've seen double-struck much more often.

"Conn International"

Conn began importing instruments in the 1980s and 90s, stamping them with "CONN® / [globe] INTERNATIONAL / [Model]".  This included brasses from Czechia, Austria, Taiwan, and Brazil.  The International series seems to have stopped in 2007.