Conical Tin Ear Trumpet (Ear Horn)
This conical tin ear trumpet was sometimes called a "Greenwich" horn.
This example looks to be a homemade knockoff of one of the commercial
ear trumpets of like design. It measures 13" long. The bell opening
is 1⅞" by 3¼". Typically these ear trumpets were made out of tin
and had a japanned finish.
George Tiemann & Co. listed a conical tin ear trumpet in their
catalogue of 1876. It's price ranged from $2.25 to $4.00 depending on
whether it was bronzed or japanned. It seems it was a popular style of
ear trumpet around 1892 when the Down Brothers catalog listed a number
of different ear trumpets of this style ranging in price from 2
shillings, 3 pence to 8 shillings. After the turn of the century it
seems to have fallen out of favor, although it was still listed in some
British catalogs as late as 1928 where one fancy model (Greenwich Horn)
sold for between 30 and 63 shillings depending on the size and whether
it was mother-of-pearl or not. |
