The Story Behind the Original Sousaphone

While I have researched and written extensively on the history of the Sousaphone, most often in The ITEA Journal, I thought it might be nice to get a simple, visually interesting summary of the story behind the original Sousaphone out to the general public - just in case you're interested. Enjoy!
All images are either public domain, due to their age, or from my personal collection. The J. W. Pepper company was very gracious in giving me access to their historical archives for this research, and special thanks also goes to the U. S. Marine Band Library, the Sousa Archives at the University of Illinois, the New York Public Library, the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, and newspapers.com.
The soundtrack behind the video features three of the free, online recordings of Sousa marches by the U. S. Marine Band - marches from the years that the Pepper Sousaphone was active in the band. They are, in order of appearance:
King Cotton (1895)
El Capitan (1896)
The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896)

[@RobertCoulter]

What a great video

[@brendanlyons9396]

Mr. Pepper’s Oom-pah pah
Mr. Pepper had a shop
On a busy city block
Sunny Philly was his home
And he made music all day long
In his workshop, Pepper toiled
Brass was polished, valves were oiled
Every day he did his best
So his shop stood out from the rest
He built and built and built some more
Drums and pipes and horns galore
Always with the closest care
But something still was missing there
Until the day Pepper heard
His dear friend wanted a word
A friend who had worldwide fame
John Phillip Sousa was his name
Mr. Sousa had a band
Quite well known across the land
Whose songs everybody knew
Loved by many, not by few!
But…
Something bothered Mr. Sousa
He could barely hear the tuba!
They played loudly as they could
But still did not sound as they should
To get more from his low brass
He’d need a horn up to the task
Of filling up the room with sound
Oom-pah, oom-pah, all around!
So…
He asked Mr. Pepper for
An instrument that could do more
One that could play loud but sweetly
And fit with his band quite neatly
Back at his shop Pepper tried
To make the thing his friend described
Night and day he and his crafters
Built up horns to fill the rafters
Horns with wrinkles, horns with spots
Horns that tied up all in knots
But nothing he made worked right
‘Til he had a thought one night
One quite simple yet quite bright
Stand the tuba bell upright!
Make it wider, wider still
Wide enough for sound to fill!
Fill the room great hoopla
Oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah pah!
Pepper brought his new invention
To his famous friend’s attention
Sousa liked the new horn’s tone
So, they named it the Sousaphone!
Since that day the Sousaphone
Has stood above the band alone
Tall and proud and full of sound
Oom-pahs, oom-pahs, all around
Over time others have tried
To make the horn that’s Pepper’s pride
Some are better, some are worse
But Mr. Pepper’s was the first!

[@davedetwiler2561]

Love it, Brendan!

[@brendanlyons9396]

@@davedetwiler2561 thanks Dave. Once upon a time we were going to publish that with Pepper. Covid changed a lot and it didn't work out.

[@loganjohnson8010]

Great music selection bro I haven’t heard this march since Milo & Otis. Rip the animal abuse tho ❤

[@davedetwiler2561]

The marches in the background are, as you might expect, Sousa marches, from the very years that the Pepper Sousaphone was active in Sousa's Band (1895-96): King Cotton, El Capitan, and The Stars and Stripes Forever.