It's a bear!

Circa 1935 TIS Standard with Hand-Hammered Finish and Fluted Slide
Bore: .485"-.500" (12.3 mm-12.7 mm)
Bell: 7½" (190.5 mm)

This horn dates from 1935 or perhaps 1936 (bell s/n 95xx, slide s/n 93xx), toward the end of the run for the original Olds trombone (by that time called the Standard Model). In addition to the hand-hammered finish (an extra-cost* option on a Standard), it also has fluted inner slide tubes. Not "duo-octagonal", but actually fluted, as described in the 1935 patent (think of rifling, but on the outside of the bore). The more familiar duo-octagonal tubes were patented in 1938 (application filed in 1936). Olds filed the application for the duo-octagonal patent less than a year after the fluted slide patent was filed. Given my personal experience with the tube drawing process, I think the fluted tubes were just too difficult to produce (it's a tough shape to draw consistently); the duo-octagonal design would have been easier to manfacture. The fluted tubes allow this horn to be dated fairly accurately, as it was almost certainly made after the application date for the first patent (April 11, 1935) but before the application date for the second (September 1, 1936).

I've never seen any specific mention of fluted inners on Standard models in any Olds literature, so I'm inclined to think that the their presence on this horn is, like its finish, the result of a special order (though I can't discount the possiblity that they were installed later).The bell is marked 7½ LM, the slide carries only the serial number.

* Catalogs bracketing the date of manufacture for the horn give prices of $120-$125 for a regular Standard, with an additional $25 for the hand-hammered finish..

Overall View Front	Engraving Image 1	Engraving Image 2	Engraving Image 3	Overall View Back
	Bell Rim Detail	TIS Mechanism and Braces	End Bow