YARD SALE BUGLE FIND WITH A TWIST

[Terry K.]

I got to go out this weekend flea marketing and on the way home saw one more yard sale. I stopped but they really didn't have abything. Just before I left I asked if they had anything military and they took me up to the house to show me a US WW1 medal that turned out to be part of a VFW 40 or 8 badge. As I turned to leave I spotted this one the porch. I noticed the makers name and then what was engraved above it. Hope you like it as I do.

 

 

Terry

[gooseandspoons]

nice find!!!!!!

[VMI88]

Very interesting bugle! It appears to be the same model as used in WW2 but with a 1918 contract date. I've never seen one like it before. Most of the 1918 contract bugles I've seen are the shorter "trench bugle" model. Here's an example of the trench bugle that I sold on the forum a while back:

 

[doyler]

Pretty nice

 

A friend recently found one at a yard sale.Its near mint and had a sterlin/silver marked mouth piece.

[gwb123]

Okay, I am getting blind with old age... is that marked USN? Or is it something else?

[Terry K.]

Yes it is. Like this,

 

U.S. N.

[gwb123]

Yes it is. Like this,

 

U.S. N.

 

All the better! Nice find!

 

I once picked up a fife at a flea market for a handful of bucks. I took it home and found the maker's mark... it was a company that had made them during the Civil War. I had no way to date it at the time, so I am not sure how old it really was. I soaked it in wood instrument oil for about two weeks, and that thing played like it was made yesterday.

[Bob Hudson]

Okay, I am getting blind with old age... is that marked USN? Or is it something else?

 

That is USN - it's the M1892 bugle and Millard was one of the official makers. The Boy Scouts adopted the M1892 in 1916 and the Navy in 1917.

 

That "trench bugle" is the M1894 Bugle: bugle use was very restricted in the trenches of WWI and the Army never called it the "trench' bugle. It actually was not as popular during WWI as the M1892, but it may be that more of them ended up getting dumped on the surplus market because it was not as good an instrument at the M1892. Unlike the M1892, the 1894 model has "no tuning slides and the pitch is not consistent between horns."

[doyler]

Looks like it was hand engraved after the fact.Maybe by the owner or the Navy???

[Terry K.]

 

That is USN - it's the M1892 bugle and Millard was one of the official makers. The Boy Scouts adopted the M1892 in 1916 and the Navy in 1917.

 

That "trench bugle" is the M1894 Bugle: bugle use was very restricted in the trenches of WWI and the Army never called it the "trench' bugle. It actually was not as popular during WWI as the M1892, but it may be that more of them ended up getting dumped on the surplus market because it was not as good an instrument at the M1892. Unlike the M1892, the 1894 model has "no tuning slides and the pitch is not consistent between horns."

Bob,

 

Thanks for the lesson on these. Now I know what it is. I would have thought it was a Model 1917 or something like that.

 

doyler,

 

I think the owner (bugler) hand engraved it, not professionally done.

 

Thanks all,

Terry

[doyler]

 

doyler,

 

I think the owner (bugler) hand engraved it, not professionally done.

 

Thanks all,

Terry

Terry

 

I totally agree and think its very well done and really cool.The thing oozes coolness.Nice pick for sure.

[Charlie Flick]

 

 

I think the owner (bugler) hand engraved it, not professionally done.

 

Thanks all,

Terry

 

Hi Terry:

 

I think that the USN markings on your bugle are original although worn. (98 years can do that to you.) I own the same Millard made Navy bugle but the markings are intact on my example. See the link to my post on it:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/259273-a-us-navy-marked-wwi-bugle/

 

Regards,

Charlie

[VMI88]

This is an old thread, but I thought I'd add the bugle I picked up recently. It's marked "The Buescher, Elkhart, Ind." with no contract information, but it's also been hand engraved with "U.S.N." on the bell. That's three that have turned up on the forum now, so it seems like this was a common Navy practice. Unfortunately my bugle has seen better days and is missing the mouthpiece, but it's still interesting.