M1892 Marine Corps Band Tunic

[USMC8287]

Recently acquired this doubled named tunic. Since its USMC, falls during Souza's era, and the Spanish American War it checks off all of the boxes to fit great with my S.A.W. collection. It is has a seen honest wear, and the provenance links it to Cuba and Vera Cruz. Depot, and manufacture marked. The first veteran is named - Wm Dietrich. Tracked him to US Army 9th Infantry Band which was at Battle of San Juan Hill, but nothing after that. Then A. Vaccaro in 1910 USS Nebraska. Trying to understand why an Army private would end up with the tunic, and how long did they use the M1892 style. I can not seem to find a lot on these tunics, besides they seem to be pretty scarce(?). There is a lot more digging history wise. I am a purist like most of us are, so I am not going to try and remove the stains. This came out of a very well known collection, so no doubts on the authenticity. If you have any feedback please feel free to reach out. 

Thank you for looking! 

[CAC1901]

Great piece and great looking! The Dietrich name in it would likely be his post Army service in the Marines. (or prior service maybe?) Not super rare to see this. That he was in the 9th Infantry band suggests its the same guy. Army bands were authorized to get loose with uniform regs, but a USMC tunic is going too far! 

[warguy]

Very nice. I love the band stuff myself as I am an amateur musician (trumpet). I am envious of your uniform and have always wanted to grab one of these for my Marine collection. Thought you might be interested to see a cornet I picked up last year at a local antique shop that I am in the process of renovating. It dates to the Sousa period. I also included  a distant shot of my USMC Span Am drum on display. Someday I hope to add a uniform like yours. Congrats, and thanks for sharing.