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 7
½
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 |