I sent this to my husband who is a big Olds Trombone collector and amateur Olds
Historian. Here is what he has to say:
"I remember seeing one like it (including the squared-off levers) on eBay a
while back.
There are a few models that have full descriptions (not just prices) on the
1960 price list; the O-49 is one of them. The would indicate that the O-49 had
been recently introduced and had not yet appeared in a full catalog. It's still
on the price list in 1967, but does not appear in 1973. If I were to make a
guess, I'd say the model was probably dropped around 1970. Lots of changes
happening around then; CMI (the parent company) had become Norlin and the new
management was looking to cut costs (Zigmant Kanstul left the company in 1972
rather than deal with them). The Reynolds factory in Abilene, TX was being
closed down and all production consolidated in Fullerton, and Reginald Olds
passed away.
Without a serial number, it's impossible to precisely date the horn. The
location of the engraving provides a clue. My wife was two Geyer-style Olds
doubles; the one from 1959 (s/n 292xxx) is engraved around the bell rim; the
one from 1962 (s/n 414xxx) is engraved farther up the bell. This would seem to
indicate that the bell-rim engraving was phased out sometime between 1960 and
1962, and is consistent with what I've seen in Olds Opera trombones."
Kathy Lowe
Anaheim, CA
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