I have seen three basic types of Columbia wooden horn and I believe that
there were three basic price levels. When new, the most expensive was the
large smooth type. Next in price was the horn the collectors sometime
refer to as as "Columbia spear tip" horn. When you have the opportunity,
look for a very large seam on the side of one of these horns. The first
time that I saw one of these horns, I thought it was a somewhat crude
repair. The seam is actually correct as the horn was basically made from
one piece of veneer, wrapped around, and joined at the seam. Picture
this...look at your hand and spread your fingers as far as possible trying
to touch your thumb to your little finger. That is basically what Columbia
did filling the gaps with other wood creating the spear tip look. The
lease expensive wooden Columbia horn was the scalloped type. You see these
with and without a bit of trim at the edge. My best guess is that these
scalloped horns, made mainly out of solid wood, were subject to immediate
warping. The trim pieces were designed to lessen the chances of warping.
If that is true, the earliest were plain and the later ones had the trim
pieces.
I have seen three sizes of Columbia nickel horn. The most common is
the middle size which would be correct for a BI. I don't think any are
"rare" (unless you are trying to find one!) but maybe "unusual" is more
accurate. I think a really nice nickel horn is truely beautiful and
compliments Columbia's equally attractive cabinets. As a side note...I
consider myself a second generation collector even though I have collected
30+ years. As a generality, first generation collectors were not too
interested in even the fancy uprights and sometimes Columbia horn machines.
As a result, I have some fine machines that were purchased a good prices!
Happy Collecting, Jerry Blais
