1857—England: Henry Distin’s instrument catalog shows offerings of slide alto trombone and valve alto trombone in both E-flat and F (Myers, Horn Function 250).
c. 1860—New York: John F. Stratton offers two different models of “E-flat Alto Trombone” in his musical instrument catalog, one under the heading of “J. Latour Paris, France,” and another under the heading of “Stratton’s ‘Concerto’ Band Instruments” (University of California, Santa Barbara Romaine Collection).
c. 1860—New York: In a catalog labeled “Appendix to our Musical Merchandise Catalogue,” John F. Stratton offers an “E-flat Alto Trombone” under the category of “Stratton ‘Concerto’ Trombones.” Pictured is an engraving of a valve alto trombone that is shorter than the B-flat tenor pictured (University of California, Santa Barbara Romaine Collection).
1878—Chicago, Illinois: Lyon & Healy, an instrument distributor and manufacturer, includes an alto valve trombone, specifically labeled an E-flat instrument, in its commercial catalog (see below image; public domain) (Lyon & Healy 1878, p. 23).
1878—Paris, France: A catalog from Jérome Thibouville-Lamy, French instrument manufacturer and distributor, offers alto valve trombones in F and E-flat (Thibouville 1878, p. 130).
*1878—Paris, France: The Gautrot Aine catalog offers alto trombone pitched in F and E-flat, both slide and valve (see below images; public domain).
1880—New York: The catalog for Busch & Dodworth’s “Band Instrument” holdings indicates that the manufacturers offer a valve alto trombone pitched in E-flat. Notice that the below image says “Same Model in E-flat pitch, same as E-flat alto” (see below image; public domain) (Busch & Dodworth 13).
1880—Chicago, Illinois: Lyon & Healy, an instrument distributor and manufacturer, includes 2 alto valve trombone models in its catalog. Both are labeled as E-flat instruments (see below image; public domain) (Lyon & Healy 1880, 33).
1884—Boston, Massachusetts: John C. Haynes & Co. publishes its Illustrated Catalogue of Musical Instruments. Included among the trombone holdings is an alto trombone, specified as an E-flat instrument (see below image; public domain) (Haynes 1884, p. 43).
c. 1885—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A catalog of the Henry Distin Manufacturing Co. labeled A Complete Line of Highest Grade Band Instruments & Cornets offers an E-flat Alto Valve Trombone. The tenor instrument, in contrast, is listed as being in B-flat (Distin, Complete Line) (University of California Santa Barbara Romaine Trade Catalog Collection).
1885—London, England: A price list for London manufacturer Silvani & Smith lists slide alto trombones in E-flat and F. Also offered are B-flat tenor (both slide and valve) and G bass (both slide and valve) (University of California Santa Barbara Romaine Trade Catalog Collection).
1886—New York: An “Illustrated Catalogue” for C. Bruno & Son offers three different E-flat alto valve trombones (“Style A,” “Style B,” and “Style C”), as well as a slide alto trombone in E-flat (see below 4 images; public domain) (Bruno 17, 31, 52-53).
1887—Paris, France: A catalog from manufacturer Jérome Thibouville-Lamy targeting “American patrons” includes 3 different valve alto trombones, all pitched in the key of E-flat (one each under the categories of “Good Ordinary Quality,” “First Quality,” and “Superior Quality”) (University of California Santa Barbara Romaine Trade Catalog Collection).
*1887—Boston, Massachusetts: The catalog for Boston Musical Instruments offers E-flat alto trombone, both slide and valve, in both brass and “German silver” (see below image; public domain).
1888—Paris, France: François Sudre offers valve alto trombone in his catalogue. The catalogue specifies that the instrument is pitched in e-flat (see below image; public domain) (Sudre, July 1888, p. 3).
*1890—Neukirchen/Wildstein, Bohemia: The Hermann Trapp catalog offers alto trombone pitched in E-flat (see below image; public domain).
*1894—Markneukirchen, Germany: The Paul Stark catalog offers slide and valve alto trombones pitched in E-flat and F (see below image; public domain).
1894—Chicago, Illinois: The catalog for Lyon & Healy, an instrument distributor and manufacturer, advertises numerous valve alto trombones, all specified as E-flat instruments. Several bear a resemblance to valve alto trombones offered by other US distributors during the same time period, such as Montgomery Ward and Sears & Roebuck (see 1895, 1897) (Lyon & Healy 1894, 35, 39, 43, 50, 662). In addition, the catalogue offers a slide alto trombone in E-flat, not pictured (Lyon & Healy 1894, 53).
*1894—Markneukirchen, Germany: The Schuster & Co. catalog offers alto trombone pitched in E-flat (see below image; public domain).
1895—Wildstein, Bohemia (Czech Republic): Hermann Trapp’s musical instrument catalog, 12th edition, offers alto trombones in both F and E-flat (University of California Santa Barbara Romaine Trade Catalog Collection).
1895—Chicago, Illinois: The popular and widely-distributed Montgomery Ward mail order catalogue includes offerings of 2 different types of valve alto trombones, the first under the subheading of “German Piston Valves” and the other under the subheading of “Improved French Piston Instruments.” Both alto trombones are listed as E-flat instruments (see below; public domain) (Montgomery Ward 249).
1897—Boston, Massachussetts: The John C. Haynes Catalog offers an E-flat alto valve trombone under the label “Hileron.” Under the label “Special,” their least expensive brand, they also offer an E-flat alto valve trombone (University of California Santa Barbara Romaine Trade Catalog Collection).
1897—Königgrätz, Czech Republic: The trade catalog for V.F. Cerveny & Söhne includes an alto trombone pitched in E-flat (University of California Santa Barbara Romaine Trade Catalog Collection).
1897—Chicago, Illinois: The popular and widely-distributed Sears & Roebuck catalogue includes offerings of 3 different types of alto trombone: one slide alto (according to the catalogue description, an instrument “by the leading French manufacturer”) and two valve altos (one of them “furnished with German silver mouthpiece, German piston valves, water key and music rack,” the other a very compact instrument with “French Light Action silver piston valves” and “German silver mouthpiece”). All three are advertised as instruments in the key of E-flat (see below 3 images; public domain) (Sears 1897, 530). The Sears & Roebuck catalogue continues to offer an E-flat alto in subsequent years (see 1900, below).
1899—Tilburg, Netherlands: Musical instrument manufacturer M.J.H. Kessels offers alto trombones in E-flat and F, both slide and valve, in his catalog (see below 2 images; public domain) (Kessels 1899, 23).
1899—Leipzig, Germany: A catalog of brass instruments for the firm of Julius Heinrich Zimmermann shows a fairly diverse offering of trombones, including alto (in E-flat), tenor, and bass trombones in both valve and slide models (see below image; public domain) (Moeck 106).
Late 1800s—Providence, Rhode Island: Music dealer Georg W. Bailey’s Catalogue of Musical Merchandise offers a Stratton alto trombone, labeled “‘Concerto’ E-flat Alto Trombone,” with options for “Brass,” “Nickel Plated,” and “Triple Silver Plated” (University of California, Santa Barbara Romaine Collection).
c. 1900—New York: Carl Fischer, who later specializes in publishing music, offers an alto valve trombone in his instrument catalog. The instrument is specified as being pitched in E-flat (see below image; public domain).
1900—Chicago, Illinois: The popular and widely-distributed Sears & Roebuck catalogue continues to offer both slide and valve alto trombones among its brass instruments (see also 1897, above). The instruments, clearly listed as pitched in E-flat, are manufactured by French manufacturer Marceau (Sears 1900, 277).
*1900—Lausanne, Switzerland: The Foetisch Freres catalog offers alto trombone in F and E-flat, both slide and valve (see below images; public domain).
