1879—New York

Harper’s Weekly publishes John George Brown’s engraving, The German Band, which includes a trombone playing in the back of a small band on the street (see facing image; public domain). The description reads, in part, “The painting from which our engraving is made is also a faithful study from the streets of New York. The German bands are becoming a feature here, and there can be no doubt in the minds of our citizens that, if we are to be compelled to listen to music whether we will or no, at almost any hour of the day or evening, the brass band is a great improvement on the Italian hand-organ. To say nothing of the superior strains of music to which they give expression, there is rarely any likelihood that more than one band will play on a single block at one and the same time, whereas three or four organ grinders may inflict their discordant airs at once upon our agonized and frenzied ears” (Harper’s Weekly, August 26, 1879, p. 325).***