Curt studying a natural trumpet in his office at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, ca. 1945.
History of The Fiske Museum
The Fiske Museum’s collections of over 1200 instruments of
all types started with the acquisition in 1954 of the 550-instrument collection
assembled by Curtis Janssen (1896-1952) from 1917 through the 1940s.
Janssen was a cornet and trumpet player who played on a substitute basis with
John Phillip Sousa’s band and participated in one world tour with this famous
ensemble. During World War I he began collecting as a Navy bandsman serving on
the Hindenburg Line in present day Poland when he traded a fountain pen for an
anonymous German bugle. Janssen taught two summers at
the Chateau des Bures in France where he purchased some instruments. During the
late 1920s he visited London and the Royal College of Music to observe
conducting classes and traveled to Bayreuth to observe the conductors at the
Festival.
Subsequently, Janssen became a band director at Kansas State Teachers’
College, and for eighteen years a well-known director at Ohio University
in Athens, Ohio. At Ohio, he taught a class in organology called "Instrumentology"
making use of over three hundred lantern slides of various instruments, a
library of notes from various books, and dozens of 5" X 11" cards of photographs
from magazines and various sources.
Many individuals have given instruments to the Fiske Museum since it opened in
1987, including those from Dr. Leon G. Whitsell in 1992; the collection of Sol
Kaufler in 2002; and the collection of Jack Coleman in 1997; and numerous
others. In addition, there are about 200 instruments on loan from schools,
institutions, and individuals. There are many historically significant American
and European instruments and several fascinating instruments from different
areas of the world. The Museum’s
web site includes a complete list of European and American instruments and
there are some photographs attached to descriptions.
Click on any of the images below for a larger version...
Curt studying a natural trumpet in his office at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, ca. 1945. |
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