St. Louis, Missouri
John E. Maier  

Brass, Mother-of-Pearl
ca 1972 C.E.
Length: 15.25 in, Bell diameter: 4.75 in
Wind Instruments – Brasswinds – Trumpets

In 1973, John E. Maier, a high school humanities teacher at Jennings High School was featured with his wide and wild collection of horns of dubious origins including this multi-bell trumpet, which he called the Hungarian Officer’s Korps Signal Horn, on the CBS “On the Road with Charles Kuralt.”  In the show Mr. Maier demonstrated on this multi-bell trumpet.  John Maier also authored, “Bizarre Brass of Four Milleniums or, Arcane Artifacts and Indigenous Instruments.”(1982)

This functioning trumpet he called the Hungarian Officers Korps Signal (HOK) Horn has six bells, each with an individual valve, played with both hands at the same time and held with both thumbs.