Armstrong’s Horn To Be Auctioned

How can you play an E flat on Louis Armstrong’s first cornet? Head over to eBay to find out. The cornet that Armstrong learned to play on as a child is being auctioned off at eBay.com, Oct. 1 through 15, by the estate of George Finola, who died last December. Musician and jazz fan Finola bought the horn in the early 1960s from the family of Peter Davis, the music instructor at the Color Waifs Home where Armstrong was sent after busting a celebratory cap in the air New Year’s Eve in 1913.

Finola had previously loaned the horn to the Louisiana State Museum, where it was on display from the late 1970s until the mid-1990s. But now there are Benjamins to be made: Sotheby’s predicts the cornet will bring up to $100,000 when it is auctioned.

Originally Published August 22, 2001