Expert: Kenton Scott - 9/14/2008

Question
I recently acquired a Wurlitzer Pocket Cornet. It came with various attachments, but it appears that a couple of things are missing. Based on the holder holes in the case, it seems that there may have been 3 straight lead pipe extensions provided with it. I have 2 of them: one 3 1/4 inches long and the other 6 1/2 inches long. What is the other size?
There are 2 curly-q lead pipes: one marked LAB and the other marked SOL. It seems that there originally may have been 2 mouth pieces. I have one of them. It has the number 2 scratched on it. What is the other size?

Otherwise, the horn is missing the finger rest. There is a flat piece of brass soldered to the front part of the lead pipe in place of the finger rest.

The horn is engraved and is gold plated. I have the lyre. The case is mahogany.

Answer
It is certainly possible that the case is not original to the instrument, or may have been a generic case designed to hold different cornets of a similar configuration.  

It is possible that the horn never had a finger rest, some didn't.

It may also be that the bits/mouthpiece that are currently with this horn may not have originally come with it as well.  

Back when this horn was made, they hadn't settled on what pitch to tune to, and they wanted to design horns so they could play in more than one key.  So, they made these kinds of accommodations to allow the horn to be used in a variety of settings.