Expert: Kenton Scott - 10/1/2009

Question
I have an old cornet in my possession and was wondering if you might be able to shed a little bit of light on it's age, quality, history, the manufacturer, etc.
It is a York "Senator" cornet.  Markings on it indicate it was made in Czechoslovakia and the serial number appears to be 502025 (the first two digits of the serial number are not imprinted as deeply as the last four, so are not as clearly legible).  It is packaged in a nice, suitcase-like hard case that's black with white stitching and has silver metal trim, latches and locks.  Both case and instrument are in remarkably good condition.  All slides and valves are in good working order.
What little I know about it is as follows:
In 1979, when I was 16 years old, I purchased the instrument at a garage sale for $25 and began to learn how to play it (trombone was my primary instrument a the time).  I had casual interest in it until I graduated from high school and left home for college, which ended my brief "musical career".  The instrument has been in storage at my parent's home for the past 29 years.  I just stumbled across it last night and was curious about it's history, age, the manufacturer and it's quality.  
Any information you can provide, or direction to other sources of information about it, would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time and assistance!  

Answer
The York company was purchased by the Carl Fischer company in 1940.  And although they kept the factory running until 1971, they also supplemented the product line from a variety of other sources, of mixed quality.  The Senator model was one that Fischer used for horns in the Fischer line as well, some of which are marked as having been made in Germany.