Dr. Frederick W. Collins (First National University of Naturopathy), a very thin person and Sigurd M. Raschèr


photo courtesy of Paul Hoskin

There are some clues here:

1) The First National University's info page concerning Frederick Collins states, "At the age of sixty-nine a student of the saxophone under Sigurd M. Raschèr, A.M., the world's premier saxophone virtuoso, who is soloist with the leading symphony orchestras in Europe and America." The page also list Collins' year of birth as 1873. This would put the date of study at 1942. (This is highly unlikely, given the rest of the clues.)

2) Look at the octave mechanism on Mr. Raschèr's alto, no "modern" teeter-totter. This is an early Buescher TrueTone alto (series 1 or 2), not his beloved New Aristocrat. (I believe the New Aristocrat was purchased in London, 1932, am I correct?)

3) The mouthpiece used by Mr. Raschèr is not the usual Buescher mouthpiece seen in most later photos. Check out the ligature, it's not upside-down.

4) Dorn Publications states that the 1st edition of "Top Tones" was published in 1941. Look at the photo from that edition. Mr. Raschèr is playing a New Aristocrat.

Some questions:
1) Where was this photo taken?
2) What year was this?
3) Who is the thin man?