Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is a rare uniform top to come across. This is an M1885 musicians coat worn by a member of an Artillery unit, most likely a bugler. The uniform itself is in wonderful condition and does show signs of faithful wear and minor moth nips.
The coat has all of the 1885 General Service buttons, mounted tail facings, and herringbone chest braid. The lining is in good condition, quartermaster markings are faint and there is the name H. Chaney written in multiple areas.
A great example ready for further research and display.
Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 9"
Shoulder to sleeve: 24”
Shoulder to shoulder: 14”
Chest width: 17"
Waist width: 16"
Hip width: 19”
Front length: 30"
United States military bands include musical ensembles maintained by the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Air Force, and United States Coast Guard. More broadly, they can also include musical ensembles of other federal and state uniformed services, including the Public Health Service and NOAA Corps, the state defense forces, and the senior military colleges.
During the colonial period, most British army units posted in the area that would become the United States had bands attached. The first recorded instance of a local American military band was in 1653 in the New Hampshire militia. The oldest extant United States military band is the United States Marine Corps Band, formed in 1798 and known by the moniker "The President's Own". The U.S. armed forces field eleven ensembles and more than 100 smaller, active-duty and reserve bands.
Bands provide martial music during official events including state arrivals, military funerals, ship commissioning, and change of command and promotion ceremonies; they conduct public performances in support of military public relations and recruitment activities such as street parades and concerts; and they provide popular music groups to entertain deployed military personnel. Most bands of the U.S. armed forces reconfigure into combat units during wartime during which they have non-musical responsibilities, including guarding prisoners of war and defending command centers.
Unlike Canada, the United Kingdom, and some other nations, the United States federal armed forces do not maintain any "voluntary bands", or bands composed of unpaid civilian musicians who dress in military uniforms. All U.S. military bands are composed of regularly enlisted or commissioned military personnel. One exception to this is the United States Coast Guard Pipe Band, which is drawn from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
