"Trixie" Mute: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This mute was made by Humes & Berg Manufacturing Co., Inc. in East Chicago, Indiana, around 1970-1990. It is a "Trixie" mute, made of a plunger shaped tan and red molded rubber with a "D-shaped" handle on top. There is printed label:

NEW STONE - LINED "TRIXIE" MUTE, HUMES & BERG MFG. CO., INC. EAST CHICAGO, IND.

NEW STONE-LINED TRIXIE MUTE MFG. BY HUMES & BERG MFG. CO., INC. EAST CHICAGO IND.

This mute was previously owned and used by William Russo (1928-2003), American composer, arranger, musician, teacher, and founder of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. Russo composed more than 200 pieces for jazz orchestra. Throughout his career, Russo work included collaborations with Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Stan Kenton, Cannonball Adderley, Yehudi Menuhin, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Cleo Laine, and Billie Holiday.

Materials, dates and provenance

• manufacturing date: 1970-1990
• user: Russo, William
• manufacturer: Humes & Berg Manufacturing Co., Inc.
• Object Name: mute
• Physical Description: rubber (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 5 in x 6 1/8 in; 12.7 cm x 15.5575 cm
• place made: United States: Indiana, East Chicago
• ID Number: 2003.0162.08
• accession number: 2003.0162
• catalog number: 2003.0162.08
• Credit Line: Gift of Camille Davis Russo Blinstrub, Barbara Russo Evans, Alexander W. Russo, and Condee Nast Russo
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.