The bassoon collection of the late K. David Van Hoesen (1926-2016), professor of bassoon at the Eastman School of Music, included an enigmatic Boehm-influenced bassoon (Fig. 1).2 The only identifying marks are an engraved name of Mackey and the date 1935 (Fig. 2), two small plates that identify it as being in Ef , and a rectangular label reminiscent of a bumper sticker with the legend: “Experimental Bassoon/Started in 1935/Finished in 1964?” Inside the case is a fingering chart printed on photographic paper titled “Bassoon E.Flat Boehm System.” Who was this Mackey and how did he come to make this unusual instrument?

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