Tag: taxi horn
Horns Attached!
Shout out to Jan who hipped me to a neat piece of kit readily available at most hardware stores. A ‘plumbing grounding saddle’ or ‘ground clamp’ served to get Jan’s horn firmly attached to their golf cart…
Here’s some close ups of a Pro Connex branded clamp I found locally. All the threads are 1/4″ course, so there are a ton of available screw types and sizes available for whatever application you might have. I’d also apply a little threadlocker on the screw that screws into the clamp.
In the photos I have the horn mounted at both the bulb and stem. The clamp itself has teeth, so I did notice some scuffing on the stem. Probably the best bet would be to sheath the stem with a rubber or plastic shim first.
Harpo Speaks!
Finally found a used copy of Harpo’s autobiography. A fun romp through early, poverty-stricken but full of get up and go New York Marx family childhood stories (Harpo was born in 1888!). Followed by years and years of pounding the pavement scratching out a living on the Vaudeville circuit. Finally a few breaks and steady theater success, and then Hollywood and the big time.
Here he details the birth of his trademark squeeze horn ( taxi horn). The show ‘Home Again’ puts this at around 1914.
A comment from Rachel Renban on another post, a poem deserves a spot on Harpo’s page.
Rachael Wenban
Since I see you’re a fellow fan of Harpo Marx, I will share with you a poem a wrote about him.
ANGEL OF MIRTH
Taxi Horns
Well known for its use in Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris’, I realized today I had no idea what in fact a ‘taxi horn’ was! If you Google it you’ll just get references to Gershwin, especially since the discovery that ‘we were doing it wrong’. (See my post here.) Consider that the horns Gershwin used were NOT what you’d typically find installed on an automobile by the manufacturer. (See vintage auto ‘bulb horns’, including many from French manufacturers here.) So what were they?
I turned to Google Books, sorted by date, and looked for references to ‘taxi horns’ from the early 1900s. Gershwin wrote ‘An American in Paris’ in 1928, and the thinking behind using taxi horns in the composition was to evoke the ambience of Paris.
Here’s what I think… In the 1920s, taxi drivers, especially in France, would sound a ‘taxi horn’ when arriving to pick up their fare.
The ‘rattle of wheels’ sounds to me like it could be a carriage.
The Man Thou Gavest
By Harriet Theresa Comstock · 1917
Theatre Magazine Volume 36
Published: 1922
Publisher: Theatre Magazine Company
About now (1940) the term is becoming ambiguous. This could certainly be a taxi’s horn, rather than a ‘taxi horn’. 
But maybe you know better, or have something to add. Feel free to leave us a comment. Thanks!
prince of chaos
pied piper
of pandemonium
curly haired muppet
speaks with hand jive
strumming dummy
sleeves spewing knives
fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me
grins like a cat
climbs like a goat
rumpled top hat
and magical raincoat
piano destroyer
a honking disguise
don’t give him the scissors
he’s got insane eyes
fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me
bobble-headed trickster
never says please
If he lies with your dog
he will give him fleas
chasing the chickens
all over the ballroom
wouldn’t know what the pluck
to do if he caught one
fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me
slip you a leg
for a handshake
while he’s pocketing
your green
cut your ties and tail off
most innocent thief I’ve seen
he’ll plop right down
on upon your lap
and slap you in the face
confessing his love to a horse
and the whole human race
fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me
blowing bubbles
free of troubles
he is our favorite clown
master of mischief
top of the props
he’ll steal the toupee
right off of a cop
silly
jolly
full of folly
i dare you not to laugh
the fastest fork
of the five brothers
always himself
not like the others
fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me
the train came chugging
down the track
and at a break neck speed
with jockey harpo
on its back
his nose was in the lead
rag-tag
mad man
peter pan
i’ll ride in your sidecar
you probably ate the gas tank
so I know we won’t get far
fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me
a blowtorch
to light a candle
burning at both ends
i promise when you get here
we’ll be the best of friends
i can make a gookie
I can climb a tree
I’d like to be adopted
into the family
fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistle
come play with me
my dear friend harpo –
i’ve planned our day, chock full of love happy with plenty of monkey business. first, after a day at the the races and a night at the opera, we’ll don horse feathers and go west, stopping at the big store for cocoanuts. spending a night in casablanca, we’ll order duck soup with animal crackers from room service.
sincerely,
professor pinky p. pinello