Another unusual question on horns, this time on butt caps.

[Artificer]

Folks, I'm interested in not only what was/is authentic, but WHY something was done the way it was done.  So here's another unusual question I've wondered about before, but one of the recent horns showed in another post brought it to mind.

I've always assumed that the wood butt caps that are either right at or extend beyond the horn makes the horn less likely to split if dropped on the butt.  I'm comparing that to horns that have either the wood inserted in the butt of the horn and filed flush or sort of "humped" but the end of the horn still could hit a rock or something hard if dropped.   Original smaller bag, salt and similar horns do not seem to have the wood extending from the butt as pouch horns do. 

Is this because the etended wood butt keeps the horn from splitting should it be dropped or was it mainly or purely a matter of style, taste or era?

TIA, Gus 


 

[Randy Hedden]

I believe it was just style and not a conscious effort to prevent the horn from splitting if dropped.

Randy Hedden 

[LRB]

  I agree with Randy, but it is something to consider, although I prefer lip horns most often.

[G. Elsenbeck]

As Randy pointed out I believe it was more a result of style as opposed to trying to prevent splitting of the horn.   I also believe most salt, spice or other bag horns had flat or domed base plugs to fit into their possibles bag more easily leaving more room for more essential items,,,,,,,,like a rum horn.
Seriously though, most base plugs evolved from their basic function, which was just to 'plug' the large end to stop from losing powder, into the stylist forms you see that occurred during the 'Golden Age' of powder horns.  Now there were no doubts as you noted that a horn or two may have been dropped and had their horn cracked but,  I believe the majority developed cracks in the horn for other reasons.  Now if you're wondering why horns developed cracks in the first place perhaps that's subject for another thread? 
Gary

[B.Barker]

I think most flat based horns had lobes on them originally. The wood base I don't think would make a differance in splitabilty if dropped. I've had one fall on a concrete porch and crack. Don't think it would have made a differance one way or the other what kind of butt plug was in it. Although it cracked at the throat and not the butt. However had it fell on the other end it probably would have had the same out come.

[Top Jaw]

This is my own hypothesis, and while I think that it was probably a style thing too, the oversized turned plugs might have been a way to speed up production and still offer a little stylized decoration on a horn.  You could turn 6 at a time on a lathe of the same general size and they could be fitted to a wide range of horns because the outside diameter was designed to be larger than the horn diameter.  Then its just a simple matter of filing the inside shoulder, adding some hide glue or pitch, and pinning the end cap.  And the fit would not have had to be so exact as a rounded or flush cap.  Just my 2 cents.

Top Jaw

 

[Artificer]

Thanks to all for your thoughts.