Bing Crosby Personally Owned WM Frank Co. "American Prep" Trumpet Given By Louis Armstrong From The Crosby Estate - This is a WM Frank Co. "American Prep" trumpet, which was personally owned by Bing Crosby. It is said, the trumpet was given to Bing by Louis Armstrong, as Bing and Louis met in the early 1920's and went on to work together for almost half a century on stage, in movies, and on radio and TV. This trumpet was acquired in 1982 after Bing's death, when his widow Kathryn Crosby decided to sell some of Bing's personal items at auction (the auction was conducted by Butterfield's and lasted four days). Kathryn was met with much criticism for her decision, about which she said "Bing had six homes full of things. We have a very big home in Hillsborough that is still full of Bing's things." She said that she decided to have the auction due to the fact that she couldn't answer the countless pieces of mail from fans requesting something of Bing's (please see photograph of newspaper article discussing the auction). This trumpet (along with other Bing Crosby owned items) was previously on display at a privately owned museum (which wishes to remain anonymous due to privacy reasons). Please note: the trumpet does not have a mouth piece. Bing Crosby (1903-1977) was an American singer and actor, whose trademark warm bass-baritone voice made him the best-selling recording artist of the 20th century. He sold over one billion records, tapes, compact discs and digital downloads around the world. He developed a laid-back, intimate singing style that influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way, and was nominated the following year for his reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary's.