Fillmore composed a total of fifteen band pieces featuring trombones - popularly known as 'trombone smears' - between 1908 to 1929. Composed in 1911, Teddy Trombone was second in the series, which was launched three years before with Miss Trombone. Written in the ragtime style so popular at the time, the trombone 'smears' (glissandi) give the work a humorous character in keeping with the circus performances it was composed for. The new Serenissima Band Classics series is designed to offer band directors and others interested in this genre newly engraved authoritative editions which are prepared from the primary sources using the composer's original instrumentation, which is sometimes markedly different from that found in bands today.