Jump to content

Another I.d. Problem For All You Experts


nkgibbs

Recommended Posts

You may have seen this instrument on e.bay. I thought that the shape was rather strange but have no idea about its age or whether it was made in Chicago by Italians or imported from Italy? Any input would be greatly valued. Thanks. Neil

Edited by nkgibbs
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neil,

I can't answer your question, but its worth noting that 'Sirolo' is a small town in the Italian accordion making region, near Numana. Whether this refers to the source of the instrument, or the origin of the USA manufacturer, I can't say. Its worth quoting this article from Accordion Review, December 1950 written by Prof. G. Pizzuto to give some idea of how extensive the industry was, and how it had spread.

 

THE HOME OF THE ACCORDION

 

Although many people are inclined to think that the accordion originated in Austria, it first saw light many years before in some other country but, nevertheless, we are still somewhat in the dark as to its real source even though Stradella and Castelfirdardo made the first real Accordions. so, really, Italy can be said to be the home of the Accordion.

 

For more than a hundred years artist-craftsmen have worked to achieve the perfection of the modern Accordion. Those first young pioneers came from the ranks of Carpenters, blacksmiths and even farmers; in fact, from all trades and walks of life. from them came the Accordion traditions which have been handed down from Father to Son. These sons in turn, devoted their lives to the instrument, emigrating to different parts of Italy and, later, across the World, especially to the New World - to America.

 

Even today, certain names in the Italian Accordion manufacturing world have been handed down to the third generation such as Dallape, Anelli, Soprani, Scandalli, Massoni, Maga and many others. Some of these factories are run by two or three brothers including those belonging to Frontallini, Crosio, Galanti, Scandalli, Borsini, Busilachio, Bocci, etc.

 

To supply the World demand for instruments, new factories have sprung up next to the original ones so that today hundreds of thousands of experienced workers are employed - and this does not include all those small home-workshops where every member of the family helps to make certain small parts.

 

There are factories in Stradella, Castelfirdardo, Nuumana, Camerano, Osimo, Ancona, Mondaino, Pessaro, Recanai, Macerata, Potenza, Piceno, Fano, Valla Lomellina, Giaveno, Vercelli, Cremona, Parma, Mondovi, and many other places.

 

Let us visit some of these centres and see whose factories are to be found.

First, to Castelfirdardo (Ancona) where we see Paolo Soprani, Settimo Soprani, Scandalli, Sante Crucianelli, Borsini, Ballone Burini, Ubaldo Bontempi, Francesco Serenelli, Saverio Soprani, Enfonica, Marino Pigini, Primo Carbonari, Marino Guerrini, Invicta, Pasquale Ficosecco, Umberto Magi, Victoria, Giuseppe Moreschi, Accoroni, elettra L'Artigiana etc.

 

In Stradella (Pavia) we find Mariano Dallape, Fratelli Crosio, co-Operative Armonica, Felice Bianchi, Renato Massoni, Guido Tizzoni, Salas, Ereole Maga, La Stradellina, FIAS, Luchini Giustini, Voce D'Or, Paolo Rogledi, L'Aurora, M.Losio

etc.

 

At Numana (Ancona) there are Nazzareno, Frontallini, Maggi, daily di Monaco, Petrolinni, La diamante, etc.

 

In Osimo (Ancona) are Busilachio, Aborfeo, Cagnoni, La Voce di Castelfirdardo, Antonelli, Nota D'Or, Ottavianelli, CIFD, Pesaresi, Italfisa, etc.

 

In Pesaro co-Operativa, La Nuova Stella, G. Fontanella, Mancini, Sirena, etc

 

In Mondolfo (Pesaro) are Aldo Silverstrini, Paolo Sora, Corinaldes, etc.

 

In Recanti (Macerata) we see Virgilio Soprani, Cingolani, Guidobaldi, Castelfisa, Chiusaroli, Marinucci, Silvio Soprani, Beccaresci, etc.

 

In Macerata are Cesare Pancotti, Fratelli Gentili, La ritmica, etc.

 

In Ancona La dorica, FISAR, Harmony, Mazzieri, SAIPA, etc.

 

In Valle Lomellina is Clemente Serra.

 

In Giaveno (Torino) is Eugenio Guglielmetti

 

At Vercelli are Co-Operativa Armonica, Gugliemo Ranco, Bartona And Locatelli, etc.

 

In Mondaino (Forli) is Galanti

 

In Parma, Bocchi

 

In Fano, Remolo Galassi

 

In Cremona, S.A.Anelli

 

In Torino, Antonio Lajolo

 

In Malva, Renato Pacini.

 

Also worthy of mention are the makers of Accordion and Harmonica reeds and others who are responsible for various accesories. These include Egiziano Carloni, Fratelli Forlani, and Voxnova, of Stradella; SAVAC, Fratelli Breccia, Nazzareno Pietrella and Attilio Mandolini of Castelfirdardo.

 

Yes, Italy can truly be said to be the Home of the Accordion!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Wes,

Many thanks for digging out this interesting history of concertina making. There seem to have been 10's of accordion makers in and around Chicago in the middle third of the 1900's although I can find nothing about any 'Italian Accordion Manufacturing Company". I suspect that it was imported from Italy????

Thanks Again,

Neil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought that the shape was rather strange but have no idea about its age or whether it was made in Chicago by Italians or imported from Italy?

The shape of both the ends and the bellows is just like my old "Corelli" (bought long ago in New York), but the finish is different. Where yours is marbled, mine is plain white; where yours is white, mine is black. Different hand straps, too, but I'm not sure either set was original equipment.

 

I can find nothing about any 'Italian Accordion Manufacturing Company"...

The name plate gives both an address and phone number in Chicago, so it should be possible to find directory listings for one or more years. It might be possible use those details to narrow the timeframe. Postal zone, but no ZIP code. 7-digit phone number, but still using the "neighborhood" prefix (HU-dson) rather than the equivalent numeric digits (48-), and no area code. Initial dates for use of postal zones and going from 6- to 7-digit telephone numbers varied, I believe, from city to city, but I would guess that your instrument dates from some time in the 1950's. If you really want to learn more, try asking Chicago historians and accordion experts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
You may have seen this instrument on e.bay. I thought that the shape was rather strange but have no idea about its age or whether it was made in Chicago by Italians or imported from Italy?

And here's another very similar one, for sale on eBay at the moment. This one is branded Corelli, which seems to have been a brand name of Buegeleisen & Jacobson of New York City, who imported a lot of instruments from Europe.

 

post-436-1116818555.jpg

 

Both concertinas certainly give every appearance of being Italian made, and the style of the name labels would be typical.

Edited by Stephen Chambers
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...