johnnyace

Good luck in securing its return. It sounds a wonderful instrument.

Sold and donation sent.

I am offering my Rochelle C/G Anglo for saie. It served me well on a 6 months apprenticeship, but now I have a Connor. This is a great instrument to learn on, with a mellow sound that is easier on the ear than most concertinas. In very good condition. The previous owner lavished attention on it, fitting gold tooled straps and adding genuine concertina bellows papers. He did a great job and the box looks really flash! It comes with a gig case, also in good condition. I am looking for £175, which is about half of current UK retail, plus postage which will be no more than £10. I will make the appropriate donation to Concertina.net if I sell though this site. Here is one being played (not the actual model for sale) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ScrYUjZ6K4 Please PM me if interested.

This post is becoming really complicated!!

Interesting link, but where's the concertina?

Right back at you, Cobber! Wind and rain is forecast for the UK on Xmas day!

What a fantastic find! And what an amazing tale! Thanks very much for posting!

Estimate £1,500 - £2,000. they got that wrong!

Hi Tazzy That is a very nice looking Connor concertina. Although I might be interested, I would want to play it first. Do you ever come to England? Best wishes John

The Labour Corps was manned by officers and other ranks who had been medically rated below the "A1" condition needed for front line service, so there may possibly have been health issues. Given his acrobatic prowess, Francini was probably pretty fit, although he might have had issues with eyesight or some other disability - who knows? It also occurs to me that the Labour Corps might have been the designated home for entertainers who could cheer up the troops. Possible?

Very interesting research.colleagues! Even if he isn't the Frank Olloms that Wes was asking for (and I believe he is) It is great to find Europe's greatest concertinist and to learn he was also an excellent acrobat! It is obviously true that playing the comcertina builds up amazing strength and flexibility!

Congratulations, Roy. I started my journey on a Rochelle and it treated me well. You even got someone to loosen up the bellows for you! It will get easier to play as you get used to it and I am sure you will make great progress!

I'm certainly not going to knock the notion of learning on a vintage concertina, but I don't regret the short time I spent with the Rochelle I started on. The rental and the trade-in facility is a big plus. The difference in price between the Rochelle and decent 30 button Anglo oldie is quite considerable. For someone who just wants to try out and see if concertina is for them and doesn't want to lay out too much, the former is probably the way to go.

More research: Picture of Francini Olloms: about 9 cards down - http://www.dvrbs.com/AA_Story/KREMO-MoreCards/KREMO.html He played as a double act with a page.There is a picture of them in the Circus Variete, 1907. (2/3 of the way down the page (sic!) http://mona-wwwbloggercom.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/teaterprogrammer-fra-cirkus-variete.html They were billed at the Bristol Hippodrome in Decenber 1913. In 1920 he was at the Bristol Hippodrome with his partner (wife? daughter? Elsie) My theory is that Francini gave up his acrobatics, shortned his name to Frank and concentrated on his concertina, eventually recording the 78. I hope I am not wrong! Do you think it might be worth starting a poll on how many members of the forum can perform somersaults while playing their boxes?!

I just had a quick look for him on Google. You are probably looking for Francini Olloms, described as Europe's Finest Concertinist (1908) https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qv0CWuFSxDoC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=francini+olloms&source=bl&ots=MBq98V3Vwu&sig=K0E3lhIjBMIjuVwG075t-vGP2B4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAWoVChMIpa_Ppp38xwIVizkaCh1LLgKi#v=onepage&q=francini%20olloms&f=false Also described as Europe's Most Brilliant Concertinist whose act included:"juggling, acrobatics and comedy tumbling with musical interpolations on the Xylophone and Concertina, featuring the performance of 24 somersaults while playing the concertina" !!!! http://digital.chipublib.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/CPB01/id/4660/rec/1 He sounds amazing! Vaudeville was no career for the faint hearted! Looking forward to hearing him play when you have the recording restored!!