This is fascinating information from Frank.
My inquiry to Marcus Music was answered by W. M. Butler. With only the initials to go on, this could either be Marcus himself or his wife. He or she specifically said the following of Thomas Thorne and his work:
"He was based in south Wales and ceased to manufacture about 1989.
There are many similarities between Thomas and Marcus concertinas as Thomas purchased many parts from us at the time, this was mainly dew to the fact that he married one of my daughters."
The Marcus Music home page states:
"We have specialised in Concertinas since the late 70's, and although the main thrust of our business has been restoration of older instruments, we have manufactured Concertinas since 1982."
Thorne states (C&S No. 22, thanks to Wes Williams):
"Having been trained to repair concertinas by my now father-in-law (Marcus of Marcus Music) for six years, I started my own business (Thomas Concertinas) in 1985."
The chronology would seem to be:
Late 70's - Marcus embarks upon servicing concertinas, with Thomas as an apprentice by 1979 or so
1982 - Marcus begins making concertinas
1985 - Thomas, having married into Marcus' family, starts his own business
c 1989 - Thomas Thorne ceases to manufacture concertinas
early 1991 - A Thomas concertina finds its way to The Button Box and thence to my house
sometime in 1991 - Frank Edgley sees a concertina at the Marcus shop that is later claimed by Thomas to be one of his
Statements by Thomas (to Frank) and the Marcus website seem a bit at odds.
Since Thomas worked with Marcus for 6 years before starting his own business in 1985, and given Frank's exchanges with Thomas, we can speculate that perhaps it was Thomas who made the first "Marcus" concertinas starting in 1982, before deciding to brand them with his own name. If Marcus had not yet made a concertina in 1991, as Thomas claimed to Frank, he clearly has done so since.
Unfortunately, my inquiry to the Button Box was answered by someone professing to have no information and referring me to this forum. If Doug Creighton is out there somewhere, perhaps he will chime in; as it was he that I dealt with when I purchased the instrument. I would be very interested to know whether Button Box got the concertina from Thomas or from Marcus (or another source). Looking more closely at my correspondence, I see that Button Box had the instrument on order but not in the shop in August of 1990. They received it after the first of the year and sent it to us in February of 1991. It must be one of Thomas's last (if he has quit, that is); but although the timing is close, I think it cannot be the one that Frank saw in Marcus' shop.
I think there's a "traditional" ballad in here somewhere. Imagine workplace romance and family intrigue, throw in (with no justification beyond the poetic, of course) a little avarice or infidelity, maybe exploit an old cliche or two: "...when out of his knapsack, a squeezebox he drew!", and so on.
Well, this has been fun. I will print it all out and keep it with our Thomas concertina.
Take care, all.
Randy Myers
