Stephen Chambers

Jim, Unfortunately I have not seen this instrument, do you have any pictures ? However, I would add a word of caution about any piece of "scrimshaw" that an antique dealer alleges came from a whaler, in that there is an old (and ongoing) industry manufacturing fake items of this kind for collectors. There is at least one whalebone fretless banjo in existence, which looks like it was made about 1850, but I have been told it was made by someone I know, only about 25 years ago. On one occasion, when I had a stall in London's Portobello Road market, I was shown an inexpensive Lachenal concertina, with standard factory bone keys, that had been sold to a tourist as a "genuine sailor's concertina because" it was alleged "the keys are made of whalebone" ! I am told that Ken Loveless (he wasn't ordained then) took to sea the semi-miniature (5" ends) 24-key Wheatstone anglo number 32900 (9th August 1932). It was later sold, by Harry Crabb, to Tommy McCarthy whose daughter Jacqueline plays it now.

I have long felt that there was much too strong an association, in the mind of the English-speaking public, between sailors and the concertina. However, I do have one concertina (an 1850's Wheatstone "Concert Model" English) that really does appear to have belonged to a sailor, on the Royal Navy cruiser H.M.S. Isis during WWI. Unfortunately he does seem to have attempted to "improve" it for shipboard use, but rather than removing varnish he added it: To the bellows ! Unfortunately this piece of d.i.y. had a terminal effect on the flexibility of the leather, and the bellows is now badly cracked. Also, I am reminded of the footnote to the definition for "concertinist" in the unabridged edition of the O.E.D., which is: "Hence concertinist, a player on the concertina. 1880 Daily Tel. 7 Sept. The concertinist is ... the best masthead man of the fleet."

I have done a little genealogical research on Thomas Guest of Exeter this afternoon: Thomas Squance Guest was born in Exeter on 16th May 1823, and was Christened a Wesleyan Methodist. An 1850 dirctory lists a Thomas Guest, Siversmith & Jeweller, 35, New Bridge Street, but by 1857 the entry is for T.S. Guest, Jeweller & Dealer in Musical Instruments, at the same address. On the 1881 Census he is a Music Seller, and on that for 1891 he is a Music Seller & Repairer (employer). An 1895 directory lists T.S. Guest as Musical Instrument Repairers at 35, New Bridge Street, as well as T. Guest, Pianoforte & Music Warehouse, at 40, New Bridge Street. He died at Exeter in the third quarter of 1895, aged 72. (The label on the eBay concertina reads Thos. S. Guest, New Bridge Street, Exeter, but the street number is hidden by the fretwork.) When repairing concertinas, and other antique musical instruments myself, I have sometimes had to call on the services of a silversmith, so I find it easy to see a link between the two trades. It was the jeweller/clock repairer in Kilrush who used to fix the reeds in Mrs. Crotty's concertina !

I very much suspect that neither has anybody else ! I assume that you are referring to the example for sale on eBay, which looks very much like it was made by George Jones. In which case it may have either brass, or maybe Jones' "broad steel reeds", and a mellow sound, but don't expect a fast response. It was normal practice for nineteenth century manufacturers to make "own brand" instruments for dealers. Both Lachenal and Jones did it a lot.

On the contrary, I can think of nothing less concertina-friendly than soaking it in beer (in my experience concertina players are much better at absorbing copious amounts of beer than their instruments ), a few shards of glass will cause much less terminal damage to the instrument. Anyway, I still think the beermats are the best answer. Slainte !

Have you tried the time-honoured trick putting a few beermats under the legs, to level the table ? Otherwise, you could try drinking faster, so that at least the glasses are empty when they fall off . . . (mind you, the floor might start revolving sooner ) Cheers !

It sounds like it, can you go in and order "Two large Chemnitzers, one small anglo and a packet of pretzels" ? Did you know that there is actually a "Concertina Brewery" in South Yorkshire ? It is located at the old Mexborough Concertina Band Club, and the information below is borrowed from the Beer Mad website: Concertina Brewery, 9A Dolcliffe Road, Mexborough, South Yorkshire S64 9AZ tel: (01709) 580841 Founded 1992. The brewery is in the cellar of a club that was once famous for its concertina band, hence the name. 8 beers believed to be regularly brewed Ariel Four Square 5·3% Bengal Tiger 4·5% (AKA 1994 IPA) Best Bitter 4·0% Club Bitter 3·9% Dictators 4·7% New Imperial 4·6% Old Dark Attic 4·0% One Eyed Jack 4·0% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 beer of unknown status Arkwright's Bitter 4·5% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41 beers believed to be one-off or no longer brewed 17th GBBF SPecial og1040.0 Bandbox Bitter 3·8% Bandsman Strong Ale 5·2% Barnsley Festival Bitter 4·0% Brewed for the GBBF. Black Button Porter 5·5% Black Button Stout 4·5% Blast Furnace (abv unknown) Brock's Progress 4·5% (Previously: 4.1%) Comet 500cc 4·5% Dark og1040.0 Excelsior 4·6% Famous Mouse 4·6% Fitzpatrick's Stout 4·5% Flying Squirrel 4·4% Hackett VC 4·2% Hardy Annual 4·0% IPA 4·5% Jenson's Hop Bitter 4·7% KW Special Pride 4·5% Mexborough & Swinton Trackless 4·0% Mexborough Mild 3·7% Miller's Ale 5·5% Nero Fiddled (abv unknown) No Room At the Inn 5·2% Oakwood Stout 4·5% Paul Hudson's Nithering Northerlies (abv unknown) Raspberry Tipple 5·0% RC Special Pride og1042.0 Remembrance 4·3% Remembrance Brew 5·9% RH Special 4·5% Rome's Burning 4·2% A smoked beer. Shot Firer's Porter 4·5% Smoked Brass 4·5% Smokey Beercon 5·0% Special 4·8% Squeeze Box Festival Ale 4·5% St Amandus 4·6% Tinsley Tipple 4·5% Vincent Comet 4·5% William's Downfall 4·6% Cheers !

Journet was a London musical instrument dealer. I have seen his label on several Lachenal instruments from the second half of the 19th century.

From the instruments I have seen, I would reckon from about the 1870's up until the 1930's. They can be used to produce different sound effects, depending on how you move the bellows. Some people simply refer to them as a "whistle" and "squeaker".

Isn't that the same difference ? Cheers,

But I see that it was somebody in Holland who bought the lot on eBay, and their feedback shows that they seem to be building up quite a collection. Anybody we know ?

Wouldn't that be a "shelf belt"? How about a Black Belt, then he could be a Ninja Turtle ?

"Cock crow" and "bird whistle" are the names by which I have long known them, but I think the other names are just different people's attempts to describe the same things. I have seen such buttons mainly on concertinas by Lachenal, but also on ones by Wheatstone, Jeffries and Jones, and not only on anglos, they are sometimes to be seen on Englishes, and also on duets. I have an old "Gloria" 10-key melodeon that is rather overloaded with novelty effects, not only does it have a cock crow and bird whistle, but also a cuckoo and a vox humana ("tremelodeon") stop.

Richard, I'm afraid that the problem is probably a direct result of what you have done, and that the solution is probably to glue them back down again, though you may have bent the valves so much that even then they won't work properly. They need to be laying flat against the wood, or they can start to work as "reeds" themselves and produce an echoey effect such as you describe. No, they will only make it worse. Cheers,

Chris, George Case took over Joseph Scates' business about 1850, so the answer to your query about the date is that it was probably made in the early 1850's. The levers will be rivetted ones, but the reeds are almost certainly made of nikel-silver, so they will not be as loud, durable or responsive as steel ones. Cheers,

Mine is the first concertina, originally called a "Symphonion with bellows", sold to Captain Thomas Gardnor of the Household Cavalry (2nd Life Guards), probably in 1833. It was formerly the pride of Wheatstone's own collection, now it is the pride of mine.

No, gold-painted, but with a very interesting history. You can check out this thread for more information. Cheers,

Wendy, In that case, I think I might have seen the perfect lot for you today on eBay: Ten assorted figures playing accordian/squeezebox/concertina. White chalk candle holder Angel with wings kneeling Four clowns - One Gilde Handware, One Zamriva, One Flambro Teddy Caveman - Rockies Frog - Shudehill One Paddington Bear - rubber Schleich, Germany. What do you think ?

Brian has covered the subject pretty well, and a picture could speak a thousand words, but there is room to throw in a couple of comments: First of all is it an antique ? Well it could be, depending on what definition of "antique" you use, but most unlikely if you mean in the strict sense of it being more than 100 years old, as Hohner only started to make accordions in 1903. However, if the casework is constructed of black-painted wood it was probably made before the Second World War, but if the casework is covered in black celluloid it cannot be more than about 70 years old. Secondly, the key system is almost always stamped into the bottom edge of the wooden keyboard, so you may see something like GCF there, but they used German note names, so be warned that you might see a B for Bb, H for B, or Cis for C# ! Cheers,

This would seem to be confirmed by another copy, that I recently bought on eBay, which has the date 1951 for the aeola.

I will do that Al, but it won't be tomorrow, or the next day, that I bring out any recordings anyway: I'm still trying to buy my house in Clare, 9 months on, at the moment. I'm not sure how many Prince 78's I have, but they fill a cardboard box (he was very prolific !), and I have another one full of other players.

I remember seeing those, and lots of other cassettes made from 78's, advertised in Exchange & Mart years ago. I think it was somebody in Birmingham, and they might have used the name "Neovox", or something like that ? I mentioned, in an earlier post, that I was planning to bring out some CD's of concertina players from the 78 era myself, but Jim could save me the trouble, at least as far as Prince is concerned. I also have enough commercial recordings of Ernest Rutterford playing the Duet (personally I prefer his playing to Prince's !), not forgetting the only copy of a privately-made 78 of him playing the English (his father, Charles Rutterford, was a pupil of Richard Blagrove), to make a CD, and maybe also one of miscellaneous players on various systems.

I sincerely hope so too Jonathan, but things have not gone too well so far. I have just returned to Dublin, from Kilrush, this evening, having seen the price of the house I am trying to buy (since last December !) rise by 25% in the last two days alone. Still, at least I have a temporary flat and shop down there, rented off Kevin & Rebecca at Crotty's Pub. Mine's a pint of Guinness, if you're offering. Cheers !

... in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest. The soul, uneasy and confined from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. Alexander Pope (1688–1744): Essay on Man. Epistle i. Line 95.

I visited Chemnitz twice in 2001, in connection with the Schlossberg Museum's "Sehnsucht aus dem Blasebalg" exhibition, and was taken to see various old factories & workshops in the Chemnitz region by Peer Ehmke from the Museum. One of them was the former premises of Otto Schlicht, who was the actual maker of the Pearl Queen concertinas. Both the 102-note and 104-note Chemnitzers were special models for the U.S. market. You can see a photograph of a 104-note Pearl Queen here on the "Sehnsucht aus dem Blasebalg" website, if you first click on "Galerie", and then on "US-amerikanische Hersteller", but the text is in German.