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It;s that sailor squeezbox thing again


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Pictured in Poole Dorset.

 

sailor_box.jpg

 

I made a comment earlier today relating to this topic but it failed to materialise on screen. It had no more value than the rest of the comments I make but was something along the lines that I thought that salt-laden sea air was probably one of the worst environments to which to subject a loved and valued concertina !!

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It ... was something along the lines that I thought that salt-laden sea air was probably one of the worst environments to which to subject a loved and valued concertina !!

 

Which would be equally true of West Clare (where it's presently blowing a gale!), where concertinas are also historically popular... :huh:

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I thought that salt-laden sea air was probably one of the worst environments to which to subject a loved and valued concertina !!

 

true enough, but then if concertinas did go to sea (a subject that has given rise to much discussion on this forum in the past) then it wouldn't have been someone's loved and valuable Jeffries or Wheatstone but one of the German concertinas so widely and cheaply available at that time.

 

Chris

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I thought that salt-laden sea air was probably one of the worst environments to which to subject a loved and valued concertina !!

 

true enough, but then if concertinas did go to sea (a subject that has given rise to much discussion on this forum in the past) then it wouldn't have been someone's loved and valuable Jeffries or Wheatstone but one of the German concertinas so widely and cheaply available at that time.

 

Chris

 

And preferably one with brass reeds that don't rust. :)

 

Chris

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I thought that salt-laden sea air was probably one of the worst environments to which to subject a loved and valued concertina !!

 

true enough, but then if concertinas did go to sea (a subject that has given rise to much discussion on this forum in the past) then it wouldn't have been someone's loved and valuable Jeffries or Wheatstone but one of the German concertinas so widely and cheaply available at that time.

 

Chris

 

And preferably one with brass reeds that don't rust. :)

 

Chris

Ye like a taste o' steel, don't ye me hearty! :)

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Always amused by the vast number of folds cartoonists give tina bellows.

 

Artistic licence, isn't it?

 

Chris

 

Could it be that they've only seen cheap German-style concertinas, which (on the larger models) can have lots of bellows folds - I've a 20-key Bastari beside me with 14-fold bellows... :blink:

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Then there's this photo of a sailor on the Shackleton expedition with what looks like a nice EC.

 

http://search.freefi....x=0&search.y=0

 

Yes, but I wonder if that concertina ever returned home from the ill-fated expedition!

 

As the owner and player of a pre-WWI Windsor zither-banjo, I registered with pride that a practically identical instument did survive the expedition. The meteorologist Dr. Hussey had one with him, and when everybody was ordered to leave all personal belongings behind to lighten the load for the march back to emergency camp, Shackleton told Hussey to keep his banjo, because it was "vital mental medicine."

 

Definitely the concertina was not the only instrument at sea. But would it be "vital mental medicine" for a desperate situation, with your ship crushed in the ice and no way of calling assistance?

 

I have the feeling that when I play the banjo, jolly, optimistic music comes out of it, whereas the music that comes out of my concertinas tends to be more sedate and sombre.

I know some of you play several instruments, so what do you think? Do certain instruments engender certain moods when you play them, or do you play a different instrument, depending on your mood?

 

Cheers,

John

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