Dan Worrall Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 (edited) Some of you may remember that I have posted a couple of photos of concertinas documented to have been played in the US Civil War. One was this German concertina from the Gettysburg National Park museum http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=6516&hl=gettysburg and another was a period photo of a black youth in military garb plaing another square-ended German concertina. That photo is in my book on the history of the Anglo, volume 2. Just so the EC folks don't feel left out....I know they've been longing to play Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair in period garb at a re-enactor's ball....here is this nice English concertina spotted at the Confederate Museum in Fort Worth Texas. It was left behind by a deserter (a Yankee deserter, need I say more?....just kidding) in 1862. He was, we are told, a teamster for the 47th Massachusetts Infantry. That explains the concertina. An infantryman couldn't easily carry one of these, and neither really could a cavalryman....that is probably why they are so rare. But a teamster driving wagons all the time, no problem. Maybe he was chased away for his playing. By the way, if you are ever in the Dallas-Ft Worth area, I highly recommend that museum. Fantastic array of clothing, weapons and artifacts...including their most recent acquisition, General Grant's jacket worn at Appomattox. On the concertina, sorry for the photo quality, it was very dark in there. It has a four fold bellows, and rather crudely made wooden ends. On the other side, I looked for a label, but there was only a hole where it should have been. Maybe one of the experts can let us know what brand..... Cheers, Dan Edited June 14, 2014 by Dan Worrall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 It's maybe a Nickolds Dan, though I'd need to see inside it to be sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveS Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 (edited) I wonder why he left it? Surely his concertina would have been a prized possession and as such would have been the first thing he'd have thought to take it with him. Thanks for the post Dan. Edited June 14, 2014 by SteveS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 Stephen, A Nickolds makes perfect sense. The ends just don't have the finish and quality of a Wheatstone, or even a Lachenal. I'm used to seeing cheaper knockoffs of Anglos, but it surprised me to see an EC in such a basic form. I have seen very nice looking Nickolds though (probably you showed me one). That a basic EC would be the one falling into the hands of a soldier makes sense too....the really good ones must have been extraordinarily expensive. Have you ever seen any adverts for Nickolds showing a range in qualities and prices? Steve, No telling why he left it, but it is amazing what one would leave behind if on the lam. Or to be more generous, maybe he never returned because he had an accidental death (but not in combat....he was far from the battlefields). I've often felt that an EC was a better choice for Civil War tunes than an Anglo, mostly because it can be played in a nice legato manner, and so many of the classics are mournful dirges and/or slow love ballads. I play both types of concertinas, but reserve the Anglo for the bouncy minstrel tunes of that same era (Oh Susannah, Getting Upstairs, etc.). Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewVanitas Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Now we just need to find evidence of someone in the Civil War playing a Duet concertina, and we're set! The Wheatstone "Duett" proto-Maccann model came out around 1850 or so, so it's not at all impossible one would show up in the US Civil War (1861-1865). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I wonder why he left it? Surely his concertina would have been a prized possession ... He probably valued his life more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I wonder why he left it? Surely his concertina would have been a prized possession ... He probably valued his life more... Regarding a concertina, all the more an English, you might mull over that for a moment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Crabb Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 This may be of interest. Taken from the back of a business card. Please note that these are trade prices so there would have be a retail mark up. I am aware that there have been several suggestions that I contribute to various topics but I have been engaged on several non-concertina related projects of late but will attempt to respond shortly. Geoffrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 This may be of interest. Taken from the back of a business card. Please note that these are trade prices so there would have be a retail mark up. Nickolds Crabb & Co. 1855.jpg I am aware that there have been several suggestions that I contribute to various topics but I have been engaged on several non-concertina related projects of late but will attempt to respond shortly. Geoffrey Thanks, Geoff. So even a Nickolds was pricey. Those prices reflect a concertina that in todays terms would cost in the low thousands of dollars....more or less what a new EC would cost today. That deserter must have been a Boston Brahmin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rosenthal Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 This may be of interest. Taken from the back of a business card. Please note that these are trade prices so there would have be a retail mark up. Nickolds Crabb & Co. 1855.jpg I am aware that there have been several suggestions that I contribute to various topics but I have been engaged on several non-concertina related projects of late but will attempt to respond shortly. Geoffrey Thanks, Geoff. So even a Nickolds was pricey. Those prices reflect a concertina that in todays terms would cost in the low thousands of dollars....more or less what a new EC would cost today. That deserter must have been a Boston Brahmin! I'm not sure how you figure that in today's dollars the cost would be in the low thousands. Geoff's price list shows a 48 button EC with rosewood ends and a mahogany case at £2, 2s. A shilling was 1/20 £, so that's £2.1. Using the historical UK inflation calculator at http://safalra.com/other/historical-uk-inflation-price-conversion, £2.1 at the beginning of the civil war (1860) would be £230 pounds in 2013 (the latest date the converter has inflation data for). Currently, £1 is worth about $1.70, so that's around $391.00 in today's dollars. You don't need to be a Boston Brahmin to afford that. -- Mark Rosenthal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Comparing the historical value of money is a horrendously difficult and complicated business, so much so that according to http://www.measuringworth.com : "In 2013, the relative value of £2 2s 0d from 1860 ranges from £172.10 to £4,096.00. If you want to compare the value of a £2 2s 0d Commodity in 1860 there are three choices. In 2013 the relative: real price of that commodity is £172.10labour value of that commodity is £1,348.00income value of that commodity is £1,851.00 If you want to compare the value of a £2 2s 0d Income or Wealth , in 1860 there are three choices. In 2013 the relative: historic standard of living value of that income or wealth is £172.10economic status value of that income or wealth is £1,851.00economic power value of that income or wealth is £4,096.00 If you want to compare the value of a £2 2s 0d Project in 1860 there are three choices. In 2013 the relative: historic opportunity cost of that project is £229.00labour cost of that project is £1,348.00economic cost of that project is £4,096.00" And that's only the UK wholesale price from the manufacturer, not a retail one (which could be as much as 50, or even 100% greater!), nor does it include the cost of shipping/importing it into the United States. Then there's the exchange rate, which in 1860 was $5 to the £1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewVanitas Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) Ooh, I knew this would get fun. Historical prices always are. Here's another way to look at it: - £2 2s in pre-decimal money is £2.10 in decimal, right? - So for 1860 at £1=$5, that'd be $10.50, wholesale price in the UK. I have no idea what you'd tack on to ship it across the pond, apply tariffs, and then retailer's markup. Does 100% sound excesssive? Would an out-the-door price in a Boston shop of $15-20 seem credible? - At the start of the American Civil War (1861), monthly pay scales for a Private were $11/mo - For a second I forgot that the owner of this 'box was an enlisted teamster, so I got caught up trying to dig up how much civilian teamsters made, since my understanding is a decent number of teamsters were civilians and/or contractors. But then I double-checked the OP and it says he was a private, so moot point. - Do note, however, that presumably like today a lot of a military man's pay is in benefits vice cash, so likely Martin was getting free uniforms, housing, and chow, so blowing two month's pay on an instrument might not be so terribly unreasonable. When I was a private in the Marines I had easily two month's pay worth of assorted gear (bouzouki, banjo, and actually a concertina come to think of it). - For civilian trades in 1860, per this site a laborer made about $24/mo, and a carpenter or blacksmith about $45. Just for contrast. In the end, can we roughly conclude that Pvt Martin lost about two month's pay on this critter? Though as a private, assuming he was unmarried and not having to send cash home to support family, it'd be two months of almost entirely disposable income, so maybe well worth it just to have something entertaining to do, maybe made him a popular man in camp. Edited June 19, 2014 by MatthewVanitas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Ooh, I knew this would get fun. Historical prices always are. Here's another way to look at it: ... In the end, can we roughly conclude that Pvt Martin lost about two month's pay on this critter? And the nearest the US Army has to a teamster these days would be a truck driver? And today (on average) US Army truck drivers make $2,500 a month... It's one way (of many) of looking at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 As for me, I'm sticking with Stephen's estimates. I learned a long time ago that he usually ends up being right! I still think low thousands of dollars is about right, based on many of the logic streams that Stephen pointed out. BTW, there is a currency inflator that Randy Merris and Bob Gaskins developed for calculating vintage concertina prices in today's money, in the concertina library (concertina.com). Using the year 1862 and the lowest price of Geoff's Nickold's price range (1 pound 7 s), one calculates a modern price of 637 Sterling. That times 1.7 yields about $1000, more or less. Stephen has pointed out the error bars. Like I said, low thousands of dollars, one way or the other. In my history books, I used that calculator to figure out the daily take of Victorian street musicians playing concertinas, and always thought that the result seemed more or less reasonable. Prices of German concertinas, by the way, were about 90% less, which partly explains their astonishingly higher popularity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 The instrument in question appears to be the 2 guinea model on the Nickolds, Crabb & Co. Trade Pricelist, so (lacking an actual US retail price) let's assume that Matthew's upper estimate of $20 is about right, though the pay of an ordinary Union private was actually $13 per month - it was his Confederate counterpart who got only $11 . However, "specialists" were/are paid more and a (civilian) teamster working for the army got $25 a month plus rations (though I can't say what an enlisted one got), whilst a US Army teamster today makes (on average) 100 times that amount, so the equivalent cost to his counterpart today might equate to $2,000. But that's only one way of trying to compare it... If you estimate a reasonable UK retail price at the time as 3 guineas, and use the Calculate Modern Values of Historic Concertina Prices calculater on concertina.com, you arrive at a figure of £1,514.90 in the year 2000 - which (according to http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/) is £2,225.00 today, so the equivalent of $3,788... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Franch Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 There's also Pvt. Martin's calculation of the value of his hide. I wonder if there was some foul play involved here. I can't imagine anyone abandoning a concertina. Of course, if he never really mastered it . . . . All we know--all we can know--was that there was a case with his name on it. A future historian should be cautious about drawing conclusions from my name on a case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 Now that that is settled, what music was he playing? He spent some time inscribing a five line staff and some five notes on the front....again sorry about the focus as it was very dark. Any ideas? The staff is at least as clear as the inflation calculations...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Franch Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Sorry to digress further from concertinas, but it seems that Pvt. Martin wasn't alone. According to one regimental history, "Both at Boxford and at Readville it suffered considerably from desertions, but this resulted largely in the weeding out of undesirable material and thus improving the general character of the command." See http://www.actonmemoriallibrary.org/civilwar/regiments/Mass/47mass.html. It only served nine months, lost 38 officers and men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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