wes williams Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 The label address might give a clue to the approximate age of this instrument. The address with '135' only is given in directories from 1867 to around 1870, but by 1876 the address is '133 & 135'. '& Son' gets added to the company name circa 1887. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Jennings Posted October 20, 2018 Author Share Posted October 20, 2018 Mind, there's some clever b*****s on here. That's great to know Wes, thank you very much indeed! The collective wealth of knowledge gathered on here and on melodeon.net is truly amazing. Thanks to all of our academically inclined friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Jennings Posted October 29, 2019 Author Share Posted October 29, 2019 Hello again! I've started on this instrument, at last. Very very dirty inside, a few pin holes in the bellows corners and one or two small splits in the troughs. It has 1 minor crack in one end, with about 3/8 of an inch of a piece of fretwork missing. I've considered stripping and re-doing the varnish on the wooden ends, but after polishing up one end with a touch of T-Cut, I think it will be best to retain the original finish. I'm going to do all the cosmetic and mechanical work first, working up to maybe tackling the tuning. (Or sending it to a local friendly expert, if I can raise some dosh!) So, I'll be probably haunting this forum for a while with inane questions to assist my first concertina revival, if you lot don't get sick of me! Firstly; the instrument would seem to have buttons made of bone, mostly black! I thought to try some toothpaste and a tooth brush, any good, do you think? Thanks for any advice/help offered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Jennings Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 I previously mentioned that I'd post any numbers I found on this instrument. So far, all I've found is the same number stamped into the bellows frames on both ends. It is...... 36744. Can anything be gleaned from this, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Nobody seems to have mentioned the Lachenal trade mark which is usually stamped into the right side hand bar. All but the earlies Lachenals have the mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Jennings Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) Reading the article by Stephen Chambers (mentioned in an earlier post) it would seem that the Reed Trade Mark (etc.) didn't appear until after the date which Wallis' address on the label would suggest for the manufacture or sale of the instrument. Lachenal Trade Mark introduced in 1879, whereas the label address (according to Wes Williams) is prior to 1876, or even possibly 1870. Edited November 8, 2019 by Edward Jennings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes williams Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 On 11/7/2019 at 12:27 AM, Edward Jennings said: I previously mentioned that I'd post any numbers I found on this instrument. So far, all I've found is the same number stamped into the bellows frames on both ends. It is...... 36744. Can anything be gleaned from this, please? It suggests a Lachenal made in the early/mid 1870s. Dowright is the man to give you a better date, so check through his dates on the large "Dates for Lachenal numbers" threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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