Una

[Stephen Chambers]

8 hours ago, Theo said:

Regarding Crabb concertina numbered 1887, this was almost certainly not made circa 1870.  Geoff Crabb who worked in the family business will be able to provide a date, but I suspect it’s from the mid 20th century with that number.  

 

That's wrong big-time Theo!

 

Firstly , Geoff Crabb has seen the instrument (in Kilrush, about 15 years ago - it's one I'd been keeping!) and agrees with me that it is an early John Crabb.

 

Secondly you're confusing the four-digit number 1887 for a five-digit (century later) one in the 1887X series. (There are also some six digit numbers, from the 1930s, when Harry Crabb started prefixing four-digit numbers with the last two digits of the year of manufacture.)

 

Whilst the surviving Crabb records are very incomplete, full of gaps, start only in the 1880s, and aren't really "serial" as such - Geoff prefers to think of them more as "identification numbers".

 

 

Edited January 3, 2020 by Stephen Chambers

[Theo]

Oops!  Sorry about that.  You are right Stephen,  I was thinking of the later 5 digit numbers.

[saguaro_squeezer]

This is slightly off topic but I'd love to find a John Crabb Crane, but I don't know if he ever built any.  My earliest is 1907, which was built by Geoff's Grandfater.

[Ann Sanders]

You can buy a José Claro accordion reeded concertina for €1900 which will be a big improvement. If it doesn’t suit he will refund if done within a month I think it is. He will also take it back if you wished to upgrade.