Round Concertina(s)

[JimLucas]

I seem to recall occasional mention of one or more concertinas made with circular ends, but my searches on both C.net and Google have come up empty. Can anybody help me with details, or links to sources?

 

P.S. This is my post #3000, a nice round number sandwiched between 2999 and 3001, both prime numbers. A nice place to "rest", in spite of there being many posts I feel like responding to. I wonder how long I can resist further posting.

[Stephen Chambers]

I seem to recall occasional mention of one or more concertinas made with circular ends, but my searches on both C.net and Google have come up empty.  Can anybody help me with details, or links to sources?

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Jim,

 

I have made reference to circular German concertinas by C.F. Reichel :

 

Early German concertinas were rectangular in shape, but there is an advertisement for the maker C.F. Reichel, in the "Chemnitz Adressbuch" for 1855, that shows rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal and even circular models were available by that date.

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Otherwise, I had come across a reference to circular Lachenals, but never saw one until I came across a photograph, in Concertina & Squeezebox (Vol. 2. Nos. 1-3, Winter-Summer 1984), of one for sale by Lark in the Morning. It as at the top of a pile of concertinas in the photo, #26, described as a "Lachenal Round, ME, 63 MB, Treble-Tenor-Baritone, one of ten made, plays well, $1050."

 

As if Edeophones don't roll well enough already !

 

P.S.  This is my post #3000, a nice round number sandwiched between 2999 and 3001, both prime numbers.  A nice place to "rest", in spite of there being many posts I feel like responding to.  I wonder how long I can resist further posting.

Watch out, we're gaining on you !

[Richard Morse]

And speaking of round concertinas.... take a gander at this one! And it's FOR SALE!

 

Interested parties to contact Patty at

 

She was the one who put up that enormous contrabass on eBay last week. It was her dad's (who's recently passed on), and she's looking for homes for his other boxes.

 

 

And BTW, this *was* the round box that Mickey had in the early 80's. Her dad was quite into collecting (and playing) odd concertinas.

[Stephen Chambers]

... this *was* the round box that Mickey had in the early 80's.

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I know, it's the second time that I have seen that photo today !

 

Do you know the serial number of it Richard ? It looks like it may have been made at a very interesting period.

[Richard Morse]

Serial number PRT29663 which according to various estimations puts it about 1880? I wonder what the PRT stands for.

[Henk van Aalten]

Serial number PRT29663 which according to various estimations puts it about 1880? I wonder what the PRT stands for.

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Perfectly Round Tina

[Stephen Chambers]

Serial number PRT29663 which according to various estimations puts it about 1880? I wonder what the PRT stands for.

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Richard,

 

Funnily enough, I forecast this in an email earlier today :

 

... the "external serial number" may be the clue, as I expect it might be the Registered Design number (RD 129662) which is usually gold-tooled into Edeophone bellows.

 

And in fact, Lachenal's registered both RD 129662 and RD 129663, on 27th July, 1889.

 

So I wonder if it really does read RD 129663, and what the serial number is ?

 

Edited to add date of registration.

Edited April 4, 2005 by Stephen Chambers

[Richard Morse]

Serial number PRT29663 which according to various estimations puts it about 1880?

And in fact, Lachenal's registered both RD 129662 and RD 129663, on 27th July, 1889.

Now that is *very* interesting... and rewarding! In an e-mail to Patty (the round Lachenal owner) a couple of days ago I had told her that the PRT29663 number seems to indicate that it was made about 1880 but that my "gut" feeling (based on the fretwork design and machinations of that time period) was that that was probably produced about 1890.... Your corroboration timing couldn't have been better!

[Stephen Chambers]

... a couple of days ago I had told her that the PRT29663 number seems to indicate that it was made about 1880 but that my "gut" feeling (based on the fretwork design and machinations of that time period) was that that was probably produced about 1890.... Your corroboration timing couldn't have been better!

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The 1889 Registered Design date would seem to indicate the earliest date this instrument could have been made, but they continued to impress the RD number, in gold leaf, into the bellows frames of all the Edeophones up until they closed down in 1933.

 

However, I also commented in emails yesterday that "From the fretwork, and the name ovals, It looks like it may belong to the Edeophone prototype era, in the late 1880's-early 1890's ..."

 

But, I understand that there may be aluminium in the making of it and (to quote another email I sent) "If it employs aluminium it cannot have been made before 1895, but in that case I would expect it to have engraved labels on the ends, instead of the cut-out ovals. Even the limited style of the fretwork reminds me of the first-known Edeophone #28821 (see attachment), which appears [to me, though the owner doesn't agree] to have had extra fretwork added, as the circular one also appears to have had holes added in the end. I wonder if Lachenal's considered it an Edeophone, the "external serial number" may be the clue, as I expect it might be the Registered Design number (RD 129662) which is usually gold-tooled into Edeophone bellows."

 

Edeophone #28821

 

So, I wonder what the serial number is ?

 

Edited to add photo.

Edited April 5, 2005 by Stephen Chambers