Value

[Stephen Chambers]

That brings up an interesting issue. Concertina players sometimes complain how expensive instuments are today, yet your 1923 Edeophone cost the equivalent of £2,620.18 in 2000, and we have been told that the market price now is only £1,600. 

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And perhaps I should have mentioned that the 1923 price reflects how little money was worth in the aftermath of World War I. The c.1910 price of £17 was the equivalent of £5,047.65, whilst the c.1930 price of £19 8s 6d equalled only £2,748.25.

 

With such devaluation after WWI, not forgetting the Great Depression and an aging workforce, it may not be so surprising that Lachenal's closed down in 1934, and that Wheatstone's turned to manufacturing instruments more cheaply.