bellowbelle Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 This little old guy is from Germany, came to me via ebay. He's also a vase, but...no flowers this time, just wishes for a happy holiday season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Murray Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 I've been curious about all these little figures with concertinas. I've become aware of them through the results of Ebay searches. Are these some sort of good luck tradition or something like that? Angels, Cherubs, Dwarves, Gnomes and the like, even a couple of Skeleton Pirates. I bid $3 on one of those but they were fancied a bit more by others. I've got a picture though and it doesn't require dusting. E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted December 10, 2003 Author Share Posted December 10, 2003 I'm not really informed about statues and gnomes, in general. I'd seen several angels with accordions, some from yesteryear, either as artwork (logos, etc.) or ceramics, candles, etc. I don't like to collect a whole lot, because things pile up, but, a year or more ago on ebay, someone had several pieces from a gnome museum in Germany. They were the curators, I guess, but closing the museum. I got this concertina-playing gnome and another one that's part of a quartet of musicians. I didn't pay incredibly great sums for what I bought, though I'm sure the demand/value of these guys could fluctuate over the years, high or low. I'd started out looking for any kind of garden gnomes, but once I realized there were all the specialized ones, I hunted around some more. When they started taking over the place, I quit buying them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Aw Wendy, he's cute. A friend showed me this great flower arrangement someone sent her. The vase had a Santa playing a concertina. It was really pretty with the roses tumbling out of it. I wondered if I saw concertinas in the past and just never noticed them. I know what you mean about collections taking over the house. Gnome on, Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I have lots of collections two... but fortunately I try to collect small things - like minature instruments (reflecting whatever I am playing at the time. That way I can keep them in my display cabinet. Unfortunately I also have a habit of collecting full size musical intruments.... So much music, so little time Cheers Morgana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Booth Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 It appears that in Europe recently, there has been a Game" of moving people's gnomes around to oddball or humorous places. Gnomes have been showing up in the background of photographs, behind politicians, maybe in your kitchen window, 'Tina or not. Ay more about that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted December 13, 2003 Author Share Posted December 13, 2003 Oh, no...don't tell me the Gnome Liberation Front is still active!! (See: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_372429.html) I wrote a song, 'The No-Gnome Blues,' about such. It's at: http://www.postpoems.com/cgi-bin/displaypo....cgi?pid=102479 I was afraid, even, to put out my gnomes after posting that song, but....I took the chance. (I can't keep them all inside!) I've only done the song with guitar chords and singing....have never worked it out on the concertina....probably....shall not...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted December 13, 2003 Author Share Posted December 13, 2003 Have added a .jpg of the tune, with the chords, to my lsite at Postpoems. The link is given above in my previous post. And, yes, now I have been playing it on my EC and singing it...at least, a few times, today...busy with a lot of jobs around here, and not only that but everyone seems to be on the edge of the flu or something like it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 I've been curious about all these little figures with concertinas. I've become aware of them through the results of Ebay searches. Are these some sort of good luck tradition or something like that? Angels, Cherubs, Dwarves, Gnomes and the like, even a couple of Skeleton Pirates. It should be no surprise that there are various sorts of figurines with concertinas. All instruments are represented. A quick search sample with combined instrument names and "figurine" on eBay shows: 1 concertina & figurine 5 accordion & figurine 10 trumpet & figurine And many more where the word "figurine" isn't used, but "angel", "clown", "frog", etc. In fact, when I search for "concertina" listings, I find it helpful to exclude those which contain the words "clown", "angel", and "boy" (as well as "wire", "corkscrew", "Maidenform", and various other words). Many of those labelled "concertina" actually have accordions, but we should be used to that. eBay item #3262748837 "LITTLE CLOWN PIG PLAYS THE CONCERTINA" is intriguing, having what appeears to be an accordion with a piano-like keyboard for each hand. Has anyone here seen an instrument like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted December 27, 2003 Author Share Posted December 27, 2003 eBay item #3262748837 "LITTLE CLOWN PIG PLAYS THE CONCERTINA" is intriguing, having what appeears to be an accordion with a piano-like keyboard for each hand. Has anyone here seen an instrument like that? That one is so strange, I'd almost like to buy it just in case there's none other like it...but, I guess I'll just admire(?) from afar. No more room in here for stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted December 28, 2003 Share Posted December 28, 2003 (edited) I'm not a systematic collector, by any means. (If I were, I'd need a warehouse.) But every once in a while I find something intriguing at an acceptable price. Then there are the little figures, cartoons, etc. that friends give me. Good taste is not always the object. Anyway, here's a photo that shows a few. (Can you guess that another of my fascinations/fanaticisms is whales?) Yes, David, I also have a set of those bud vases. Edited December 28, 2003 by JimLucas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted December 28, 2003 Author Share Posted December 28, 2003 Jim, those are cooool! Love those. That straw-type figure is especially interesting...and is that varnished, too, or just shiny straw? Well, we should have a special header in the forum for more photos of all our concertina and related figurines. (Um, yes...whales could be related...somehow....) In fact, now I think I'll have to gather up all my 'children' and photograph them for a page or something. (Might even have some whales hiding around here....you never know...) I'm going to see if I can find my crocheted concertina-player doll pic...she won a first prize at a fair, several years ago, even. Though, I was calling it an accordion at the time, since I hadn't yet even thought about the concertina. I don't know about the pic, though....one viewer said the doll just looked like some kind of big insect, so...?? Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted December 28, 2003 Author Share Posted December 28, 2003 (edited) Okay....as promised....here's a pic of my dolls that won a first prize in a crochet section at a fair. The first one on the left, though it's hard to tell, is holding a 'flower accordion' which is really more like a concertina. These are crochet-over-wire (not the same as wire crochet). I plan to make some more but I just don't seem to get to it. The pic is not so hot but I have a new camera now so I can maybe get some better views of things...yippee! Oops...sorry...wait....where's the pic... Edited December 28, 2003 by bellowbelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted December 28, 2003 Share Posted December 28, 2003 That straw-type figure ... is that varnished, too, or just shiny straw? Just shiny straw. I picked it up in the crafts area at a festival in Sweden. concertina and related figurines. (Um, yes...whales could be related...somehow....) You don't know... but before long you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted December 28, 2003 Author Share Posted December 28, 2003 concertina and related figurines. (Um, yes...whales could be related...somehow....) You don't know... but before long you will. Hmm...(theme from 'Twilight Zone' plays...)...I...will...know? There is a tidal wave coming, that will wash us all out to sea? Or, maybe...if I keep playing the concertina, my neighbors are going to toss me into the sea, and then.... hmm. Interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted December 29, 2003 Author Share Posted December 29, 2003 Okay, here's a better pic of two of 'the girls.' Rose, on the left, is singing into her flower microphone. Tina is playing the flower concertina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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