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German Masquerading As English Made?


Daniel Hersh

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It's this one. Looks German-made if you know what to look for...but was "Douglas" trying to convince his buyers that this was a British-made instrument with the London address (on the instrument and the case) and the statement "Manufacturers and Importers"? Did Douglas actually manufacture concertinas at all?

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Daniel,

 

Yes, that's an "imitation Anglo" of a model that was made at Klingenthal (in Brunndobra to be precise), based on a Nickolds design.

 

Douglas & Co. also sold concertinas made by Lachenal's, and Paolo Soprani accordions too, but though they might be seen as trying to infer that this was an English instrument their label does read "& Importers".

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was "Douglas" trying to convince his buyers that this was a British-made instrument?

 

I don't think so, I would say it is just a lable of the shop, or the importer (like Stephen says), and it is definitely German import.

 

Marien

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And here's something similar, with the name "Bates"...

 

It's this one. Looks German-made if you know what to look for...but was "Douglas" trying to convince his buyers that this was a British-made instrument with the London address (on the instrument and the case) and the statement "Manufacturers and Importers"? Did Douglas actually manufacture concertinas at all?
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I was almost convinced by that "bates" concertina, however it does look to be better than the standard german one when haveing to decide I would say it was a german repleca - note the round topped screws. These are what i have noticed they used on german imitations, refer to this one for similar screws:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/old-concertina-in-a-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

also i have never seen an english made concertina with the same fretwork as that bates one has, is it not reminiscent of the logo on this concertina box of this german one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/German-Concertina-No...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

(note the harp (lyre?) design on the logo of the red box where it says "superiour quality") It is suspiciously familiar to the carveing in the fretwork of mr bates concertina:

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  • 1 month later...

And now there's this one, with a "Campbell" nameplate, currently being sold by someone in Germany who represents it as apparently British-made. (Possibly an honest error...) It's unusual in that it's double-reeded with register switches, but it looks very German to me. There's good info from Stephen on the Campbell firm in this post.

 

Daniel

 

And here's something similar, with the name "Bates"...

 

It's this one. Looks German-made if you know what to look for...but was "Douglas" trying to convince his buyers that this was a British-made instrument with the London address (on the instrument and the case) and the statement "Manufacturers and Importers"? Did Douglas actually manufacture concertinas at all?
Edited by Daniel Hersh
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It looks like a German made instrument can be recognized by a combination of:

plastic buttons of large diameter

buttons not aligned with each other

holes much bigger than the buttons

thin bellows

thin wrist strap.

 

Their poor quality was probably due to deliberate strategy to make very cheap, easily replaceble instruments.

I'm not convinced that this strategy was correct, or that it has to contunue today, but strangely the sound of them is very good and rich. There is lamenting quality in it and it has solid presence.

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And now there's this one, which is even called a "Union Jack"!

And now there's this one, with a "Campbell" nameplate, currently being sold by someone in Germany who represents it as apparently British-made. (Possibly an honest error...) It's unusual in that it's double-reeded with register switches, but it looks very German to me. There's good info from Stephen on the Campbell firm in this post.
And here's something similar, with the name "Bates"...
It's this one. Looks German-made if you know what to look for...but was "Douglas" trying to convince his buyers that this was a British-made instrument with the London address (on the instrument and the case) and the statement "Manufacturers and Importers"? Did Douglas actually manufacture concertinas at all?
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