May Fair Concertina

[mle_j_m]

Hello,

I am new to your forum and am wondering if someone could give me information about a concertina I inherited after my grandfather's death. The tag on the instrument says "May Fair - Made in England" and a tag inside the box says "Matusewitch Associates Concertinas. 1697 Broadway, NY, NY. Circle 7-0919" with "212" in pencil. It appears to be in its original box and has 22 keys (9 black and 13 white) with "1200" inscribed in the wood.

 

My grandfather was in no way a proficient musician (although he always loved music) and I am not sure if he ever even played it. I, however, am a graduate student in music (a flute player and a musicologist) and am interested in knowing more about the instrument for sentimental reasons. Also, I was wondering if anyone knew of a fingering chart for this particular instrument or a beginning instruction book.

 

Any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Emily

[ben]

I am no expert but this Mayfair may have been made by the Wheatstone Company but it was rebadged under another name.

 

Do you have a photo to attach/send to this forum?

[Radioboy]

Wheatstone made the May Fair as low priced beginner concertina that was made with Italian accordion reeds rather than concertina reeds.. Matuswitch was a concertina teacher in NYC. I'm sure that others on forum can tell you more about him an that there is a button layout guide somewhere. The white buttons are the naturals and the black buttons on the outside rows are the accidentals. I knew that they were made with 30 buttons but I didn't know that they made 22 button concertinas. Howie

[Radioboy]

Wheatstone made the May Fair as low priced beginner concertina that was made with Italian accordion reeds rather than concertina reeds.. Matuswitch was a concertina teacher in NYC. I'm sure that others on forum can tell you more about him an that there is a button layout guide somewhere. The white buttons are the naturals and the black buttons on the outside rows are the accidentals. I knew that they were made with 30 buttons but I didn't know that they made 22 button concertinas. Howie

[John Wild]

As has been stated, the Mayfair model was intended as a beginners instrument, and I believe they were mainly produced in the 1950's. I am not sure, but I believe the model name referred to English system concertinas only. A larger number of buttons extends the range of notes within the same overall pattern.

 

For information on layouts of buttons, for English concertinas and other systems, visit Chris Timson's concertina faq at www.concertina.info

 

This site will give you a wealth of information on all aspects of concertinas.

 

Welcome to these forums. I hope you are inspired to play the instrument yourself.

 

best wishes

 

John Wild

[JimLucas]

As has been stated, the Mayfair model was intended as a beginners instrument, and I believe they were mainly produced in the 1950's. I am not sure, but I believe the model name referred to English system concertinas only.

Hey folks. Emily is new here, but the rest of you should know enough to use the Search facility.

 

There are many posts which mention "Mayfair", and some of them are relevant to her question (the Mornington Crescent game is not), yet I think few enough to be worth browsing through. John, more than one mentions Mayfair anglos. Also, a couple of posts in the Concertina History subForum mention dates of manufacture for Mayfairs as 1955-60. I seem to remember other details -- like them being made by Wheatstone but without the Wheatstone name on them, -- but I'm afraid it would take me more than 5 minutes to find that post, if indeed C.net is where I read it.