68-year level. Here are a few of themodels listed on the pyramid thatyou can research. If you can finddata and report back to me, I willput the information in the nextNewsletter. (It is sort of a researchproject). Models to look for: 132,346, 1896, 605, 3CND, 152, 153,146, 254 and 453. Have Fun!

The Editor

The

A Publication of Harmonica Collectors International

Vol 5. Issue 3September 2003

Dedicated to the collection, preservation and sharing of information for the Harmonica collector

The Trumpet CallHarmonica Collectors InternationalP.O. Box 6081Chesterfield, MO 63006-6081

8

Call

1

The UP TO DATELatest Finds

HISTORY OF THE HOHNERPYRAMID ROTATING DISPLAY

I thought that with the article onrestoration of the display, a littlehistory and associated data was inorder.

The Hohner wooden rotating displaywas first introduced in 1911 (wethink). I have seen models at theHohner Museum, made of metal byboth Hohner and Koch and believetheirs to be a much earlier vintage.The pyramid stands approx. 32”high, including the base, which is 11”x 10 1/2” and holds a large spring anda crank to wind it.

Cost of these great displays run thegambit from $300 to $1,000depending on the following:Condition, operation, original crankhandle, how much hardware isincluded and in one case, rarity.This is the 1926 Philly model. Thedisplay units in my collection includefour different models. They aredistinguished by the wording at thetop and the prices on each side.

1. Top: “Over 54 Years”, 8 millionsold annually. Side prices start at 25cents.2. Top: “Over 54 Years”, 10 millionsold annually. Side prices start at 50 cents.3. Top: “Over 68 Years”, over 25million sold annually. Side pricesstart at 50 cents.

4. Top: “Over 68 Years”, 25 millionsold annually. Side prices start at 50cents, plus Grand Prix Philadelphia1925 with two mediations. This isthe most rare of the four.

Item #2 has some unusual make upof harmonicas and also a higherprice structure than the other 54-year pyramid, the prices are at the

The BRAVO History

LATEST FINDS

M Hohner Kaiser Wilhelm,Deutsche National Musik, 20-holetremolo with 4-tab cover plateand a sport logo. Comes with ahinged box, 6” x 1 1/8”.M. Hohner Capathnkam, 16-

double hole tremolo, star in logo,5 1/2” x 1”. Made for theGreek(?) market. Has a zinc reedplate and comes with a box

C.H. Weiss, Model 24 (9), TheWorlds Triumph, 10-holediatonic, 4” x 1” with box.

Gretsch, Playboy, 10-holediatonic, 4” x 1”, made inGermany. A very rare Gretschmodel with box.

Harmonica As Toys

The United States Board of GeneralAppraisers, in a decision on May 25,sustained the protest of Geo. Borgfeldt &Co., the “Wholesale Dept. Store,” thatharmonicas costing less than 1 mark (24¢)were dutiable as toys. The authorities citedB.A. 1003 and 4679 to fortify their opinion.

Music Trade Review Vol 38 No 24 pg. 39 6-11-1904

The Trumpet CallPublished quarterly By The Harmonica CollectorsInternational

Membership Fee$25.00/Year USA - $30.00/All Others

Ads - Buy - SellTrade $5/AdMaximum - around 25 - 40 wordsMembers - No Charge

Send all correspondence, letters, ads,articles, photos, comments to:The EditorHCIP.O. Box 6081Chesterfield, MO 63001-6081e-mail hcrain@harleysharps.com

Officers:Harland Crain, PresidentAlan Bates, Vice PresidentRick Nielsen, TreasurerHarland Crain, Secretary/EditorRichard Smith, Club Historian

SUPPORTERS:S.P.A.H.Hohner, USANHL (National Harmonica League)UK)AHN (American Harmonica

Newsletter)Harmonica Player (Germany)German Harmonica Museum

Trossigen, GermanyHarmonica Educator USA

DEPARTMENTS:• The ECHO - Letters to the Editor• The CHIMEWOOD -

Submitted Articles• WORLD RENOWN -

People, Places & Things• The BRAVO - History • OLD STANDBY -

Repairs, Restoration, Inventory

• UP-TO-DATE - Latest Finds• The WARBLER -

Special Announcements• The TUCKAWAY -

Buy, Sell, Trade• ATTA BOY - Member Information

* For a complete set of past issuessend $20 + $2.50 S/H for each year,1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001,and 2001-2002 available. Overseasshipping cost will vary.

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springs made but the best deal I couldfind was for a minimum order of 500 at$1 - $1.25 each. If anyone has a sourceor if we can get a collective requirementof 500 springs, I will look into it further.

However, the “L” shaped screws can bereplaced and will hold the harps withoutthe springs. You can purchase #1534, 111/16” screw hooks at Walmart or ahardware store. It is a lot of work, butthe result is excellent (the idea, by theway, is the brain child of Rick Nielsen).

Step #1: You must straighten out thehook end. I used a vise andhammer.Step #2: Once flattened, youmust decide where to make the “L”curve. I used the vise again to bendand a hammer to flatten the ends a bit.

Step #3: You need to paint the screws.I use a spray can of brown enamel tomatch the wood color. You may have

The "Basch" PIPEOLION(Article submitted by Don Basch)

Excitement arrived at the Baschhousehold recently when apackage was delivered from eBayauctioneer Shirley in Janesville,Wisconsin. Don is a CharterMember of HCI and continues toexpand his personal harmonicacollection. Inside the packagewas a wonderful PIPEOLIONharmonica manufactured around1907 by Ch. Weiss in Trossingen,Germany.

Don had won the piece overseveral other excited bidders in arecent eBay auction. Shirley laterrevealed that she had acquired thepiece at an estate auction a fewmonths earlier in the Janesvillearea. She had paid a mere $155for it (or about ten percent ofDon's final cost) and unbelievably,she had only one other personbidding against her. Goes to showyou there still are opportunitiesout there for finding rareharmonicas at bargain prices.Don only wishes he had been atthat earlier auction to bid againsther.

The Pipeolion is an unusual earlypiece with a blow reed plus a drawreed assembled inside each of tenbrass trumpet tubes or hornsextending out the curved back ofits rosewood base. This is the firstknown attempt at such a design.Don's find is slightly differentfrom the example on display in thewonderful Alan Bates Collectionat the National Music Museum.The "Basch" Pipeolion has a two-piece horn construction with eachtrumpet horn formed with a rolledcollar attaching it onto the tube.

The OLD STANDBY Repairs - Restoration - Inventory

HOHNER PYRAMID DISPLAYHARDWARD MODIFICATION

The wooden rotating display stand isone of the most dramatic and dynamicdisplays ever designed for the retailtrade. The display has a separate basewith a windup spring and crank. Thestand holds nine harps on each of itsfour sides. It utilizes two “L” shapedscrews and a steel spring for eachharmonica. Many of the pyramids havesome of the hardware missing.

I have looked into having the steel

The CHIMEWOODSubmitted Articles

The Bates piece has a one-piecestyle with each trumpet tubeformed as a single piece.

Communication with HCI expertsAlan Bates and Harland Crainhave not determined why or whenthe construction difference wasintroduced. Functionally both

work the same. If anyone outthere can shed some light on thisquestion please do give me anemail. The mouth side of the woodbase is covered in nickel platedmetal. Lettering is impressed withgold paint into the wood baseproclaiming: "Full organ tone;Patent applied for; PipeolionTrade Mark; and Madeby Ch. Weiss." The seldom-photographed underside of thispiece has the full music score withnotes for "Home Sweet Home"nicely imprinted in gold. Thissupposedly provided the playerwith his/her music score readily athand.

Fortunately, Don's Pipeolion camewith its original box inremarkably good condition for itsage. Examples with the originalbox are considered quite rare.The blue/gray box is hinged toreveal a bright red interior. Theidentical large colorful goldtrimmed label is applied to both

The ECHOLetters to the Editor

NOTES OF A HARMONICACOLLECTOR

IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIABy Donald Kern

Harmonica Collecting in SouthernCalifornia can be challenging. While intoday’s world more and more reliance onE-bay and the Internet is becoming thenorm, it doesn’t satisfy the feeling of theactual article held in my hand. To be ableto test a harmonica before purchasing isimportant to me. I am a harmonica playeras well as a collector and one of my criteriafor selecting a harmonica is that it be ingood working order.

My collection began as a means ofsurviving the boredom of following my wifein and out of collectible shops. To piquemy interest I decided I was going to collectan item which would help me pass the timeand focus my attention. The idea ofharmonicas immediately came to mind.

The sense of challenge is to find those ingood repair. Going from store to store inSouthern California, harmonicas are notin plentiful supply. I have had to practicepatience, waiting for that special find tosurface.

Prices are also a limiting factor. Being in alarge urban area, costs are high generallyspeaking. I have found that traveling out ofthe greater Los Angeles area to outlyingsmall towns helps not only in finding thatspecial harmonica but also involves lower prices.

My wife and I make a day of it, driving 50to 100 miles away from Los Angeles tosearch for something new or different. Wefind it relaxing to get out of the city in hopeof finding something. I also attend antiquetoy shows when I can.

Regardless of the outlet, its’ the hunt that’simportant as much as the object itself.There’s a sense of adventure, not knowingif that day I will be successful. And if I am,the rest of the day is elevated. I am caughtup in continually turning over the prize inmy hands, testing it for tone, waiting

to drill new holds, since many times theold screws have broken off in thedisplay. Putting a thin coat of clearvarnish over the wood to preserve thelettering may be a good idea, although,at this time it is still underconsideration. You do not want to alterthe original too much. Here is a picture of the hooks, beforeand after.

H. Crain

anxiously to get home where I can checkmy resources in dating the harmonica.Pouring over past issues of The TrumpetCall becomes my tireless pursuit.

Although I have been collecting for severalyears, my collection is small. Hearingabout other collectors’ experiences isinteresting and educational. It’s also a wayof connecting with a memory of my fatherwho played in a 30-man harmonica bandfor a short time in the 1920’s. Every timeIfind harmonicas pre WWII, I think of howmy father might have played one just like it.

So for all harmonica collectors out there,I’m sending greetings from the West Coast.Happy hunting to you all and thanks foryour thanks for your contributions tomy knowledge.

A great find forHarry Ridge

quality, returned the company to itsorigin, as a producer of harmonicasas its sole interest.Many improvemnts have beenincorporated into the already highquality product line, including

attractive packaging. The selectionof harmonica models has beenincreased to cover all the marketneeds - both chromatic and diatonic,and sprecialty instruments includingtremolo and octave tunings, studentmodels and mini-harmonicas.

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the inside and outside of the cover.It pictures the Pipeolion in all itsglory and claims it to be "The newmusical instrument" and "Thegrand Solo Instrument" with acherub heralding that "Anyonecan play it!" The manufacturerMr. Ch Weiss is proudly picturedand described as "AlwaysHarmonious," whatever thatmeant.

The slightly yellowed four pageoriginal instruction sheet that alsocame with the piece was preparedby Frank Scribner and is

copyrighted 1907. It features acover article by Ch Weiss claimingthe Pipeolion to be "the easiest ofall reed instruments to play."Inside, there are detailedinstructions for how to play it,followed by two pages of blow/drawschematics for playing four songs.

The Pipeolion…What a wonderful centerpiecefor any harmonica collection.

By Don Basch (Email: djbinmn@aol.com)

The BRAVO History

The Hering History(2000)

Hering Harmonicas of Brazil, isproud to announce the introductionof their complete line of harmonicasand related accessories to the U.S.and Canadian markets.

Founded by Mr. Alfred Hering in1923 in the city of Blumenau, in thesouth of Brazil, the Hering companyhas long enjoyed a reputation as aworld leader in the manufacture offine harmonicas.

After the death of Mr. Hering, thecompany was sold in the middle ofthe 60’s to the M. Hohner Companyof Trossingen, Germany. At thattime, Hering was also manufacturingaccordions and a variety of musical

toys. In 1979, a Brazilian groupbought the Hering Company andHohner left. Brazil.

After 16 years, in 1996, a group ofinvestors, with Mr. AlbertoBertolazzi as a leader, purchased thecorporation. Mr/ Bertolazzi and hismanagement team, with a visin ofproducing prducts of the highest

SOME CAUTIONS FOR REED CHANGING SUCCESS

Reed changing is not for the klutz-typerepairperson. It takes a lot of patience,and finesse, and determination. Manyrepair technicians do not want to botherwith the task you are about to begin; andthere are certain tools, techniques, andaccessories you should have available touse for this reed changing operation, inorder to have good success andsatisfaction.

First, of course, is a tool kit. Tool kits areavailable from Bill Romel, and F & RFarrell Company. (John Infande hassuspended making tool kits.) By orderingRichard I. Smith’s instruction brochureyou will have a good guide for procedure,and suggestions for making simple toolsand jigs that will help you do this job.

Once you have removed the broken,disfunctioning reed (carefully), you mayfind that you can use the old rivet overagain. A small reed wrench (that straddlesthe reed butt), homemade, or from a toolkit, is used for loosening the reed forfreeing it from the plate. Much care mustbe taken so as not to bend the reed platewhich will cause trouble when refitting tothe comb. (A bent plate will allow airleakage.)Next, assure that the reed does notinterfere with the slot at the tip end.(Opposite end from the rivet, or boltattachment.) Sight down the length of thereed plate to see if the new reed has thesame arching above the plate as the otherreeds. (See the Smith guide about how tore-arch a reed that sets too flat, or too closeto the plate.)

You are at the stage for sounding the reed.The little tube gizmo (from the Smithinstructions) will be useful depending on

which side of the plate you select for test. Atthis point, because the new reed will be flat,a couple of scratches with a file at the tip willbring it up in pitch. Do not overdo with thefile. To check the actual pitch quality of thereplacement, a tuner will be needed, unlessyou can trust your ears. Tuners areavailable from F & R Farrell Co., or fromKevins Harps, and music stores.

Riveting might suffice, but if you are using abolt and nut, the hole in the reed plate mightnot be quite large enough to accommodatethe bolt shank. A drill with a .047” bodywill be needed. (About $1.15 at a goodindustrial supply outlet.) Anotheralternative is to tap the plate hole with a No.90 tap.

At this point you realize that the reedchange is possible, somewhat sophisticated,and not too formidable, yet not exactly forthe person who is all thumbs. But if you are

one of those harmonica players who havegathered a grocery bag full of old MarineBands, Special 20”s, Golden Melodys orthe likes . . . you can realize a bit of extraservice out of your investment . . . simplyby doing the reed replacements.

Video instruction – John Infande (904)873-0303 8506 E. SW 93rd St.Ocala, FL 34481-92212Reed Replacement Brochure – BuckeyeState Harmonica Club - $7.50Jack Ely (614) 488-46291991 W. Third St.Columbus, OH 43212-1704

Tools-Reed Kits-Tuners – F & R FarrellCo. 1-800-438-3543P.O. Box 133Harrisburg, OH 43126

Tuners from Kevins Harps – 1-800-274-2776

Members Please Contact:Zan Robinson1300 N. French Rd.Buffalo, NY. 14228 USAPrice of CD is $15 Plus S/H

Zan is now a HCI member.You may recognize the nameas Zan was amember of theHarmonica Rascals.

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Sir Charles W. Wheatstone (1802-1875), the19th century British accoustician and electricalengineer who is best remembered in scientificcircles for his life-long research concerning theelectric telegraph, also contributedsubstantively to the development of electro-magnetic clocks, typewriters, Morse codetransmitters, stereoscopes, and an artificialvoice device. However, it was hisexperimentation with freely vibrating “springs”

(thin strips of metal) -first seen on theContinent withFriedrich LudwigB u s c h m a n n ’ sintroduction of theMundœline, a free-reed. chromatictuning devicedeveloped inGermany in 1821that forever linkedWheatstone’s namewith the history anddevelopment of freereed instruments in

Great Britain.

In 1828 whilepreparing hispatent forthe nascentconcertina,

vibrating reed, made of hallmarked gold, isattached to an opening in the center of the tiny,mother-of-pearl plate, about the size of a postagestamp.

Deep grooves cut into the long sides of the mother-of-pearl enable the player to hold the devicesecurely between his teeth. Merely breathing overthe free reed sets it into vibration, freeing theplayer’s hands t tune his violin or viola. Theoriginal, leather covered box also survives, withTYPOTONE stamped in gold across its red cover.

These tree rare instruments - Wheatstones’s tripleÆolina, Zwahlen’s Pandean Æolina, andPinsonnat’s Typotone - are among the earliestsurviving examples of the European developmentof free-reed instruments. As such, they provide acritical historical foundation for the other 2,500harmonicas in the Alan G. Bates Collection.

Wheatstone introduced is own version of theGerman Mundœline - the Æolina, a thin, pocket-sized predecessor of the harmonica, measuring lessthan 4” x 2” x 1/4”. Fittingly named in honor ofAiolos, the divine Greek administrator of the fourwinds, the Æolina consisted of a series of thinstrips of a new alloy, argentum (nickel silver),fitted into parallel rows of rectangular opening inan agentum plate and set into vibration “by agentle breath alone”.

The earlier German-style Ælians. characterized bythe English in 1829 as “universally popular on theContinent”, were available in a variety of sizes,according to The German Æolian Tutor (London1830). These included a tiny, four-note version; acurved “trumpet Æolian”; a two-octave chromaticmodel; a three-chord “Pandean Æolian”,seemingly identical to the rare Pandean Æolian byLewis Zwalen, New York, ca. 1831, that came tothe Museum (NMM 9591) with the Alan G. BatesCollection in 2000; and, a large, “eight-chordPandean Æolian mounted on a handle.

Wheatstone, however, produced only two- andthree-chord Æolians, of which fewer than a half-dozen are known to survive. The Museum’s rare,

recently acquired three-chord model featuresnickel-silver reed plates, each with eight exposedreeds of equal length, tuned to the chords of A, E,and D (tonic, dominant, and subdominant). Thereed plates are held together by a frame made offour strips of ivory fastened together with delicate,nickel-silver rivets.

The instrument’s original case, lined with cream-colored silk, survives almost as it looked when new,nearly 175 years ago, sporting a bright red, leatherflip-top cover with a delicate acorn and oak-leafdesign stamped in gold around the outside edge.

Another very early free-reed instrument,contemporary with Wheatstone’s Æolina, has alsobeen added to the Alan G. Bates Collection. TheTypotone, patented by Pinsonnat of Amiens,France, January 17, 1829, and approved for useby the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris, is atuning device built to sound “A”. A freely

The CHIMEWOODSubmitted Articles

All three will be shown together in public for thefirst time, when the Museum’s exhibition,Beethoven & Berlioz, Paris & Vienna: MusicalTreasures from the Age of Revolution &Romance 1789-1848, opens at the WashingtonPavilion in Sioux Falls on September 12.

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FROM THE FOUR WINDS…A RARE TRIPLE ÆOLINA AND A TYPOTONE BOTH ADDED TO THE ALAN BATES COLLECTION

NMM 10,434 Triple Æolina by Charles Wheatstone, London, ca1830. Original case. Purchase funds gift of Alan G. Bates, WestGrove, Pennsylvania, 2003

NMM 9591 Pandean Æolina by Lewis Zwahlen, New York, ca. 1831. LikeWheatstone’s triple Æolina Zwahlens’ rare, sixteen-reed model is arrangedin three chords: G, D, and C, and survives with its original box. Alan G. Bates Collection 2000.

Wheatstone stamped his name on each reed plate in the Museum’s triple Æolina.Wheatstone & Co., a business association among Wheatstone, his father, and hisyounger brother, was located at 20 Conduit Street (between New Bond Street andRegent Street by 1829 and remained there until 1897

An article in The Harmonica (London, 1829) describes Wheatstone’s triple Æolina anddocuments the maker’s use of argentum (German silver). a “new metallic alloy” of nickel,copper, and zinc, several years before the first commercial production of nickel silver inEngland in 1833

NMM 8206. Typotone (tuning device) by Pinsonnat,Amiens, ca. 1830. The maker’s name and serialnumber (64) are inscribed on the front; the gold reedis hallmarked with the letter P, inside a diamond.