Re: Plastic reedplates

[Pat Missin <pat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ken Wolman wrote:
>
>Their toys have achieved Collectable status. One site,
>http://vintage-toys.com, reveals some Proll stuff up for sale, all of it
>apparently musical. There's an accordion and a saxophone, both plastic.
>eBay may have even more things out there. The instruments probably
>are far more expensive now than they were in 1950-something because
>they're collectables and mostly "cute." One of the sites on Geocities
>has something called a Looney Tunes Keymonica that the site owner
>locates in the early 1970s: I think you blow into the end and press
>buttons to change pitches. I don't think it's for sale; it's part of a
>private collection. 

The Keymonica was one of Magnus's inventions and I believe he also
trademarked the name. I have one that is essentially the same
instrument (shown on an unfinished page on my website), but has the
name Proll-o-Tone on it. The child's accordion is also a Magnus
creation. Notice that the button assembly is essentially the same as
the smaller keymonicas:

http://www.vintage-toys.com/item.html?i=3495


The blow accordion is a Kratt design, patented in 1955 by William
Kratt and Emil Ens. As the box proudly boasts, these had brass reeds
rather than plastic:

http://www.vintage-toys.com/item.html?i=1439

>I didn't see any other harmonicas listed but that
>doesn't mean they're not there.

There is at least one. One of the ever popular corn cob harps, also by
Proll:

http://www.vintage-toys.com/item.html?i=1439


>I don't think I'd trade a Suzuki Chromatix for any of this stuff:-).

Perhaps not, but they are not without a certain charm and my dogs
really like to sing along with my Keymonica. I certainly wouldn't
trade it for either of the following:

http://vintage-toys.com/item.html?i=55
http://vintage-toys.com/item.html?i=2758

"Cute" is not the word I would use to describe these horrors...

 -- Pat.