Re: Re: [Harp-L] Civil war and harmonicas (was history of positions)

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

For a well-researched historical essay on Hohner harmonica production
and its social and economic context, and exportation beyond Germany, I
can refer you to Hartmut Berghoff's very interesting "Marketing
Diversity: The Making of a Global Consumer Product?Hohner's Harmonicas
1857-1930". Take especial note of the page numbered 344, where he
states that Hohner's first offer of commercial exportation to the U.S.
did not come until 1867 - after the US Civil War had ended. In fact,
Berghoff does not mention the Civil War at all.

Civil War museums online that I've encountered make no mention of the
harmonica.

Hohner's production in 1857 was 600 instruments. Let's say it had
increased by tenfold by 1864. This would have required a tenfold
increase in workers, as all production was handmade until the 1870s.
This seems a bit unlikely, especially as much of the early work was
done on a part-time basis by homecrafters during the off-season when
they weren't busy farming, and not in a factory environment. Again,
that didn't start until the 1870s.

But let's say he was able to crank out 6,000 instruments a year by
1864. How many soldiers were there in action during the Civil War?

http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm

We're looking at 3 to 4 million for both sides. Let's say Hohner
managed to export all 6,000 instruments to the U.S. and that all of
them ended up in the hands of solders. At 3 million hat works out to
one harmonica for every 500 soldiers. At 4 million it works out to one
for every 667 soldiers.

So why do we see on Ebay the results of Civil war digs for sale that
include harmonicas along with belt buckles, bullets, and other metal
items?

Is the work of professional archaeologists properly trained in the
scientific methods required to evaluate the dating of artifacts found
in soil strata? I doubt it. Mostly this appears to be the work of Civil
War buffs with metal detectors. They then offer the result of their
hobby work for sale, so they have an economic interest in stating that
whatever they dug up is from the Civil War as this is more valued by
their customers than "some stuff I dug up."

Do you see why I'm skeptical?

Winslow
--- David Coulson <ndavid.coulson@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> In Winslow's  response to Iceman's posting he states that the popular
>  
> image of harmonica playing in the Civil War was the creation of  
> Hollywood screen writers, and that harmonica production was too low  
> until the 1870s or 1880s for the instrument to have been widespread. 
> 
> However, in the Alan Bates collection site he links to in the same  
> response, it says this: "First imported in quantity in the early  
> 1860s, they (harmonicas) became popular with soldiers from both north
>  
> and south.  Many harmonica remains have been found around Civil War  
> camp sites."
> So which is correct?
> 
> David
> 
> On Feb 23, 2007, at 8:00 AM, winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> 
> > Harmonica production was too low in the 1860s for harmonicas to
> have
> > been very widespread in the US during slavery times. Production
> wasn't
> > really large enough until about the 1870s or '80s, which was in
> fact a
> > time of great hope for black folks, with African Americans actually
> > getting elected to State office, until white racists figured out
> ways
> > to shut them out of the entire democratic process for the better
> part
> > of a century.
> >
> > The popular image of the harmonica being played by Civil War
> soldiers
> > was created by Hollywood screenwriters. They remembered the very
> real
> > phenomenon of the harmonica being very widespread during the first
> > world war of 1914-1918, when annual harmonica production (and
> > exportation) was well into the multiple millions, and projected
> that
> > back to the Civil war scenes they were writing (soldiers gone off
> to
> > war, a past era, harmonica). Some folks I know will disagree, but
> I'm
> > pretty certain this is a false image. The production and
> distribution
> > just weren't there.
> 
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