Re: [Harp-L] Theory, etc. - history of positions




On Feb 23, 2007, at 9:52 AM, David Coulson 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.

I agree with Winslow. More later.


However, in the Alan Bates

Who IS Alan Bates? I consider myself a fair hand at history. Certainly no expert, but well read nonetheless. In my life time, I have many times seen cases where what we were lead to believe about history, turns out to be bogus. It's all in the hands of the writer and it seems that the winner gets the opportunity to write as THEY see it, while the looser can only sit there discredited. After all, they DID loose, didn't they? so why should we believe THEM?


Now whether a writer is good or bad opens up that old 'Whose best/ worst subject'.

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.

Several words now come under scrutiny. A writer will use the words that they feel best describe a situation and the outcome of how the article is received rests heavily on their ability to express themselves with the words they use. This therefore becomes a matter of semantics.


Item #1... 'quantity'? quantity can be what ever figure the writer feels is sufficient to convey the meaning. Would that quantity be a cigar box full, a crate, a sea-land container, an entire ship? My guess would be crate, as anything less isn't worth the effort, anything more and you may have them sitting for years. Yes, see, while it's quite possible that harmonicas came here one year, it's another matter to say they were ALL distributed THAT year.

Item #2... 'Imported'? why would the item have to be imported? Couldn't it have arrived as someone's personal possession? That seems more plausible to ME because why would a factory who is sellig ore than enough of their product at home risk sending them thousands of miles on speculation?

Item #3... 'soldiers'? the harmonica was more likely to be carried by SAILORS. Shipping was expensive then as it is now and a couple days sailing time was big money. Much goods coming to America came into Boston. Boston was mainly Anglo Saxon. U.S sailors were mainly Anglo Saxon. Harmonica fit the music that they played (jigs, reels, waltzes). I believe the French Arcadians also picked up on this and took them to the Maritime Provinces, where, guess what? It also fit THEIR music.

Item #4... 'from both sides'? (meaning Union AND Confederacy). I feel that the harmonica went across to Pgh (which was known as the gateway to the west) and travelled with the 'flatboat men' down the Allegheny, Ohio, & Mississippi river systems and landed in the delta lands. There, the French (Cajuns this time) embraced it with open arms. Why? It FIT their music. From there it moved onto the Creoles and then the Blacks. When the flatboats got to New Orleans, they were dismantled for building materials and the crews went back to Pgh over- land. Along the way, harmonicas made their way into all the towns along the river system.

Many harmonica remains have been found around Civil War camp sites."

Finding many harmonica remains doesn't impress me. Why? Again: Just how MANY harmonica remains constitute 'many'? You were more likely to find these remains with the remains of UNION soldiers. Mainly because of the Boston connection. Many Irish immigrants were plucked right off of the boat and 'pressed' into service for the north. The policy of the north was to throw as many bodies as possible at the south and run the south out of ammunition. The Union leaders were incompetent but that's another story, but just as the Russians did to the Germans, the Union smothered the Confederates in corpses. Now there were several BLACK Union units and they were commanded by WHITE New Englanders and trained IN New England. Again, the Boston connection.


I have never heard of 'many', but there ARE remains at Gettysburg. Gettysburg was very late in the war. BTW, no one has ever proven who made them OR what country they are from. The importation of harmonicas was stated as being early 60s. That means 61, 62, & 63. Gettysburg wasn't till 65. Going back to 1835 when I think is the 'disputed' beginnings of the harmonica, it isn't inconceivable that harmonica remains could'nt be found at the ALAMO (circa 1836). I was never convinced that the harmonica WAS a German invention anyway. It seems quite possible to me that 49ers in the gold fields could have dropped harmonicas in Sutter's creek that were CHINESE. No, not made IN China, made by an Chinese man (for his children) after he had just done his 16 hour shift in the laundry.

I feel that just as it is impossible to say who started Bar-B-Que (which 'I' believe was by PRE-historic man), it is just as hard to say when, how, and why, the harmonica spread the way it did. Giving credit to anyone is moot, but I would have to lean towards the French & Irish (in that order). Why? Because the Irish were far from Germany and had little contact with them save sea-faring, whereas the French were right next door and everything Germany had France had too (and moreso). In fact, I would go so far as to shimmy out a long limb and say the French came up with the (modern) harmonica as I have found out that anything I like that's neat, cool, artistic, architecturally beautiful, sensual, romantic, or just plain swell is from there.


So which is correct?

View ALL writing as skeptical and consider the sources and research......... Smokey Joe

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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