[Harp-L] American harmonica manufacturers

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've been away, so just noticed this from Michael Peloquin:

" Brad harrison <snip> his new company manufacturing the first  
Harmonicas manufactured entirely in the United States will be online  
in 2009."

Except that he won't be the first, that would most likely have been  
either James Bazin who was making harmonicas very early in the  
instrument's history:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp? 
recview=true&id=51479&coll_keywords=&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_art 
ist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_cr 
edit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&col 
l_sort=0&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=10088&coll_start=1

The link is to a very early harmonica of his at the MFA in Boston.   
There was one on eBay earlier this year, IIRC.

There is also his very interesting pitch-pipe design:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp? 
recview=true&id=286784&coll_keywords=&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_ar 
tist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_c 
redit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&co 
ll_sort=0&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=10088&coll_start=1

Or Lewis Zwahlen from the same time period:

http://www.usd.edu/smm/Aeolian.html

Notably Bazin was from Boston and Zwahlen from New York, both amongst  
the most cosmopolitan cities of their day and also both with close  
ties to Europe by way of maritime trade--and perhaps not  
coincidentally the two pre-eminent centers of American organ-building  
for much of the 19th century.

A bit more contemporary and we have the William Kratt company, still  
making pitch-pipes (which could be classified as a circular  
harmonica) in the US.  For a while they made more standard harmonicas  
as well:

http://www.gradywilliamkerr.com/PitchPipes/PitchPipe.html

I know this clip has been posted before, but it is still fun--a visit  
to the Kratt factory on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wmrz8BM-4M

There was also the Magnus company, making all-plastic instruments:

http://www.patmissin.com/gallery/gallery07.html

And also mid-century was the brilliant "All American" brand  
harmonicas made by the Harmonic Reed Corp. of Philadelphia, PA.   
These were made out of Bakelite, have been discussed on harp-l and  
are arguably the most complete re-working of the basic harmonica  
construction ever actually produced (there have been some interesting  
patents, but most are probably vaporware).  Here are some examples:

http://www.patmissin.com/gallery/gallery10.html

http://www.g6pje.fsnet.co.uk/DIATONICS__OTHER_.html

I'd love to see these made again--they really have some nice  
possibilities and are just so neat design-wise.  Won't happen, of  
course.

So, if he does get into production Brad Harrison may* be the only  
person manufacturing harmonicas in their entirety in the US today, he  
will not be the first.


*May because it all depends on how you classify pitch-pipes.


I hope to try one of Brad's harps when they come out--the prototypes  
look nice.  I'm still waiting to see when or if the patent  
information comes online for these.



 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()
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