Re: [Harp-L] U.S. Civil War relic harmonica

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I checked into Sears, that catalog doesn't go back farther than 1894 and it was big then cause Sears carried a range of harps from a nickel to $11. All I was able to find was the price range, no PDF of the catalog or anything. $11 tells me folks were buying orchestral harps in 1894, we're probably gonna have to go back a good bit farther. The find would to find a harp in one of the earlier catalogs or price lists or whatever, general stores were ordering from. At some point, they are going to start showing up and we can peg the timeframe. Judging by what I've found from the 1890s, it seems to have on the upswing as a fad then. I'm guessing 1870s at the moment.
I studied the War Between the States for years and never ran across any reference to the harmonica. I used to reenact when I was in college, you could get away with carrying a Marine Band, since it was wood. I even got away with a Marine Band at Kernstown, Va. and they were so particular, if you smoked, you had to roll your own, the year I went, we pleaded with the powers that be and they let us tear the filters off the cigs we had. I had to go barefoot because my boots weren't leather soled, I was probably the most authentic Confederate there as a result
Even back then, I knew there couldn't have been many harps in the Civil War. Lot of baseball, but few harps. Didn't stop me from playing.
 We played "Bonnie Blue Flag" and stuff during the day, when people were around. in the evenings, we could start drinking beer and playing bluegrass.
 Nothing like sitting around a fire in a Civil War campsite, two pistols on your side, horses tied to a tree, and picking Bill Monroe, Confederate style.
 Around dark, you'd get some beer, we didn't have any way to keep it cold, you know. I remember when I turned 21, we were camped the night before the battle of Phillipi, W.Va. (first land battle of the war) they sent me for beer. I was uneducated in the ways of beer in those days, they gave me some cash and sent me on my way.I came back with a case of Schaffer's. I was told take that "horsep***" back where I found it and get some real beer, while looking down the barrel of some two-band Enfield, a couple of Colt Army revolvers and a very angry Company F of the 17th Virginia Cavalry. REMEMBER WE ALL HAVE BLANKS. 
We lost the battle of Philippi the next day. I fought as hard as I could for four years and every time, that battle turned out the same. First year I was there, none of the Confederates got shot, so I made it a point to get shot the next three years. 

Another story just came to mind, we were in Uniontown, Pa. and were supposed to rob this train full of tourists, you know one of those train rides where they tell everybody "oooh, there's scary Confederates about." Tourist-type stuff. Anyway, we had supposedly tore up some tracks, the train stopped and we were supposed to get on it. We went way out on the tracks and waited about all morning. In this time, somebody from the train people was supposed to come by with some bologna sandwiches. We just wait, I play a little harp, etc. No bologna sandwiches ever showed up. 
The train comes by at noon and we haven't eaten all day. We start shooting and raising cane, get on the train and there is this buffet full of barbecue chicken and we're all staring at it. I pull out both pistols (they were huge pistols, on a LeMat, one a Walker), everybody else pulls their colts on the train company guy, then our officer barks out "We are taking posession of this wonderfully-smelling chicken on behalf of the Confederate States of America!" 
So we're in the train,pistols and carbines in one hand, one eye on our hostages, the other eye and hand on the chicken and we are eating this like a bunch of hyenas on a gazelle carcass. After we ate, we robbed the train. Those guys really were starving to death all the time back then, so It was probably the most authentic performance in the history of reenacting. I think we actually paid for the chicken with reproduction Confederate money, like Lee's army did in Pa and MD, worth as much now as the real stuff was in 1863. The passengers thought it was all part of the act.


Dave

  _____________________________
  Dave Payne Sr. 
 Elk RIver Harmonicas
 www.elkriverharmonicas.com