RE: [Harp-L] Prewar Seydel Harmonica in the movie "Australia"

["Bradford Trainham" <bradford.trainham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Also...
I wonder if you sighted types might spot two harmonicas used in that movie.
In one scene, I think when the guy who ends up getting killed is playing the
harp, he's playing in d.
When the little boy plays later, it's in c.
It's possible I have the harps reversed with their supposed players, but I
do remember one being in c and the other in d. 
 (I also remember how my back teeth threatened to float away before that
"epic" had run its course.)
Brad Trainham


-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of David Payne
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 5:54 AM
To: Harp L Harp L
Subject: [Harp-L] Prewar Seydel Harmonica in the movie "Australia"

 I don't know how many of you have the seen the movie already, I just saw it
a couple days ago. It's been out for a while and it's out on DVD now. I'll
try not to spoil the plot for those who haven't seen. 
There is a lot of playing, mostly "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." But the
harmonica itelf is used as a literary vehicle and it even saves a life, it
was so unusual, for a mainstream movie, that the harmonica would play such a
key role. As a Seydel lover and dealer, it was pretty cool for me. As a
prewar lover, it was especially nice. 
It was described as "THE Famous Boomerang by J. Albert and Son." The
harmonica gets some full-screen shots, so you can pause and check out the
harp, and, apparently, they got an original and they preserved that
authenticity in the playing. Listen close, you hear this incredibly flat
note in "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." That, far as I could tell, is a prewar
5 draw.
The J. Albert and Son who had the "famous" Boomerang was Albert's Music
Stores, which our Harp-L subscribees on the island continent are probably
familiar with that company. As I understand it, Jacques Albert was a
clockmaker and repaired some violins on the side. His son Frank came along
around 1902 and started importing instruments. He worked out some sort of
arrangement with C.A. Seydel and Sons in Germany to have this Boomerang
made. 
Frank Albert marketed the hell out of these harmonicas. If you look at a
picture of an Albert's Music Store storefront from the 1920s or 1930s,
you'll see on one side ?Phonographs & Records,? the store name in the middle
and ?Boomerang Mouth Organs? on the other. 
According to Albert's, which is still in business as a recording company,
the Boomerangs were first made in 1924, but I don't know. It may have been
earlier. The reason I wonder is because the original Boomerang said ?Made in
Saxony.? Seydel used ?Saxony? presumably until about 1920. Germany was the
last of the major European countries to unify and during the Second Reich
(1870 ? 1919), Saxony was an autonomous state within the German empire.
After the First World War, Saxony became part of the Weimar Republic and
Seydel switched from ?Saxony? to ?Germany? on the coverplate. 
Australia went to war with Germany in 1914, so it is possible perhaps that
some were made before 1914 and production resumed in 1924. 
This Boomerang was a huge boom for Seydel and Albert sold so many, it
probably kept the company from going out of business during the Depression.
If you look at this page at the picture of the Seydel managers taken in the
1930s (I've got it on this page:
www.elkriverharmonicas.com/seydelstory.html) look for the boomerang (one you
throw, not blow) on the wall. 
The Boomerang-shaped model (like the one shown on the Musselwhite album)
wasn't the only Boomerang made for Alfred's. There was a Boomerang chromatic
and Seydel made some Boomerang versions of the super-cool prewar Bandmaster,
the ones with the megaphone side vents on the coverplates. Instead of the
curved megaphone vent the Bandmaster had, those Boomerangs had
Boomerang-shaped megaphone side vents. There was a Boomerang chromatic. 
Albert's carried various Boomerang models over the years. Occasionally,
you'll see a Boomerang model pop up that looks just like the East German-era
Bandmaster (no Boomerang shape). Albert's stopped carrying them in 1970, I
don't know if they closed the music stores then or what, maybe some
Australians can help me. 
Like I said, Albert's is still in business. Perhaps you have heard of at
least one band they handle ? AC/DC. 
But if you can, do watch the movie, at least for the harmonica. How many
times do you get to see and hear a cool prewar harp in a movie? 
 
Prewar harps? Nicole Kidman? Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold.

 
Dave
_______________________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 

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