Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harmonica Otherwise playlist on Spotify

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 There was an actual model in the late 1800s early 1900s called the French Harp, my contention is the name stuck, kind of like Band Aid did for bandages. 

 I can't speak for the entire South, but Archeological harmonica evidence I've reviewed from Virginia would suggest in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries that most harps in the mid Atlantic South were supplied by Klingenthal makers and not Hohner - who apparently must have been better established in the North - and other things I've seen have given me the impression that Hohner had little control over the U.S. Market until around 1905, so it would make sense to me that another harmonica could have bestowed it's name upon the whole - and it was probably readily accepted for the reason Pat mentioned. My grandmother always called it a French harp.
David

www.elkriverharmonicas.com

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 25, 2012, at 5:30, BenoÃt FELTEN <benoit.felten@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> That got me wondering why "French Harp" and I found this explanation on Pat
> Missin's excellent site:
> 
> "French" was often used in the US South to mean "European" and although
> harmonicas were mostly made in Germany, they wound up being called French
> Harps (compare with the Irish Gaelic term below).
> 
> http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q3.html
> 
> Apparently in Gaelic it was the "French Fiddle" !
> 
> Benoit
> 
> 2012/6/25 Dan Hazen <bluesmandan76@xxxxxxxxx>
> 
>> "Also, there are a host of great harmonica players in France --
>> disproportionate to the population, I believe."
>> 
>> Maybe that's why it's also nicknamed the "french harp".
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> BenoÃt FELTEN (http://twitter.com/fiberguy)
> www.fiberevolution.com
> www.musicalramblings.com
> www.apprentiphotographe.com