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

David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> · Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:01:28 -0700 (PDT)

It is pretty cool - harmonicas have always been subject to global politics and German politics were volatile from the beginning. There used to be hundreds of makers and pretty much the entire 20th Century history was of companies struggling from one calamity after another. Export market interuptions at World War I... many companies out of business. Then boom in the 1920s. Then the Great Depression - some more companies whittled away. Then World War II... more companies gone. Then after the war, most of the still-surviving makers - nearly 20 in all, one of which had a patent for lengthwise milling - are in Soviet-occupied Germany. The Communist Scythe reaps them all. Out of hundreds of German harmonica companies, only four are left today: 
F.A. Rauner, C.A. Seydel, Kostler and Hohner.   
Only three of them make musical instruments. Only two of them make harmonicas. Its only been within the past few years that Seydel has started the journey to come back to what it was before World War II and it's nowhere close to how big it was then - and that 60-year struggle was simply because some dudes got together and drew some lines on a map at Yalta in 1945.One thing I marveled at when I traveled through Germany and Austria when I was in college was the lack of old harmonicas in all the flea markets and antique shops I saw. I dunno, but I guess you could thank the British Navy for that - in WWI they were digging up water pipes and melting down centuries-old church bells for the metal, so I'd imagine most of those harps were recycled for the precious brass. Maybe the same in WWII - I read somewhere the Wehrmacht shot 8 BILLION 8mm rounds in World War II. That's a lot of brass. 
And the World War II brass shortage led to some other developments as well - we start seeing the American harmonica makers - like Kratt and Mangus - looking at plastics. That led to the all-plastic harmonica - including reeds and reedplates - and the plastic comb was not far behind.
I have to stop myself before I ramble too much, but I think it's fascinating story.

David Payne
www.elkriverharmonicas.com

Elk River Harmonicas Forum now available via Iphone app, www.elkriverharmonicas.com/forum

________________________________
 From: Benoît FELTEN <benoit.felten@xxxxxxxxx>
To: David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Cc: Harp L Harp L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harmonica Otherwise playlist on Spotify

That's a really interesting point, David, and one which I'd never thought
about before.

Isn't it thrilling when you realise the *big* history crosses your hobbies?

Benoit

2012/6/25 David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

> I think the reason they didn't make them was the same reason we generally
> didn't make them in the U.S. until we couldn't get German harmonicas
> anymore. When the craze hit in the 1920s, German money was so undervalued
> and the U.S. dollar was so strong, harmonicas from Germany were
> artificially cheap.
>
> David Payne
> www.elkriverharmonicas.com
>
>
> Elk River Harmonicas Forum now available via Iphone app,
> www.elkriverharmonicas.com/forum
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 11:54 AM
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harmonica Otherwise playlist on Spotify
>
> During the time period of which ya'all speak, France was THE bench mark
> for quality items. Especially during the industrial revolution. They had
> expositions all the time. In those days the Brits were known for heavy huge
> endeavors. Like bridges, steam engines, heavy equipment. France was known
> for small intricate artisticaly done items, architecture, and any thing of
> artistic design. Because of the tendency for Americans to buy anything
> exotic, It became something of a klepto for anyone wanting to sell to
> Americans to attach the name 'French' to it.
>
> The French even had a quality badge that they would afix to winners of
> expositions categories. It was the representation of the highest point in
> Europe. Namely Mont Blanc. The Mt. Blanc was considered the zenith or
> highest point of craftsmanship.  It was (basically) the snow capped summit
> and as such resembled a white star shaped stamp. This was not a Star of
> David (with 30 degree departure angles), but was an ENTRUNCATED star (37.5
> degree angles). Over the years this has erroneously been thought of as a
> star of David.
>
> smo-joe  (whom always wondered why the French didn't make harmonicas..I'm
> sure they would have been works of art.)
>
>
> On Jun 25, 2012, at 7:49 AM, David Payne wrote:
>
> > 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, Benoît 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".
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Benoît FELTEN (http://twitter.com/fiberguy)
> >> www.fiberevolution.com
> >> www.musicalramblings.com
> >> www.apprentiphotographe.com
> >
>

-- 
Benoît FELTEN (http://twitter.com/fiberguy)
www.fiberevolution.com
www.musicalramblings.com
www.apprentiphotographe.com