Re: Harmonica
I haven't done much research on mouth harmonicas (if you do a database search on just "harmonica" you will get an entirely different instrument for the late 18th and early 19th century) but mouth harmonicas started being patented in the US in the mid-1870s. You can do a Google Patent search and find some of them and then go to the USPTO site and do a classification search for a more complete list.
I don't know how many of the early patents were manufactured in the US but with the number of German toys imported into the US it is not surprising that the harmonicas were an imported product.
I just found an advertisement for a 1867 concert in Lowell, MA that included a selection by Professor Wallach, a celebrated Mouth Harmonica performer. He played a Swiss March and a Scotch air with variations. Apparently it was a popular performance because it was listed over several months.
I did find an 1879 advertisement for the German Harmonica Co. that apparently was a US company that was located in Shelburne Falls, MA. The advertisement stated that their product was "superior to the Langhamer, Richter, Concert, or Knitlingen harmonicas in style, durability and quality of tone."
Another advertisement from 1887 was for the John F. Stratton Company who was an importer of "all kinds of Mouth Harmonicas." They were located in New York.
Originally posted by Charles Kaiser
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I don't know how many of the early patents were manufactured in the US but with the number of German toys imported into the US it is not surprising that the harmonicas were an imported product.
I just found an advertisement for a 1867 concert in Lowell, MA that included a selection by Professor Wallach, a celebrated Mouth Harmonica performer. He played a Swiss March and a Scotch air with variations. Apparently it was a popular performance because it was listed over several months.
I did find an 1879 advertisement for the German Harmonica Co. that apparently was a US company that was located in Shelburne Falls, MA. The advertisement stated that their product was "superior to the Langhamer, Richter, Concert, or Knitlingen harmonicas in style, durability and quality of tone."
Another advertisement from 1887 was for the John F. Stratton Company who was an importer of "all kinds of Mouth Harmonicas." They were located in New York.
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