Siamese Twins, Paddle Wheel, Pohl Phone Resonator

 

Siamese Twins, Paddle Wheel, Pohl Phone Resonator

Images from The Alan G. Bates Harmonica Collection (8)

Siamese Twins Model Harmonica by M. Hohner, Trossingen, after 1904

NMM 8292.  Double tremolo harmonica by M. Hohner, Trossingen, after 1904. The Up to Date Siamese Twins model. Metal casings, wood combs. Two brass plates with 14 brass reeds each (28 reeds) per harmonica. According to Hohner's advertising, this ". . . neat and solid combination, is another triumph of the Hohner works. It is far more serviceable than all existing devices for quickly changing from one key to the other. The outer cover forms a sound tube which enables the player to vamp by closing one end with his left hand and maintaining a slight motion over the open end with his right hand. He can therefore produce an endless variety of music, and obtain effects which would be impossible by any other means. The advantage of this system will be readily umderstood and appreciated . . . ." Alan G. Bates Collection, 2000.

Lit.:  Lee Raine M. Randall, The Hohner Harmonica Company: Models and Marketing Material from About 1900 to 1940, M.M. thesis (Vermillion: University of South Dakota, 2007).

Paddle-Wheel Harmonica by M. Hohner, Trossingen, after 1937

NMM 8609. Tremolo paddle-wheel harmonica in C, F, D, and G by M. Hohner, Trossingen, Germany, after 1937. Tremolo Concert Harp model no. 53. Metal casings; wooen combs; 8 brass plates with 24 brass reeds (192 reeds total); 24 double holes per harmonica. Alan G. Bates Collection, 2000.

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Lit.:  Lee Raine M. Randall, The Hohner Harmonica Company: Models and Marketing Material from About 1900 to 1940, M.M. thesis (Vermillion: University of South Dakota, 2007).

Pohl Phone Resonator Harmonica by Hohner, Trossingen, after 1908

NMM 8514. Pohl Phone resonator harmonica by Hohner, Trossingen, after 1908. Peter Pohl was a 19th-century harmonica maker in Klingenthal, Germany. In 1908, the Hohner company bought out Pohl's business and continued making cheap harmonicas under the Pohl trademark through the 1930s. This example features a red-white-and-blue striped, cylindrical resonator. Alan G. Bates Collection, 2000.