Harmonicas in the Civil War ?

[Davers]

I just did a quick google search on a Harmonica I dug 10+ years ago , I could have looked at it better but I said " Richler" on it , the search turned up little, like "richler tuned harmonicas " & a debate on reditt about if there were many harmonicas in the civil war & the funniest to me was 'did Lincoln actually have and play one ?'

Maybe it 'Richter" I should have looked up , anyway does anyone know what brands of Harmonicas were used in the Civil War ( most were German made if I recall right ' I've found many 'reeds ' but folk say they could have come from other instruments. That said I'm 99% sure some had Harmonicas in the War , mostly Northern Troops they say .

Thanks for any help , I'm just trying to 'date' the one I found all those years ago.

Ill update this if I get more info '

Gd to all .

 

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[Davers]

I just did a quick google search on a Harmonica I dug 10+ years ago , I could have looked at it better but I said " Richler" on it , the search turned up little, like "richler tuned harmonicas " & a debate on reditt about if there were many harmonicas in the civil war & the funniest to me was 'did Lincoln actually have and play one ?'

Maybe it 'Richter" I should have looked up , anyway does anyone know what brands of Harmonicas were used in the Civil War ( most were German made if I recall right ' I've found many 'reeds ' but folk say they could have come from other instruments. That said I'm 99% sure some had Harmonicas in the War , mostly Northern Troops they say .

Thanks for any help , I'm just trying to 'date' the one I found all those years ago.

Ill update this if I get more info '

Gd to all .

It seems Richter was the correct name to look up , it's still a debate 'online' but this article explained things pretty well IMHO/

https://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q37.html

So Good Day & any further info would be nice especially if y'all have dug any .
Davers

 

[ticndig]

I recovered many from dug in union winter camps in Stafford Va. I never gave them much or did any research though. good luck in your quest ...

 

[Milspec6]

The harmonica really didn't catch on in the Americas until Hohner started mass production in the late 1800's in Germany although the harmonica had been around in China for at least a century (same with the guitar). The Richter scale harmonicas I believe pre-dated the chromatics and were hand made on a small scale...doubt they would have been found much with the soldiers of the Civil War. If you are finding them at battlefield sites i would suspect they came along later during reenactments or something.

I am no expert, of course, but I do play a little blues harp along with the guitar and from what I understood there really weren't many harmonicas in the Americas until Hohner mass produced them in Germany and started shipping millions of them to America around 1880.

 

[creskol]

The most famous of all harmonica makers, Hohner, set up business in Trossingen in 1857 and subsequently bought out many of the smaller companies.
Initially, harmonicas were made by hand - combs were carved from wood, reeds were hammered from brass wire and fitted individually to reedplates. This all changed in 1878, when Julius Berthold, a Klingenthal-based supplier of machinery to the musical instrument industry, introduced the first reed milling machine.

[SIZE=-1]Illustration from German Patent 6974[/SIZE]This was soon followed by machines for cutting combs, stamping reedplates, riveting reeds, etc., which had a tremendous impact on the harmonica industry. In their first year in business, Matthias Hohner's family business made 650 harmonicas. However by 1880, Hohner had set up mass production assembly lines to turn out harmonicas in unprecedented quantities. By 1887 they were making one million of them annually and by 1920, the figure had risen to 20 million! That same year, the total output of harmonicas from Germany exceeded 50 million - of these, 22.8 million went to the US, 5.4 million to the UK, 3.1 million to India and 1.3 million to Italy. In fact, there were very few countries to which the harmonica was not exported and factories were also being set up in many parts of the world to try to keep up with the demand. [credits to https://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q1.html]

 

[ticndig]

well that's interesting Milspec6 and Creskol, with all the reeds I've found in winter camps over the years I was certain they were from the union soldiers.
I'm now inspired to dig a few out and see if I can find a name on them. and see if they are stamped or hand made. thanks for sharing ..

 

[smokeythecat]

I haven't found many pieces in camps, but lots from sites about 20 years later than the Civil War.

 

[FloodcityTom]

Just dug a harmonica reed over the 4th of July weekend, which is usually the only thing left after 150 yrs in the groud. Dug lots of these in both Union ad Confederate areas. I'll be honest ever really paid any attention to markings or remember any manufacturers marks

[
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/636883-juky-4th-weekend-finds-civil-war-burnside-car

 

[creskol]

Diggin' in Virginia has sponsored more than 50 hunts at well documented Civil War sites, and no one has turned up any harmonica reeds at these sites.. tons of other relics, but no harmonica reeds. After the Battle of Gettysburg, an inventory was taken of the fallen soldier's possessions, including those at the nearby camps, and not one harmonica is listed in their official document. That's not to say that harmonicas didn't exist, but they were sparse and looked nothing like the instruments we know as harmonicas.

 

[metrotec]

Found pieces in a picket camp in E TN, back in 1970-74. They must have dug the trench naked, found nothing. Off the side, and down into the valley, away from a RR they were guarding was a bonanza!

 

[Davers]

I recovered many from dug in union winter camps in Stafford Va. I never gave them much or did any research though. good luck in your quest ...

Thanks I been so ill lately I forgot that I had asked about this , so ...the closest Winter camp / long term type 'War' camp was 80 miles North of me , & hard hunted before I started detecting in the late 1990's , so this was a rare find for me .

I'm just now looking at the reply's & I thank you for yours .

 

[Davers]

The harmonica really didn't catch on in the Americas until Hohner started mass production in the late 1800's in Germany although the harmonica had been around in China for at least a century (same with the guitar). The Richter scale harmonicas I believe pre-dated the chromatics and were hand made on a small scale...doubt they would have been found much with the soldiers of the Civil War. If you are finding them at battlefield sites i would suspect they came along later during reenactments or something.

I am no expert, of course, but I do play a little blues harp along with the guitar and from what I understood there really weren't many harmonicas in the Americas until Hohner mass produced them in Germany and started shipping millions of them to America around 1880.

Thanks that's what I have read also , this was dug West of Kennessaw Mt , Ga , not on the main battlefield but they entrenched & skirmished for many a mile as the Main US forces approached from the W NW .

I'm not counting out that it's a 'Old' but post war find tho .

Thanks

 

[Davers]

The most famous of all harmonica makers, Hohner, set up business in Trossingen in 1857 and subsequently bought out many of the smaller companies.
Initially, harmonicas were made by hand - combs were carved from wood, reeds were hammered from brass wire and fitted individually to reedplates. This all changed in 1878, when Julius Berthold, a Klingenthal-based supplier of machinery to the musical instrument industry, introduced the first reed milling machine.

[SIZE=-1]Illustration from German Patent 6974[/SIZE]This was soon followed by machines for cutting combs, stamping reedplates, riveting reeds, etc., which had a tremendous impact on the harmonica industry. In their first year in business, Matthias Hohner's family business made 650 harmonicas. However by 1880, Hohner had set up mass production assembly lines to turn out harmonicas in unprecedented quantities. By 1887 they were making one million of them annually and by 1920, the figure had risen to 20 million! That same year, the total output of harmonicas from Germany exceeded 50 million - of these, 22.8 million went to the US, 5.4 million to the UK, 3.1 million to India and 1.3 million to Italy. In fact, there were very few countries to which the harmonica was not exported and factories were also being set up in many parts of the world to try to keep up with the demand. [credits to https://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q1.html]

Great info .

FWIW.. This Harmonica was wood filled ( I washed it out as a Nube Hunter , tho it would have been almost impossible the preserve in it'd 'dug' state) + it used brass pins to hold it together.

Always a great TN member creskol .
Thanks

 

[Davers]

I haven't found many pieces in camps, but lots from sites about 20 years later than the Civil War.

Thanks for the reply Smokey , I know you have 'dug almost everything ' so I respect your opinion.

Just now thinking , I have do not recall many Harmonicas or any at CW Shows or at my 'Covid Closed Club ' just reeds ? But they could be from other musical instruments .

Saying that Ill bet many peoples 'Riker' & Display cases contain mis-represented brass reeds.

 

[Davers]

Just dug a harmonica reed over the 4th of July weekend, which is usually the only thing left after 150 yrs in the groud. Dug lots of these in both Union ad Confederate areas. I'll be honest ever really paid any attention to markings or remember any manufacturers marks

[
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/636883-juky-4th-weekend-finds-civil-war-burnside-car

These responses make me wonder just what the reeds 'we' have dug went to .

Thanks

 

[Davers]

Diggin' in Virginia has sponsored more than 50 hunts at well documented Civil War sites, and no one has turned up any harmonica reeds at these sites.. tons of other relics, but no harmonica reeds. After the Battle of Gettysburg, an inventory was taken of the fallen soldier's possessions, including those at the nearby camps, and not one harmonica is listed in their official document. That's not to say that harmonicas didn't exist, but they were sparse and looked nothing like the instruments we know as harmonicas.

More great info , & yea the one I dug is a few inches long by around 1 inch.

 

[Davers]

Found pieces in a picket camp in E TN, back in 1970-74. They must have dug the trench naked, found nothing. Off the side, and down into the valley, away from a RR they were guarding was a bonanza!

Yes Sir.

Things don't always turn out as we think they should .
GD

 

[Davers]

Diggin' in Virginia has sponsored more than 50 hunts at well documented Civil War sites, and no one has turned up any harmonica reeds at these sites.. tons of other relics, but no harmonica reeds. After the Battle of Gettysburg, an inventory was taken of the fallen soldier's possessions, including those at the nearby camps, and not one harmonica is listed in their official document. That's not to say that harmonicas didn't exist, but they were sparse and looked nothing like the instruments we know as harmonicas.

Just looking closer at the image you posted & Richter is written the exact same way on the example I dug.
Hmmmmm ? I wonder how long the used that pattern of writing , as this would have been a late war site .

 

[Davers]

Also thinking a Harmonica would have been a great way to pass the time in camp along with other activities , Could 'Y'all ' picture soldier's in the Civil War sitting around on their I -phones all day while in camp ? That would be bad for comrade-day.