I know they are reeds, but...

[lumbercamp]

I have found numerous harmonica reeds at this 1890's mining town, but can't figure out what kind of instrument these would have come from. Any ideas

 

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[Ant]

Looks like a harmonica to me.

 

[sticksboards]

accordian

 

[Monty]

Squeeze box. Monty

 

[BuckleBoy]

Hey! I've got one of those too!

 

[Ralphw]

acordian reeds


The reeds of an early 20th century button accordion,

 

[lumbercamp]

Buckleboy, do you think they are harmonica reeds? I checked the thickness with a micrometer. The typical harmonica reeds are around .050. The tapered one is roughly .080. The rectangle one is .110 and that seems rather thick for a harmonica. Maybe they are accordion reeds as Ralphw stated.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Buckleboy, do you think they are harmonica reeds? I checked the thickness with a micrometer. The typical harmonica reeds are around .050. The tapered one is roughly .080. The rectangle one is .110 and that seems rather thick for a harmonica. Maybe they are accordion reeds as Ralphw stated.

Because I've seen so many harmonica reeds come up, it was my first thought that that was what it was when I found it... But I'm not so sure now. The accordion reed plate seems like a pretty convincing guess. I think several clues lead me to believe that we're dealing with another animal here...

1. Length
2. Composition (lead? Pewter? pot metal? instead of brass)
3. The tapered shape of them (as opposed to rectangular)
4. Thickness


I'll go with "accordion reeds" for now. I've only found the pieces of the big ones at sites with late 1800s occupation.



Regards,



Buckles

 

[dozer dan]

when i was a kid i remember seeing an instrument about 12 in. long that you blew into like a recorder but it had a keyboard and sounded like an organ. and lets not take this post to the dark side. i can already see it coming. no pun intended. and no, i didn't see it up close.

 

[Montana Jim]

Accordian Reed Boards with some reeds still attatched... nice ID.