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[TedK]

Lots of mentions of the Nazis here but just to add a bit of context, walking and hiking became for the first time extremely popular hobbies for the masses in the interwar years and there were similar outdoor clubs affiliated with the Communists and many others that had no political connotations. A portable instrument would have had a much wider market that just the HJ.

One can see parallels in the UK with the growth of the Scout movement, the mass trespass at Kinder Scout, The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift etc.

So to say that the Liliput was created "for the Hitler Youth" is really not telling the whole story.

[triskel]

All true TedK, except you left out cycling - which is what my father was into in the '30s (his teenage years, in South London), and his big ambition in 1939 (until events overtook him) was to get a Hohner accordion... (And his even bigger one was a Brough Superior motorcycle, but that's another story, for another board. )

Whilst there were even some "Black Dot", 2-row, versions of the Liliput, made specially for the Scottish market!

But it was impossible to avoid involvement with the Nazis if you were living in Germany at the time, and they had a strong influence on everybody and everything. So German schoolchildren had two hours of PE every day, and the KdF/Strength through Joy were organising "holidays" that involved camping, yomping across mountains, paddling across lakes, and suchlike. Whilst membership of/indoctrination into the Hitler Jugend/Youth became compulsory for German children. 

Mind you, looking through photos of Hitler Youth members lasI night I found several of them playing full-size accordions, one with a Bandonion or Chemnitzer concertina, a couple with recorders, and even more with guitars, but not one playing a Liliput or Preciosa... 

[malcolmbebb]

I seem to recall seeing some prices showing that Liliputs were quite expensive for the time, which would tie up with them being a more for he gentleman rambler.

[Malcolm Clapp]

This thread sparked a memory of a picture of a camper playing a small melodeon. I found this with a Google search. I think it's a Preciosa. It's difficult to tell from the black-and-white image but it might have a gold finish. I don't know that Hohner used another finish on this model that would look like this in B&W.

Could be white celluloid; I have seen one, with red trim iirc.

Actually, probably better described as cream than white, but may have discoloured with age.

I'm sure that somewhere I have a photo of a Preciosa with a flat white finish, but can't find it right now  :-(

[triskel]

I seem to recall seeing some prices showing that Liliputs were quite expensive for the time, which would tie up with them being a more for he gentleman rambler.

Well Hohners would have been dearer than similar Klingenthal models, but they were usually better quality too.

Whilst all Hohner Club Models were substantially more expensive than a Pokerwork, but the Liliput was the same price as a basic Club Erica/Erika - and so 2nd equal cheapest of them all!

For the sake of price comparison, and where it fitted into the range, here are the Club Model prices from the 1937 German catalogue (in Reichsmarks), with the translated catalogue page headings added:

Club IB Piccoletta         RM 53.-   ("rewarding educational instruments")

Club 214 Erica             RM 63.-   ("rewarding educational instruments")

Liliput                        RM 63.-   ("the joy of the sportsman")

Club IIA                      RM 80.-   ("two-voice club models with celluloid casing")

Preciosa                     RM 82.50  ("the joy of the sportsman")

Club IIB Victoria           RM 98.-   ("two-voice club models with celluloid casing")

Club IIIA                     RM 120.-   ("the joy of the discerning club players")

Club III A R                 RM 133.-   ("the joy of the discerning club players")

Club IV                       RM 142.-   ("the joy of the discerning club players")

Club IV R                     RM 155.-   ("the joy of the discerning club players")

Club V                        RM 186.-   ("small handy form, an instrument for ladies")

Club VI                       RM 197.-   ("small handy form, an instrument for ladies")

Club VII                      RM 205.-   ("small handy form, an instrument for ladies")

Club VIII                     RM 205.-   ("for heightened demands")

Club IX                       RM 218.-   ("for heightened demands")

Club X                        RM 227.-   ("for heightened demands")

Ouverture I (Club 235)   RM 362.-  ("for heightened demands")

Ouverture II (Club 255)  RM 405.-   ("for heightened demands")

Also for the sake of comparison, a No. 2815 (pokerwork) was substantially cheaper than ANY of these, at only RM 34.50...

[triskel]

Could be white celluloid; I have seen one, with red trim iirc.

Actually, probably better described as cream than white, but may have discoloured with age.

I'd call it "pearl" or "pearl white", as opposed to "white pearloid" or "plain white"...