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[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

Vendor says, circa 1950

Sir John

[Steve_freereeder]

Could be an early Trichord in BCC#, but if so, the bass/chord buttons should be off-set across the rows, and these are not.

So perhaps it is an early Corona, probably in either GCF or ADG. Does the vendor state the keys?

[triskel]

... perhaps it is an early Corona, probably in either GCF or ADG.

Some people, these days, might call this a "pre-Corona" - but Hohner would have described it simply as a No. 3522 (or No. 3522/31/12/2 to give its full specification).

They were first made like this c.1939-42, then from 1947-56 (until they were replaced with the new "streamlined" Corona), and the rounded treble keyboard ends (instead of "two-point" ones), combined with the presence of the two strips of decorative trim around each corner, wouid seem to suggest a "middle period" date, so late 1940's, or "circa 1950", may be about right.

[Winston Smith]

Is it OK to jump into this thread to catch the knowledgeable unawares and ask which model this is, too? Any help appreciated, thanks.

 

[Bill Young]

Referring to John's original post, that is probably what is referred to in this list of Hohner models from 2010 as a Dreirehrer (Three-row) available in 2- or 3-voice, starting in 1939.

[triskel]

Is it OK to jump into this thread to catch the knowledgeable unawares and ask which model this is, too? Any help appreciated, thanks.

No. 1600, of similar vintage to the 3-row in the original post.

Some people these days might refer to it as a "pre-Erica" - but that gets especially confusing in this context because Erika/Erica had already been used, as a name for a small Club Model, only a few years earlier...

[Winston Smith]

Thank you, Stephen, most appreciated.

But.........after looking at the list I dug up on another site (sorry, cannot remember which one now!) I cannot find any reference to a 1600 in order to try to date it. Any idea....Stephen....anyone?

Is there a definitive resource anywhere (I thought I'd found it!) so that I wouldn't have to keep asking inane questions of people who, undoubtedly, have better things to do than look for answers for me?

[triskel]

Referring to John's original post, that is probably what is referred to in this list of Hohner models from 2010 as a Dreirehrer (Three-row) available in 2- or 3-voice, starting in 1939.

It probably is, though it also goes to show how incomplete the listings for button boxes/melodeons are there - seeing that they'd already been making 3-row boxes, in numerous models, for many years previously.

[Theo]

That list of Hohner models was first published in the book about Hohner "History Unfolds" published in I think 2011 to show 100 years of Hohner accordion production.  I can't find my copy just now but I recall that the model list is described as being compiled from catalogues held in the Hohner museum in Trossingen. It goes on to explain that the catalogue collection is incomplete, so there can be models that are not included in the list at all, and date ranges can be longer than those shown in the list.

[Malcolm Clapp]

Indeed, I notice a few omissions in the listing....

No mention of a Preciosa Club 21 + 3, nor of a Koch 21/8 or a Modell I Club 19 + 2, all of which I have in my collection.

And I seem to recall seeing a Liliput 21/8 (no Club inner row) offered on this site some years back, again no mention, nor of the Shand Morino or the Gaelic as far as I can see.

Probably lots of others....

Maybe just short runs to test the market, or was Hohner accepting "one off" commissions back in the day?

[Bill Young]

Yes, that list, and an earlier version dated 2006, has a lot of omissions. It's particularly galling that the Shand Morino, considered so important in Scotland, doesn't merit a mention. Visitors to Trossingen in recent years have found that it doesn't raise a blip on the Hohner corporate radar. They apparently did accept "one off" commissions at one time; the forerunner Hohner Special was one for Jimmy Shand in 1939.

[triskel]

I cannot find any reference to a 1600 in order to try to date it. Any idea....Stephen....anyone?

I was answering your question while you were asking it Edward, and my reply is already in the edit of my original post.

But I'll add that model numbers, or names, are often of relatively little help in dating instruments - so that, in this case, No. 1600 has been the model number for celluloid covered 2-row Hohners from the 1930s right up until today...

I'd rely more on constructional details - like, for example, grilles or feet. In fact the deciding factor, for whether one- or two-row "Vienna style" boxes of this era are of pre- or post-war construction, seems to be whether they have feet that are integral with swivelling catches (that engage with the screws) on the bass board, like this;

or they are seperate from the screws (the same as you'd find on a new one), like this;

Is there a definitive resource anywhere (I thought I'd found it!) so that I wouldn't have to keep asking inane questions of people who, undoubtedly, have better things to do than look for answers for me?

I'm afraid the best resource is probably my collection of old Hohner catalogues... 

[melodeon]

To the OP.

Yes, referred to as pre Corona.  I have owned a couple. Fine  boxes.

Reed blocks interchangeable with Coronas.

[Winston Smith]

Righty-ho! This beastie has the swivel type of feet, so it's pre-war? (That's rhetorical, of course!)
But my Club 11, which from the 2007 list was only produced between 1934 and 1939, but has the other feet, is actually more likely to be post war, but we cannot really tell when?
It's all a bit confusing, I might just go for a lie down, and stop digging.
Thanks again, btw.

[triskel]

That list of Hohner models was first published in the book about Hohner "History Unfolds" published in I think 2011 to show 100 years of Hohner accordion production.

My copy is dated 2004, which would tally with the "100 years" - in fact it looks very much like the Hohner sons must have been itching to start making accordions, and only waiting for "the old man" to go... (And there seems to have been a similar situation at Wheatstone's, around the same time, over the making of Anglo concertinas!) 

It goes on to explain that the catalogue collection is incomplete, so there can be models that are not included in the list at all, and date ranges can be longer than those shown in the list.

I'd reckon there are lots, and LOTS, of pre-war button box/melodeon models missing. 

[Theo]

Stephen, thank you for the correction on the date, I was going on memory, which was never completely reliable, and is now heading for completely unreliable. ;-)

[triskel]

Stephen, thank you for the correction on the date, I was going on memory, which was never completely reliable, and is now heading for completely unreliable. ;-)

I wasn't meaning you're wrong Theo - your copy could be a reprint or a later edition, I don't know. But I bought mine (in Germany) when it first came out.

[triskel]

But my Club 11, which from the 2007 list was only produced between 1934 and 1939, but has the other feet, is actually more likely to be post war, but we cannot really tell when?

Then I'd say it's either 1934-42 or 1947-52 - the latter because Hohner, like many other firms post-WW2, didn't start manufacturing again until 1947, and I have Canadian Hohner catalogues from the early 1950s that show the Club IIB, still in the square "pre-war" style in 1952, but fully streamlined by 1953.

[Winston Smith]

I feel ever so guilty taking up your day like this; but is this not "fully streamlined"?

[triskel]

I feel ever so guilty taking up your day like this; but is this not "fully streamlined"?

No, that's "square".

https://www.google.ie/search?q=hohner+club+iib&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiTjLme0fjOAhUJuI8KHRQfAgkQ_AUICCgB#imgdii=fPGthBEgZOWlsM%3A%3BfPGthBEgZOWlsM%3A%3BFUQRiYLujEgLaM%3A&imgrc=fPGthBEgZOWlsM%3A