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[gromenauer38]

Hello everybody.
First of all, I have to introduce myself. I’m a melodeon player from Spain, reading the forum since longtime ago and learning a lot about history and makers from all over the world.
I’m particularly interested in the history of a factory from Valencia (Spain): “Hijos de Clemente García”. This factory seems to have been producing and selling melodeons branded"El Cid" since the end of the 19th century until perhaps the middle of the 20th century. Their instrumenst have expanded throughout Spain, but it seems that they managed to export to the United States, under the same brand: “El Cid-Valencia”, and badged “Made in Spain”.
I include a link where you can see some photos of one of these instruments, but you will find many more by typing  "acordeon marca el cid valencia", in case you have some info or more photos to add to this thread, because the factory had an exciting history. They came to have 150 employees, and an extensive catalogue of button accordions.
I hope you’ll find this topic interesting.

https://www.todocoleccion.net/instrumentos-musicales/antiguo-acordeon-marca-cid-valencia-su-caja-madera-original-acordeon-espanol~x82152392

[Winston Smith]

What a shame that the person who's been clarting on with it couldn't put it back together the right way around! It looks rather nice.

[triskel]

I have to say, whatever they did or did not make (and I'd have to delve into that when I've more time) that particular instrument in the link looks remarkably German - so it was either very, very closely copied from a German design, assembled from German parts, or entirely made in Germany. (And it was no means unusual for a company to claim to be "makers" of instruments they had imported - in fact it is still quite common today... )

[Henry Piper]

I have to say, whatever they did or did not make (and I'd have to delve into that when I've more time) that particular instrument in the link looks remarkably German - so it was either very, very closely copied from a German design, assembled from German parts, or entirely made in Germany. (And it was no means unusual for a company to claim to be "makers" of instruments they had imported - in fact it is still quite common today... )

I would opt for "Koch" as the origin !! ……. and the Mahogany (??)  case is rather nice too!

[Winston Smith]

The fittings and style certainly do look German. However, I wouldn't have thought that they'd need 150 employees to import accordeons from just across the road, so to speak. But triskel's thoughts about assembling German parts in Spain could well be a possibility, eh?

[gromenauer38]

I also thought for a long time that they probably did not manufacture their accordions, but imported them, but I started to doubt this for two reasons:

- I found in the blog gumshoearcana.blogspot.com  this photograph of an accordion branded El Cid-Valencia with the badge "Made in Spain".
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eDtY4Ju6FZE/TkSJp5iZLFI/AAAAAAAAATU/u0R-5gJ_204/s1600/marca+el+cid+valencia+%2524110+US+CALIF+12-08+5.JPG

- In 1915, the company registered in the patent office of Spain the trademark "El Cid", with the design that carries the accordion that appears stamped on the accordion I indicated in my first post.

In addition, they had a catalog with a wide variety of accordion models, and in all the documents the mention "Fábrica de acordeones" (Accordion Factory) appears.
https://www.todocoleccion.net/juguetes-antiguos-catalogos/fabrica-acordeones-hijos-clemente-primera-fabrica-acordeones-juguete-valencia-s-xix-xx~x129340755


So I wonder if in the USA or other Anglo-Saxon countries there could be an interesting story behind these instruments.

[triskel]

I also thought for a long time that they probably did not manufacture their accordions, but imported them, but I started to doubt this for two reasons:

- I found in the blog gumshoearcana.blogspot.com  this photograph of an accordion branded El Cid-Valencia with the badge "Made in Spain".
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eDtY4Ju6FZE/TkSJp5iZLFI/AAAAAAAAATU/u0R-5gJ_204/s1600/marca+el+cid+valencia+%2524110+US+CALIF+12-08+5.JPG

I'd love to see pictures of the rest of that one (do you have any more, Gumshoe Arcana blog writer, Christopher K.?) because the metalwork on that one doesn't look like anything I've seen on German-made instruments - so that one quite possibly was made in Spain.

But just because one model was possibly made there, at a certain time, doesn't mean that all models were made there all the time. Indeed many importer's brands were manufactured in 2, or 3, countries at the same time, and that may have varied from year to year, and a lot of false impressions got promoted...

[gromenauer38]

Hi.
Two years after starting this thread, I wanted to inform you that I have created a blog with all the information that I have been able to gather to date about the firm "El Cid". The site will be updated as new data appears. It is in Spanish, but I hope Google can do a good job in English!

www.acordeoneselcid.blogspot.com

[Winston Smith]

Well, well, well!
And well done that man! That was an interesting piece of research work, and worthwhile to those of us with any interest at all. Thank you.

[Chris Rayner]

Muy buen.   

[Rob2Hook]

Yes, the hardware does look like many a Saxony box of the period, but nowadays most manufacturers buy generic parts from Italy as this is where they are manufactured and widely available.  I was surprised that the casework didn't have metal corners (Stradella?) which may well support the idea of the box being manufactured in Valencia using commonly available German hardware.

Rob.

[gromenauer38]

They also made accordions with metal corners (Stradella), like this one. (I hope I have successfully attached the image)

These tend to be the ones with the highest number of left-hand basses, and were probably built late in the factory.

[Chris Taylor]

Regardless of whether the parts are German or not it would be so much easier to play if the left and right hand buttons were the same way round..............   

[gromenauer38]

Yes, the hardware does look like many a Saxony box of the period, but nowadays most manufacturers buy generic parts from Italy as this is where they are manufactured and widely available.  I was surprised that the casework didn't have metal corners (Stradella?) which may well support the idea of the box being manufactured in Valencia using commonly available German hardware.

Rob.

It would be very interesting to find documentation on the commercial relationship between the Spanish firm and the Saxon industry.
There is already some evidence of the relationship of the Spanish music industry with the German, such as this letter from the accordion maker Oscar Rückoldt (Gera) to "Hijos de Montano", piano makers in Madrid, from 1904 (in Spanish!).
Furthermore, in 1934, the Spanish violinist Juan Manén signed a contract with the house "Gebrüder Schuster" (Markneukirchen) to give his name to some violin strings. The documentation is kept in the Library of Catalunya.

[Malcolm Clapp]

An El Cid currently for sale on eBay in New York
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Accordion-Melodeon-MADE-IN-SPAIN-EL-CID/184543871160?hash=item2af7ac00b8:g:QqEAAOSwKwZfo5LS

Looks a bit messy, but may be of interest to some one here and not too many $$$s.

[gromenauer38]

Thank you very much for the link, Malcolm! I have sent it to a friend who is planning to create a museum in the city of origin of those accordions.

[triskel]

It would be very interesting to find documentation on the commercial relationship between the Spanish firm and the Saxon industry.
There is already some evidence of the relationship of the Spanish music industry with the German, such as this letter from the accordion maker Oscar Rückoldt (Gera) to "Hijos de Montano", piano makers in Madrid, from 1904 (in Spanish!).
Furthermore, in 1934, the Spanish violinist Juan Manén signed a contract with the house "Gebrüder Schuster" (Markneukirchen) to give his name to some violin strings. The documentation is kept in the Library of Catalunya.

For what it's worth, ,,Cid'' was a brand name of Gebrüder Schuster, and I've had both a nicely-made banjo, and a ukulele, bearing that name. Here's an article about that:
http://www.schlaggitarren.de/home.php?text=hersteller&kenn=41

And a Google search: https://www.google.com/search?q=gebr%C3%BCder+schuster+markneukirchen+cid&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiHj_Dhl-P6AhXXi1wKHXWiAX4Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=gebr%C3%BCder+schuster+markneukirchen+cid&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDFAAWABgqKkJaABwAHgAgAFwiAFwkgEDMC4xmAEAqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=BidLY4f0IteX8gL1xIbwBw&bih=625&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enIE848IE848

[gromenauer38]

Thank you very much for your answer, Stephen.
Apparently there is no relationship between the two brands, despite having a very similar name. The Spanish, "El Cid", made a very clear reference to a historical character. However, "Cid" is quite indeterminate. Furthermore, it seems that the latter was limited to guitars, banjos and mandolins.
On the other hand, I know that there is a book by Dr. Enrico Weller about the history of the wind instrument industry in Vogtland (“Der Blasinstrumentenbau im Vogtland von den Anfängen bis zum Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts”), but unfortunately for me, it is written in German. It seems to contain a lot of details about all the companies in the region that dominated the global music market for decades.

[Corinto]

Very interesting! Thanks!

https://migma-eg.de/publikationen/1517-blasinstrumentenbau-im-vogtland.html

https://www.dictum.com/en/books-dvds-js/blasinstrumentenbau-im-vogtland-von-den-anfaengen-bis-beginn-des-20-jahrhunderts-713732

[Mike Hirst]

I can also recommend the Kurt Kauert publication 'Der Musikwinkel und die Harmonika' as a good source for Klingenal histories.