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[ladydetemps]

When did the melodeon first make an appearance in Britain?
I've seen quite a few flutina in old photos but not really melodeons. 

[Peadar]

When did the melodeon first make an appearance in Britain?
I've seen quite a few flutina in old photos but not really melodeons.

I don't know but I believe the accordeon was demonstrated in London as early as 1831. Thomas Glen, a music dealer in Edinburgh was buying them from 1838 onwards. These may of course have been "French" accordions - i.e. flutinas
I do wonder when the term "melodeon" came into general use. It seems to be applied in UK English to the German and Vienna patterns of accordeon. I believe these took on a recognisable modern form by around 1840. Was melodeon perhaps a name coined as a sales ploy - emphasising the instrument's ability to play a melody rather than it's ability to play chords.

As an aside: Successful Technologies tend to go through a short and rapid period of development during which they take on what becomes their established form. The modern railway in essence developed between 1825 and 1840. The "Jenny Lind" of 1838 had essentially the same mechanical layout as the Evening Star - the last new steam locomotive built for British Railways in 1963. The railway technology development timeline is contemporary with the accordeon.

Most of my herd are marked "Made in Saxony" dating them to pre-1920. They all have the word accordeon marked on them. As do two interwar  British Chromatics, in my posession.

This doesn't answer your question. But it may add some useful background.

As may this .... "Common as Blackberries" ....(A paper on melodeon history in Scotland)

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4522630?seq=1

[ladydetemps]

When did the melodeon first make an appearance in Britain?
I've seen quite a few flutina in old photos but not really melodeons.

I don't know but I believe the accordeon was demonstrated in London as early as 1831. Thomas Glen, a music dealer in Edinburgh was buying them from 1838 onwards. These may of course have been "French" accordions - i.e. flutinas
I do wonder when the term "melodeon" came into general use. It seems to be applied in UK English to the German and Vienna patterns of accordeon. I believe these took on a recognisable modern form by around 1840. Was melodeon perhaps a name coined as a sales ploy - emphasising the instrument's ability to play a melody rather than it's ability to play chords.

As an aside: Successful Technologies tend to go through a short and rapid period of development during which they take on what becomes their established form. The modern railway in essence developed between 1825 and 1840. The "Jenny Lind" of 1838 had essentially the same mechanical layout as the Evening Star - the last new steam locomotive built for British Railways in 1963. The railway technology development timeline is contemporary with the accordeon.

Most of my herd are marked "Made in Saxony" dating them to pre-1920. They all have the word accordeon marked on them. As do two interwar  British Chromatics, in my posession.

This doesn't answer your question. But it may add some useful background.

As may this .... "Common as Blackberries" ....

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4522630?seq=1

Thank you for the comprehensive reply. I'm putting together a 1890-1915 range of outfits and I was wondering if my melodeon  (or concertina) would make a suitable accessory so to speak. Trying to find pictorial evidence as well has been tricky as there are lots of words the boxes might be called and often those labelling the photos don't recognise the instrument.
Interesting what you say about the earliest date as I also have an 1830s dress.

[Lester]

You could try this, the photo was taken ~1904. Her name is Evangeline Cory Booth, daughter of General William Booth

[Graham Spencer]

There's a Frank Sutcliffe photograph of a one-man band in Whitby in the 1880s, and he's playing a 2-row box - looks like a Hohner.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5c/37/e7/5c37e7ca0a40f231b00d63f161c1cf8a.jpg

Graham

[Peadar]

There's a Frank Sutcliffe photograph of a one-man band in Whitby in the 1880s, and he's playing a 2-row box - looks like a Hohner.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5c/37/e7/5c37e7ca0a40f231b00d63f161c1cf8a.jpg

Graham

Brilliant photo - thanks for sharing.

The box looks like an Italian/Vienna type to me - inset bass buttons visible and the keys appear to be bone/ivory plates- same pattern of key as the flutina but which I think some of the 19th century Italian made melodeons also used. It cannot be a Hohner as they didn't branch out from harmonicas into accordions prior to 1903.

[Graham Spencer]

There's a Frank Sutcliffe photograph of a one-man band in Whitby in the 1880s, and he's playing a 2-row box - looks like a Hohner.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5c/37/e7/5c37e7ca0a40f231b00d63f161c1cf8a.jpg

Graham

Brilliant photo - thanks for sharing.

The box looks like an Italian/Vienna type to me - inset bass buttons visible and the keys appear to be bone/ivory plates- same pattern of key as the flutina but which I think some of the 19th century Italian made melodeons also used. It cannot be a Hohner as they didn't branch out from harmonicas into accordions prior to 1903.

Thanks for the info; I have a 10 x 8 print of this photograph over my desk, and I've often wondered about the possible origin of the box.

Graham

[Lester]

Here's my album of WW2 melodeon pictures


https://photos.app.goo.gl/jqW2PeGALyX7swPX6

[Chris Rayner]

My goodness, Lester, your eyes must be good to be able to write that small!

[gettabettabox]

Methinks that this link has been posted on here before?
Might provide some useful cross-reference points..
https://ulir.ul.ie/handle/10344/1616

[Bob E.]

https://zoraweb.com/first-accordion-world-cyrill-demian-and-sons

[Peadar]

I have  previously read Maire Ni Chaoimh's thesis (Reply #10) - it is an excellent resource, well worth reading end to end, and cross references  melodeon social history in both Scotland and England.

Bob E - (Reply #11) - I don't know about anyone else but I haven't seen this one before and the diagram from the letters patent is very informative for anyone with an interest in melodeon design and construction.
(And welcome to the forum!!)

[Peadar]

Does anyone know when, where and/or by whom the word "melodeon" was first coined? Or at least when it first appears in a a dateable written/printed record?

[Peadar]

Thank you for the comprehensive reply. I'm putting together a 1890-1915 range of outfits and I was wondering if my melodeon  (or concertina) would make a suitable accessory so to speak. Trying to find pictorial evidence as well has been tricky as there are lots of words the boxes might be called and often those labelling the photos don't recognise the instrument.
Interesting what you say about the earliest date as I also have an 1830s dress.

The Concertina was also patented (in England, by Charles Wheatstone) in 1829. Unlike the accordeon the concertina arrived on the scene in it's final developed form so pretty much any concertina will pass with any post 1830 outfit (though the 1830's outfit needs to be a posh one otherwise you may be suspected of having stolen the concertina). 

Edit to add: For accoessorizing with a melodeon 1890-1905 you could wing it with the very nice looking box on your avatar - varnished wood finish was around at the time - but replacing the padded shoulder straps with a single heavy leather one would be an idea. Alternatively a little black number (see below) would be spot on and replacing leather/leatherette/oilcloth straps with brocade ones would be  period feminisation (I have a slightly later 1 i.e. 920's box with precisly this feature).

[Lester]

The ENGLISH Concertina was also patented by Charles Wheatstone in 1829. The original 20-button German (Anglo) concertinas designed by Uhlig in 1834.

FTFY

[Winston Smith]

Google being (or should I say becoming?) my friend:


FTFY is an abbreviation for “fixed that for you.” People often use it on Reddit and Twitter to poke fun at the opinions, grammar, or work of others. Feb 9, 2020

Just in case there is another dinosaur reading this.

[Lester]

Google being (or should I say becoming?) my friend:


FTFY is an abbreviation for “fixed that for you.” People often use it on Reddit and Twitter to poke fun at the opinions, grammar, or work of others. Feb 9, 2020

Just in case there is another dinosaur reading this.

Everyday's a school day

[Bill Young]

There's a Frank Sutcliffe photograph of a one-man band in Whitby in the 1880s, and he's playing a 2-row box - looks like a Hohner.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5c/37/e7/5c37e7ca0a40f231b00d63f161c1cf8a.jpg

Graham

Zooming in on this photo, that box has some stylistic similarities to this slightly smaller Paolo Soprani – keyboard “horns”, shape of pallets, decorative banding on the body. It also seems to have 3 rows of buttons. And isn’t the musician's companion wearing a rather Italianate-looking hat and scarf?

[ladydetemps]

So anything post 1900 is definitely safe. Anything earlier its a bit unknown.
Was it seen as more a male or female instrument?

[Peadar]

I think the melodeon was promoted as an instrument appropriate to either sex....as was the concertina.