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[Waltham]

The story so far: over in the melodeon history sites thread folks are talking about putting the histories of different melodeons in a database/wiki/virtual-rolodex, the details of which are stll being thrashed out.  One particularly suave, handsome and debonair forum member suggested, as a starting point, trying to gather together everything we know about the history of the Hohner Pokerwork in one thread. This is that thread. 

As it happens, Shy Talk already gave us a kick start in the FAQ thread by giving the following answer to my proposed FAQ "How do I know how old my pokerwork is?":

The "lyre-ended" wood keyboard went in the late fifties, along with candlewick bellows gaskets. The early  "rounded" Erica & Double Ray initially also had wooden keyboards with a transverse groove to locate the edge of a flat recessed grille. Like the Corona their keyboards went plastic  along with lipped grilles in the early sixties. Obviously this was because injection was cheaper than machining and two mouldings sufficed for several models. (Incidentally, apart from the "Made in Germany" transfer on the back of of the board  you can distinguish Chinese from German because the finish is duller on the Chinese one. Mind it could be a replacement, that is why you should never take Tunings, marked on  straps and keyboards as gospel when buying unseen)

There's plenty more to sort out: can we tie these approximate dates to particular years of manufacture?  Can we get photos of the different models and their distinctive features?  What about the early pressed wood honey-coloured ones that sometimes come up on e-beigh?   Were any ever supplied new with straps (I know mine, german made with plastic keyboard, wasn't)?  When did the thumb strap fixing go from bolts to rivets?  What keys were they supplied in at each stage of their development?

Perhaps I should clarify, since Pokerwork refers to the finish/pattern and Hohner made other instruments with this finish that this thread is about the two row "Vienna Accordion".

I've got a few scraps of information I'll try to dig out but I'm sure plenty of people here have lots more...

[triskel]

The History of Hohner pokerwork models actually goes back to instruments produced by Koch (one of the firms that Hohner took over) in the 1920s, and perhaps earlier. Hohner themselves produced a variety of beech-wood pokerworks in the 1930s, and more (including most of the "honey-coloured" ones you mention) between 1947-55.

The black and gold 2915 pokerwork first appeared in 1955, as did the modern Erica & Double Ray models with which it has had much in common.

[an bosca ceoil]

The story so far: over in the melodeon history sites thread folks are talking about putting the histories of different melodeons in a database/wiki/virtual-rolodex, the details of which are stll being thrashed out.  One particularly suave, handsome and debonair forum member suggested, as a starting point, trying to gather together everything we know about the history of the Hohner Pokerwork in one thread. This is that thread. 

Can we get photos of the different models and their distinctive features?  What about the early pressed wood honey-coloured ones that sometimes come up on e-beigh?   Were any ever supplied new with straps (I know mine, german made with plastic keyboard, wasn't)?  When did the thumb strap fixing go from bolts to rivets?  What keys were they supplied in at each stage of their development?

Perhaps I should clarify, since Pokerwork refers to the finish/pattern and Hohner made other instruments with this finish that this thread is about the two row "Vienna Accordion".

I've got a few scraps of information I'll try to dig out but I'm sure plenty of people here have lots more...

Best responding to this thread because I cannnot understand a word on the "History" channel!
I think you will be hard pushed to place precise dates on many of Hohners "low end" models.
 Unless someone has dated catalogue material showing them as New Models the subject will be open to a lot of conjecture. At one time, for a fee, Hohner were often able to give specific manufacture dates for instruments bearing a Serial Number, but I think Liliputs were the lowest rank to have one.
According to "Ewig jung trotz vieler Falten", colloquialised to "History Unfolds", the first "pokerworks" were about in in 1914 but not as we now recognise them.
They are listed  as the "Holzbrand" and, apart from the grille, are very similar to the Hohner "Koch" of 1929/31. They share identical internals and keyboards, only the embossed patterns of the casings differing, the Koch having traditional roses and mitred corners without metal cappings and two less bellow folds.
 So far as I see the only difference I see between these and the "Honey Coloured " ones that you mention is that the latter were fitted with todays  current small framed bellows and were embossed with the early Marca Registrada/Hohner Accordeon/ "Kalbe" Anchor logo and "Shell Pattern, the same as early black and gold models.
Two rows were at that time available in 5th apart tunings from GC through CF and one rows in B C D & G .
Although the term Pokerwork is now the norm I have never seen the word actually used by Hohner, only Holzbrand and Goldbrand??
I have never fathomed out exactly when the equivalent celluloid "Toilet seat" versions were first produced I know they were about in the early fifties, even as early Double Rays.
Apart from the models mentioned there were a lot of Hybrids produced. I have one black/ gold two row fitted with a stepped keyboard and a "retro" wooden grille and another with "Nostalgie" piano type levers,  MOP buttons and wooden grille as well as "Toffee Coloured" with fretwork grille.
I cannot help wondering whether such oddballs were not produced for specific dealer outlets much the same as todays special lines at Aldi.
If ever the history project ever gets off the ground I would be happy to provide pictures of all the models I have, so long as someone tells me how to!!
Regards, Bruce
BTW  I think strap brackets were only fitted by the dealers (pity some of them had little idea!) and that original thumb sraps are always rivetted onto plastic & late wooden  keyboards/screwed onto early wooden ones.  

[Ebor_fiddler]

The word "Holzbrand" translates into English as "Pokerwork" (literally "burned wood"). 

[an bosca ceoil]

[quote author=triskel link=topic=823.msg6791#msg6791 date=1220220359

The black and gold 2915 pokerwork first appeared in 1955, as did the modern Erica & Double Ray models with which it has had much in common.
[/quote]

True, the 2915 was introduced in 1955 but there were already black and gold ones about prior to that (Forbes of Dundee listed them in their 1953 catalogue) many of them have vinyl valves which would still place them post-war.

[an bosca ceoil]

The word "Holzbrand" translates into English as "Pokerwork" (literally "burned wood"). 

And "Ewig jung trotz vieler Falter" translates literally, I think, into "Eternally young despite the wrinkles" - just like me! :)
My point was that the current "Pokerworks" derived the nickname from their Holzbrandt ancestor whilst Hohner called them Goldbrandtmodell.
Similarly "presswood" is a more accurate description for the early ones where the pattern stands proud of the background rather than recessed into it.

[Malcolm Clapp]

Obvious questions re. pokerwork models:

1. Why is the modern style pokerwork designated model #2815 in the USA and #2915 in UK and elsewhere? Is there a difference?

2. Marca Registrada. Roughly translated as "Trade Mark" I assume, but why in (?)Spanish/Portuguese and not in German? Could it be that this design was originally intended for the South American market?

The blond pressed wood pokerworks are quite commonly found in Australia. According to the former longtime Hohner agent in Australia, Kurt Jacob, he once told me that he had a large shipment of both single row (#1140) and double row (#2915) models with this finish that arrived just before the outbreak of WWll (1939). These were soon removed from the shelves, not to reappear for sale until after the end of the war.

Of a number of these shown to me over the years, several had retail receipts from the late 1940s, but Kurt insisted that they were built prewar. The design of these is of the latest blond Hohners I have seen, the same as in some postwar Hohner catalogues before the c1955 (?) introduction of the black and gold pokerwork.

Going back to my question 2. above, Kurt also told me that he sometimes received shipments from Germany incorrectly consigned and meant for the Hohner agent in Argentina. If  Marca Regisrada models had indeed been intended for the South American market, maybe that's why so many of them are found in Australia.

Or maybe some confusion existed at the Hohner export department about "countries with long names beginning with A"....     

Interestingly, Kurt Jacob worked at the Hohner factory for some years before being sent to Australia in 1937 as the Hohner agent. Apart from a period of internment during WWll, he was the Hohner agent here until his retirement in the early 1980s. I had many interesting conversations with him prior to his passing, and one of my biggest regrets is that I never had a tape running at the time. He was a mine of information about Hohner, harmonicas as well as accordions, and probably one of the last survivors of the prewar Hohner staff.

[BruceHenderson]

    Re: "Marca Registrada"  As part of import restrictions over the 20th Century, local requirements for marking changed frequently (actually, these requirements went well back into the 1800's but were more prominent in the 1900's).  There are a number of learned texts on locating and dating items by the form of the marking of "Made in", "TM/MR" (mostly linked to antiques and collectibles).  But I'm pretty sure that during the mid-1900's, most countries required a marking of Trade Marks or Patents but most English speaking countried did not specify the language but Spanish speaking countries required Spanish.  Thus, the Spanish form would satisfy the more restrictive Spanish requirement and be allowed by English speaking countries, so it was often used worldwide.

    I'm told that many companies did alter the wording based on the country of destination (particularly the larger and more active exporters, and knowing Hohner's long base of exports, it wouldn't surprize me if Hohner did this), so all this doesn't help you at all, does it???  (I can only guess - and it would be a WAIG - but I'm guessing that anything with only a "Marca Registrada" mark was actually earmarked by Hohner for export to a Spanish speaking country ... but, who knows, especially with the turmoil of manufacture and international trade just pre- and post-War.)

    Items originating from Germany may be often classified by the wording of origin.  Most items prior to WWI were isted by state (i.e, "Made in Saxony", "Made in Bavaria"), then after WWI there were wordings to indicate Weimar republic and the 1933-45 Reich (although I'm not sure that there were different wordings for these two), and post WWII to about 1991, you had labels for West and East Germany (which often bears because Klingenthal was in East Germany/ DDR) but just to confuse things, some companies (especially in West Germany) just used the phrase "Made in Germany".  And, of course, with the advent of transfers and painted labels versus the engraved metal tags used earler, it's not uncommon to find these markings worn away or removed on older items.  Any other labels besides the "Marca Registrada" label, Malcolm?

   Sometimes all this helps, especially for someone who knows much more about it than I do.

[BruceHenderson]

    Oh, and just to muddy the waters, an acquaintance of mine near to Washington DC USA plays a beautiful blond-wood Hohner.  He says that he bought it as a "Pokerwork" in OK playing nick but shabby appearance.  He has no idea of it's previous owners or locations. But he found that the "Pokerwork" exterior was in such bad shape that he felt it best to remove black and gold as you'd remove plastic transfers and underneath he found the clear blond wood with impressed (or, maybe better described "expressed") and painted floral patterns.  In terms of grille, fingerboard, buttons and mechanics, etc., this instrument appears to be identical to other Pokerworks (but there may be details that a more experienced eye would pick up).

    I'm pretty sure that any company name, trade mark, country of origin and other labels were removed in this process.

    I have no idea if this was common but it seemed pretty unusual to me first time I saw it.

BH, NC USA

[an bosca ceoil]

IN RESPONSE TO PRECEDING POSTS BY MALCOM & THE OTHER  ;)BRUCE
As I have said before, a lot of opinions are now bound to be conjecture and "educated" guesswork and it is indeed a pity that those who knew the facts are no longer about.
I do not think that the " Marca Registrada " was solely for instruments destined for Spanish countries, simply because the other lettering on the logo reads "Made in Germany"
(Strange that they were marking the harmonikas in English & French)
There are at least two variations of embossing on "Blonde" instruments.
 One pattern resembles a ribbon with lilies on it and a horizontal HOHNER with anchors either side and "M/R" & "M/I/G" above & below. This design is impressed and identical to the first Holzbrands which might indicate it to be earlier than -
A second design  which is in relief and identical to that of pre 1955 black & gold models i.e. two bands of "shells"?/ commas"? either side of a "diamond" band. The logo is HOHNER- "M/R" one large anchor "M/I/G" ACCORDEON at right angle to the bellows
(Apparently the "Kalbe" anchor belonged to a firm of that name acquired by Hohner so did the Marca Registrada apply to that logo rather than the instrument?)
The embossing design on the keyboard is  identical on all  "blonde", Holzbrand and Hohner Kochs and also features on some black lacquered ones. Surprisingly it is also found on some "real" pre-takeover Kochs which might indicate either that the work was subbed out or that there was some cooperation between the firms before they merged.
As to whether some "Blondes " are just prewar - makes me wonder why they stopped putting Original Hohner on the keyboard reverse and did not mark them DRP like the Club I ,Piccola etc.
Perhaps by this time the mention of the Third Reich was not so conducive to sales in some countries
I thought Bruce might have mentioned the "Art Deco" (or is it "Art Nouveau")  ones - rather flash celluloid coated variants that were probably intended for the US market and do not seem to crop up elsewhere. When was Art Deco, pre or postwar?
Regards, Bruce

[Pete Dunk]

When was Art Deco, pre or postwar?
Regards, Bruce

As far as I understand it Art Deco was pre WW2 and very much of the late 1920s and early 1930s but there again I'm renowned for being entirely wrong ... 

[Theo]

Great information, thanks for all the contributions.

What will be really helpful when we get all this in a database is to have all the examples illustrated with photos.  I'm familiar with all the designs being discussed, but its still hard to follow all the details and re;ate them to each other.

[Martin J]

Thanks for this thread, I've found it fascinating. I'm sorry you feel the 'History Thread' is gobaldy gook at the moment.  Perhaps you'll feel differently about it once the talking is over and a decent programme is in place so that you can look up items such as this thread and it's various details without having to rack your brains as to where and when you saw something and then have to trawl for it.

You are quite right in that it may never happen but I would rather try and fail than not try at all.  Please ignore the 'techy' stuff until it's working and then perhaps if asked you will be kind enough to supply such information that you have on a casual basis to help grow the information base.  I'm not techy but I am asking those who are to help build the tool which all of you on this thread along with others can update and use.

At the end of the day though, it will be Theo we have to thank for providing the umbrella under which it can work and the techies who make it work.

Martin

[triskel]

According to "Ewig jung trotz vieler Falten", colloquialised to "History Unfolds", the first "pokerworks" were about in in 1914 but not as we now recognise them.
They are listed  as the "Holzbrand" and, apart from the grille, are very similar to the Hohner "Koch" of 1929/31. They share identical internals and keyboards, only the embossed patterns of the casings differing, the Koch having traditional roses and mitred corners without metal cappings and two less bellow folds.
... Although the term Pokerwork is now the norm I have never seen the word actually used by Hohner, only Holzbrand and Goldbrand??

Frankly I'm astonished at how badly wrong the book is about the instrument in those photos, which looks like a 1929/31 model because that's just what it is, displaying all the features of Hohner's "Patent applied for" of that era - I know exactly how they're made because I've got one:

... and I've got the catalogue that describes these new features!

The model is one of Hohner's Series 7200, and the correct catalogue designation (circa 1929-30) is "No. 7215/21/8", described as:

"Polished natural case with beautiful poker work designs (anemony pattern) Hohner keyboard, interior locking device, single plates with steel or bronze reeds, substantial bellows, bellow frames covered with cloth and leather straps."

and
 
"Instruments with the numbers 21/8 and 21/12 of the above series are also supplied in the colours:
black-gold with additional mark "G"
or walnut-gold with additional mark "NG"
In addition these two types will be supplied with octave tuning."

Whilst the old Koch "Burnt-Wood" (as they described them in their catalogue) accordions were rather fancier, like this one that I have (the reeds bearing Koch's mark, not Hohner's):

So far as I see the only difference I see between these and the "Honey Coloured " ones that you mention is that the latter were fitted with todays  current small framed bellows and were embossed with the early Marca Registrada/Hohner Accordeon/ "Kalbe" Anchor logo and "Shell Pattern, the same as early black and gold models.

The origins of those models are very apparent in similar designs also shown in the 1929-30 catalogue, all with the small-framed bellows - "No. 7665/21/8" has the same "blue bell pattern" poker work design and Stradella corners, already available in optional black-gold, whilst the "modern" metal grille can be seen on others such as "No. 3515 1/2". The same catalogue also shows single-row melodeons with the same "star pattern" poker work on the sides as today's ones.

I have never fathomed out exactly when the equivalent celluloid "Toilet seat" versions were first produced I know they were about in the early fifties, even as early Double Rays.

Gold, silver, white, black, blue, pink or green "Celluloid veneer instruments with Hohner keyboard" appear as early as the 1929-30 catalogue, as model Nos. 120 - 180.

BTW  I think strap brackets were only fitted by the dealers ...  

As one of "the dealers" for 35 years, I can confirm that that was the case.

edited photos

[Malcolm Clapp]

I have never fathomed out exactly when the equivalent celluloid "Toilet seat" versions were first produced I know they were about in the early fifties, even as early Double Rays.

Gold, silver, white, black, blue, pink or green "Celluloid veneer instruments with Hohner keyboard" appear as early as the 1929-30 catalogue, as model Nos. 120 - 180.

I assume you are referring to those of the same squarish shape as the 2915.

Grey and pink seem to be the most commonplace of these. I have one of each currently awaiting attention in my workshop....Original waxed H aluminium reedplates in both, leather valved.

So am I correct in thinking that these were replaced in the range by the more rounded shape of the Erica, perhaps to allow a better shape for easier (and apparently more permanent!) application of the celluloid?

If so, when would this dramatic change have taken place?

[triskel]

I assume you are referring to those of the same squarish shape as the 2915.

With Stradella corners, yes.

So am I correct in thinking that these were replaced in the range by the more rounded shape of the Erica, perhaps to allow a better shape for easier (and apparently more permanent!) application of the celluloid?

If so, when would this dramatic change have taken place?

"Streamlining", typically of planes, cars and railway engines became "all the rage" in the 1930s, so from about 1937 onwards accordion makers started to follow suit, lead by the Italians and the Americans, but Hohner didn't bring out their more "streamlined" Erica model until 1955, though there were some somewhat more rounded Art Deco models just before the War.

However, it's more difficult to apply the celluloid to a rounded shape, not easier.

[triskel]

The black and gold 2915 pokerwork first appeared in 1955, as did the modern Erica & Double Ray models with which it has had much in common.

True, the 2915 was introduced in 1955 but there were already black and gold ones about prior to that (Forbes of Dundee listed them in their 1953 catalogue) ...

Which is why I was very careful in my choice of words, being in England at the time, and a long way from my catalogue collection.   

But that 1953 Forbes one sounds very interesting, I'd especially like to see any Paolo Soprani models in it. (I could be persuaded to "swap" some photocopies...  )

[Malcolm Clapp]

So am I correct in thinking that these were replaced in the range by the more rounded shape of the Erica, perhaps to allow a better shape for easier (and apparently more permanent!) application of the celluloid?

If so, when would this dramatic change have taken place?

"Streamlining", typically of planes, cars and railway engines became "all the rage" in the 1930s, so from about 1937 onwards accordion makers started to follow suit, lead by the Italians and the Americans, but Hohner didn't bring out their more "streamlined" Erica model until 1955, though there were some somewhat more rounded Art Deco models just before the War.
 

Getting slightly off topic, but assuming that Triskel is correct about the Erica shape being made no earlier than 1955, can any one (without upsetting any obvious sensitivities) explain the swastika motif found on some early Erica shaped instruments? (Also seen on some celluloid covered square shaped melodeons.)

I realise that Nazi Germany did not invent, nor have sole use of the swastika, but I would have thought that placing a swastika on a product exported from Germany at that time may have caused some concerns, or even lost sales.

I have occasionally been asked by owners about removal of this symbol from their melodeon....

(Apologies if this post offends.)

[triskel]

Getting slightly off topic, but assuming that Triskel is correct about the Erica shape being made no earlier than 1955, can any one (without upsetting any obvious sensitivities) explain the swastika motif found on some early Erica shaped instruments? (Also seen on some celluloid covered square shaped melodeons.)

Malcolm,

Well firstly, it's not me, but Hohner who say that the Erica was introduced in 1955, though I've also seen them advertised and been told that by people who bought them then.   

Also, "Black Dots" were made long before that time, though not in the rounded shape. The "Double-Ray Black Dot Accordion" was originally built as a square-shaped black wooden instrument, specially for Forbes of Dundee, and announced in March 1934 (though not available until that April). The earliest illustrated advertisements (May 1934) show that the symbol in question (or should that read "questionable symbol"?) was part of the design from the beginning.

         

But that was also the year in which Hohner was forced to adopt the Fuehrersprinzip and factory life became increasingly politicised, whilst the firm was criticised, around then, by the Nazis for "trivialising" the swastika by putting it on some of their harmonicas... 

It only disappeared from the new Black-Dots relatively recently.

Stephen C.

edited photo

[an bosca ceoil]

I did say that only original catalogues would enable accurate dating and yours would seem to provide a lot of the answers. Makes a lot of sense because the "Holzbrand" pictured in the book I quoted just did not "look" 1914.  Goodness knows where they arrived at that date unless they took the owners advice without question.
Presumably the "Patent applied for" refers to the introduction of the still current pressed steel/plastic button  keyboard action?? and I would guess that the G and NG were on all Black Dots, albeit in a stylized form, to fill the gap under the "Double Ray" but I cannot recall seeing them on any Ericas.
Just remembered - that description mentioned an internal locking device - have you seen one with it?
Regards, Bruce