Civil War Accordion

[wj73andyg]

Greetings,

Does anyone have information on the accordion during the American
Civil War? What was the type of accordion most commonly used by the
soldiers in camp? (German, one row/10 button diatonic?). Can anyone
point me to documentation? Does anyone have any pictures for this
time period (1861-1865). Or perhaps someone can point me to accordion
shops who would know for certin. I have made a lot of inquires, done
a lot of web searching, talked to a lot of people, and not many agree
on what was used. Perhaps pictures will tell the best story. Any and
every bit of advice is sincerly appreciated.

God bless you
Andy

[Richard Morse]

Post by wj73andyg
Does anyone have information on the accordion during the American
Civil War? What was the type of accordion most commonly used by the
soldiers in camp? (German, one row/10 button diatonic?). Can anyone
point me to documentation? Does anyone have any pictures for this
time period (1861-1865). Or perhaps someone can point me to accordion
shops who would know for certin.

The types of accordions most likely in use during that time would be the
1-row button accordions and flutinas. For documentation, I remember
several war articles in Concertina & Squeezebox magazine with photos
(mostly showing 1-rows). Editor Joel Cowan's great-grandfather served as
a private in the Union Army.... Issue no. 30 has a wonderful photo of
his great-grandparents, Alice and Jasper Malone, taken in 1866 with he
on fiddle and she on flutina.

-- Rich --

[Helen P.]

Andy, I think you can pretty well assume that the boxes used were as small &
lightweight as possible. Face it: what soldier would be hauling around
something really big & heavy, in addition to his army gear?

Also, the piano accordion had only been invented around 1845 or so, so it
hadn't had time to expand to today's monster-sized boxes and numbers of
reeds.

The early historical pictures I've seen in a Scottish fiddle music book have
boxes that look much like that, too.

Chances are good that several varieties of box were in use at the time, just
like today.

-- Helen

Post by wj73andyg
Greetings,
Does anyone have information on the accordion during the American
Civil War? What was the type of accordion most commonly used by the
soldiers in camp? (German, one row/10 button diatonic?). Can anyone
point me to documentation? Does anyone have any pictures for this
time period (1861-1865). Or perhaps someone can point me to accordion
shops who would know for certin. I have made a lot of inquires, done
a lot of web searching, talked to a lot of people, and not many agree
on what was used. Perhaps pictures will tell the best story. Any and
every bit of advice is sincerly appreciated.
God bless you
Andy

[craig hollingsworth]

Years ago, I visited the Gettysburg museum and saw an accordion on
display. I recall it as a 1 row - 10 button box, but it may have
been a flutina. Perhaps you could call them and ask for a description -
the key is what the left hand side looks like.

The old daggeurotypes (sp?) of that era that I
have seen on EBAY tend to be of women with flutinas.

Craig Hollingsworth

Post by wj73andyg
Greetings,
Does anyone have information on the accordion during the American
Civil War? What was the type of accordion most commonly used by the
soldiers in camp? (German, one row/10 button diatonic?). Can anyone
point me to documentation? Does anyone have any pictures for this
time period (1861-1865). Or perhaps someone can point me to accordion
shops who would know for certin. I have made a lot of inquires, done
a lot of web searching, talked to a lot of people, and not many agree
on what was used. Perhaps pictures will tell the best story. Any and
every bit of advice is sincerly appreciated.
God bless you
Andy

[g***@verizon.net]

The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pa has one on display. Just visited there today and saw it. It's a wonderful museum to see, hear, and sense the war in all aspects.