Re: [Harp-L] Any info on an Atta Boy F.R. Holz diatonic?

[David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It wasn't made by Hotz. It's a Hohner. Hohner took over Hotz and Peter Pohl around 1906, but continued using the Hotz and Pohl names for decades... They used the names of these companies they bought out for their cheaper lines, so the best models were sold as Hohners, but the cheaper models were sold under these other names, thus they could still grab market share in the cheap harp market, without tarnishing the picture of Hohner quality they were presenting. 
This 1828 date is some B.S. date that the Hohner advertising folks came up around the 1930s  to try to advertise harmonicas as made by the "World's Oldest harmonica Company"  
The date of 1830 was specifically chosen, I presume, to make a claim that the F.R. Hotz company - which was a Hohner subsidiary after 1907 - as the oldest company, when the ACTUAL world's oldest companies at the time, J.C. Herald in Saxony (since 1836) was the world's oldest company... and J.C. Seydel (brother to the founders of the current C.A. Seydel company) in 1838.
Why is 1828 a B.S. date? because Hotz would have had to have founded his company when he was EIGHT years old!  F.R. Hotz's dad might have been making them as a sideline in the late 1820s, but the F.R. Hotz company can't be that old and if we follow that family route, establishing a founding date for the current world's oldest, Seydel, gets complicated, because the C.A. Seydel brothers made harmonicas with their J.C. Seydel brother before starting the current C.A. Seydel company. Who knows when the C.A. Seydel brothers started working there.
J.C. Herald and Sons was in business, albeit a shaky one as a private company in the DDR, until 1970, when it was taken over by the communist party and ceased to exist. The J.C. Seydel  company disappeared during World War II. After 1970, the world's oldest title would then fall to Seydel, which was called Vermona at the time. 


Dave
_____________________________
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 


----- Original Message ----
From: michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 11:10:11 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Any info on an Atta Boy F.R. Holz diatonic?

I was gifted this harp.  The box says FR Holz is the oldest german
harp manufacturing company and it was established in 1828.  The giver
estimates this harp is at least 40 years old.  The box and harp appear
to be in excellent condition.

Any info?  Have I just won the lottery?  Could this be worth.... 50 dollars?!?
Thanks,
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com
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