Diatonic harmonica, G
Maker
F. A. Rauner
Date1925-1935 ca.
Place MadeKlingenthal, Saxony, Germany, Europe
ModelBanana-Band
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on the banana and painted black: BANANA – BAND / GERMANY / SWEET B[backwards] CD [interlocking letters inside a circle] MUSIC / TRADE MARK / PAT. APPD FORMarkingsnone
DescriptionHarmonica is morticed into a banana-shaped wooden body, painted yellow. 2 reed plates with 10 brass reeds each, 20 reeds. 10 holes, 2 reeds per hole (1 blow, 1 draw). Metal lip plate surrounds the holes. Two slits running lengthwise on the top of the banana serve as escape holes.
Virtually identical banana-shaped harmonicas were produced by F. A. Böhm, also of Klingenthal. During this time, various smaller competitors of Hohner joined forces to concentrate their efforts. It is, perhaps, for this reason Rauner and Böhm made such strikingly similar instruments. The collaborative enterprise Rauner-Seydel-Böhm-Schunk-AG lasted only a short time, 1929-1933.
DimensionsLength: 168 mm
Height: 32.3 mm
Width: 38.5 mm
ProvenancePurchased by donor, September 1996.
Credit LineAlan G. Bates Collection, 2000
Object number08494
On View
Not on view
