An early advertisement in the Colony for a Mundharmonika at R Clisby’s Musical Repository in Rundle Street Adelaide. It appears in the South Australian newspaper the Sud Australishe Zeiting in 1862. South Australia had a large intake of German settlers in the 19th Century, so much so that they represented 10% of all South Australians … Continue reading Schokolade & Adelaide
Act I. Back in 1973 at the Shep's household in the not so beachside side of Parkdale (east of Nepean Highway) we had an elderly guest at the table for Christmas lunch, someone we had never met and all the way from the United States of America. This would be the first time the condiment … Continue reading Known Unknowns
The first of each month this year will feature a brief gander and a listen at a classic Aussie 45 rpm single tune within the 1970-75 time frame. Not all are hits, not all reached the Top 40 and some are not even the ‘A’ side, but all contain a harp riff or two. Our … Continue reading 45 Revolutions #1 – Fleetwood Plain
"The efforts of the police to discover some clue which may lead to the identification of the two bodies found on Friday in the shaft of Rushworth gold mine, formerly known as the Morning Star, have been continued throughout yesterday and today. The most promising piece of evidence so far has been a Crackajack mouth … Continue reading Crackajack Cold Case
At last, a Boomerang tin of the mouth organ variety to sit in the Shep Dawg collection. Sometimes just collecting the tins can be as much fun as for the item inside. Only paid a blue swimmer and a pink lady. Cheap at half the price! Found an advertisement for Bush Piano mouth organs (three … Continue reading Bush Piano Interlude
Some time ago I found a couple of early advertisements of a couple of cheaper Crackajack Mouth Organs that were offered in their product range, The Tommy Dodd (1903-06) and the Little Gulliver (1903-12). I cannot conclusively establish how the naming of these was contrived, but I would like to suggest it was of prominent … Continue reading Tommy & the Gulliver
1897 - F A Rauner of Klingenthal, Germany register their Cracker Jack name # 28285. Sold six years later in Australia as Crackajack with same reg #.1899 - F A Rauner had The Scorcher models in the market place in Australia sold by Feldheim, Gotthelf & Co of Sydney and The Bushman sold by W … Continue reading A Crackajack Story
Now a word from our sponsors Allan’s and their Crackajack mouth organ. December is Crackajack month! A series of articles will be published weekly leading up to Christmas honouring the best Aussie (made in Germany) harmonica ever made! Ch EssDawg
Photo courtesy of Pittwater Online News In 1898 Johs Richter trademarked both the Coo-ee and Kookaburra name for mouth organs. Seydel took over the name of Kookaburra and produced them and in 1910 they trademarked the name Coo-ee for mundharmonikas. We know one exists (just beyond coo-ee) as the owner, the editor of the Pittwater … Continue reading Within Coo-ee
Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree, Merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, Gay your life must be! (Kookaburra Mouth Organ from Doug Dawson’s collection) The name Kookaburra has its derivation from the indigenous Wiradjuri word Guuguubarra, which is onomatopoeic for the bird's distinctive laughter call. To many they … Continue reading Bush King
