From my collection In 1907 Koch of Germany manufactured the Aussie branded The Kangaroo, however somewhere in time this model hopped over to Switzerland to be manufactured - perhaps during or just after the Great War when Germany was a bit on the nose. This wasn’t the first Kangaroo down under. The Kangaroo Chalmer (1s … Continue reading The Harmonica Hop
The Boomerang Chromatic pictured above was recently up for auction. Going by the hex head cover fasteners and the S.E.Y.D.E.L reverse cover plate, this had to be from the late 90s. Seydel had a few different Boomerangs available late in the twentieth century. I fired off an email to Mark Weber an authority on all … Continue reading Boomatic Chromerang
Who made who, who made you?Who made who, ain't nobody told you?Who made who, who made you? If you made them and they made you Who picked up the bill, and who made who? Yeah who made whoWho turned the screw? AC/DC This article is a combination of quite a few drafts for separate articles … Continue reading Who Made Who?
Cobber: Australian and New Zealand informal - a friend/mate (male). Word origin: from dialect cob to take a liking to someone Source: Collins English Dictionary. Bauer & Krause Here I go again off to find the maker of the Aussie Cobber mouth organ sold exclusively by Jackson & MacDonald of Druitt Street, Sydney. We had … Continue reading On The Trail Of The Cobber Coach.
NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT Two - In - One A ten-hole harmonica is used, and the four centre holes are drilled right through the back. These holes are then closed by means of an improvised valve of the accordion type, which can be made from a small spring paper clip. A suitable kazoo is … Continue reading The Great (Harmonica) Kazoo
Melbourne, 1909 1909 was an eventful year for young newsboy Jack Church and his Crackajack mouth organ. He was providing news content in all the Melbourne papers he was selling; The Herald, The Punch and The Argus. It’s probably fair to say Jack had been dealt a pretty rough hand in life with little chance … Continue reading Jack’s Congregation
I viewed a repeat episode of American Pickers awhile ago where they stumbled across a Cracker Jack vending machine. It set my brain cogs into motion (backwards) revisiting our famous Crackajack mouth organs sold by Allan’s of Melbourne. The cogs clunked to a stop on both why the name Crackajack and why advertising featuring the … Continue reading Nautical Jack
W V Robinson (1869-1926), a Canadian raconteur and mouth organ exponent, spent nearly a year ‘Down Under’ late 1924 into 1925 performing on the Tivoli circuit with J C Williamson Limited. He was on the undercard for popular Scottish comedian and singer Harry Lauder. W V was born in Quebec and lived in London opposite … Continue reading Robbo’s Lauder Melodies
Besses o' th' Barn Band's visits to Australia, by the sound of it, had many similarities with the wild scenes experienced when the Beatles landed Down Under in the sixties. It wasn't just in the popularity stakes either, but also in the proliferation of punters taking up playing a brass instrument (or mouth organ - … Continue reading Besses & Beatles
Canadian collector Doug Dawson sent photos of a couple of exquisite Cracker Jacks recently added to his ever expanding collection. F A Rauner sent his models down under (with a little tweak to the name) to Allan & Co. of Melbourne. Sláinte Doug. Built to beat the band. Probably not ideal - better to be … Continue reading Band Beaters
Harmonica Riff Raff 