The times., 1901-04-21
THE MUSIC OF BOYHOOD
Old-Fashioned Toys That Delighted
the Juvenile Heart.

Not All Yet Reiegated to the shades
of ObIivien-Nouth Organs Made
From Comb aud "a Piece of Pa
per-The JewsharP and the BoneS-
The old boy who always thinks OF
things that used to happen when he was
young and never happen now was in the
mood for fault finding. He had been
heard on the degeneration OF the mince
pie and the passing Of the games OF
which prisoners base" snap the
whip" and follow y'r master were
good samples
The playing of hand organ turned his
thoughts In the direction of music.
What has become OF the accordiOns.
concertinas, harmonious, jewsharps, and
bones2 Once upon a time these were
among the priced possessions of a boy
and there were few boys who did not
carry a mouth organ or a jewsharp or
both in the same pocket with marbles.
jackkuife, pieces OF string. and other
things that only boys know how 20 ap-
preciate. The comb with a piece Of
paper over the fiat surface was also
favOrite musical instrument in those
days. but the boy OF the present time
knows no more about it than he does OF
the mouth organ, bones. or cOncertina.
Where you were raised. in the country.
up near Sprakers." said one of the party.
the musical instruments which you think
have gone out of existence are still as
popular as they were In the days when
you looked upon a canaIbOat as the great
est vessel afiOat. Boys stin twang the
tewsharp up there and, while the canal
boats stop at the store TO load up. the
crew may possibly hear the local band
practicing a funeral march in anticipation
of the passing away Of the man who has
been given up by five doctors, but they
will certainly hear some one about the
landing playing Home. Sweet Home on
a mouth organ. The city boys may not
be customers for the old style toy musical
instruments, but those who viii be city
boys in a few years still buy them. and
have as much fun with them as you had
in the good times of long ago.
But the purchasers of the old-fashiOned
instruments are not all in the country, ac-
cording to the testimony OF prominent
dealer in musical instruments. Great
quantities are sold in New York and the
competition in that line is sharp.
The autoharp. Apollo harp, phOnoharp.
and a number of other similar instru-
ments which may be played by people
who have no knowledge of music, said
Carl Fischer. have displaced the accor-
dion TO a certain extent. but that instru-
ment is still sold extensively among the
foreign population.
A strange thing about the accordion is
that it has found its way into pawnshOpS
TO such an extent that people who wish
TO buy one go to the pawnshOps first. The
pawnbrokerS have become good custom
ers for all grades and styles of accordiOns
and cOncertinas. The bones on which
the old boy played when he was at school
were the real article, sometimes procured
from the butcher. but more often from
the home table. They were cleaned and
scraped. and some boys went so far as to
polish them with pumice stone or knife
brick taken from the kitchen But the
bones of today are bone in name only,
being made of ebony. rosewood. mahOG-
any, ard other woods. They sell at vari-
Gus prices, from 10 cents to 80 cents a set
-four pieces-and are sold to boys who
aspire TO hOnOrs on the amateur minstrel
stage
The tambourine and bones" said the
musical instrument dealer, were con-
spicuOus features in the Oid-faShiOned
minstrel shows. and when the burnt cork
trOupes travelled about the country they
created a demand for these Instruments
But the minstrel shows are not what they
Were bones are back numbers and boys
who go to the performances which have
taken the place of the minstrel show. pre-
fer to try other acts introduced by the
with Old-fashioned bones But still. bones
are sold and tambourines are not dead
stock
The zobo which is made in many styles
and shapes. has taken the place of the
comb as a musical instrument, and child
rem make just as much noise and good
music on this little instrument as their
father did on the comb There may be a
falling off in the sale OF JewSharpS IN New
York. but still they are carried in stock
by nes riy every notion establishment, and
in the little stores in the residence dis
tricts where school children are the larg-
est customers. the jeWSharp Is consider
ed as staple an article as a top or glass
marbles JeWsharps cost the retailer
from 20 cents to $50 a dozen. the high
grade article being known as Irish jews
harps
The little stores where children buy
their slate pencils candy. pinWheels, and
paper dolls are also good places 10 Visit
if one wishes to be assured that the har-
monica, or mouth organ. Is still pOpu-
lar article of trade. In these little places
the low grade article is kept for sale at
prices ranging from two cents TO dime
But in the department stores and musical
instrument establishments harmonious
with various attachments and OF peculiar
make are for sale at prices as high as s.
each Great quantities of these iuStru-
ments are sent to the distant parts of the
country. and where larger musical in
StrumentS are scarce. the music produced
by mouth organs. dcCOrdfOuS and con-
certlnas may be heard as frequently now
as it was heard in the old boys home
forty years ago.
The Ocarina an instrument made of
burnt clay and shaped like gOurd was
not known in the days of the mouth or
gan's popularity in New York, but II has
become popular, and large numbers of
the queer instruments are now sold at
prices ranging from 25 cents TO S2-New
York Tribune.