Tried the rest, now buy Boomerang Mouth Organs : easy to blow, easy to play
- Bib ID:
- 7251528
- Format:
- Book
- Online Version:
- National Library of Australia digitised item. Ephemera Formed Collection 23 (Australian shop counter display advertisements) copy
- Description:
-
- [Sydney] : [J. Albert and Son], [1925?]
- 1 poster : colour ; 31.2 x 23.9 cm
- Series:
- Australian ephemera collection (Formed)
- Summary:
-
An advertising sign for shop counter display, colour lithographically printed on thick board, designed to be freestanding, with a folding cardboard support on the verso. A boomerang shaped mouth organ is depicted in the centre. Text on it reads: "The Boomerang De Luxe. Interchangable parts. Alberts system. Hand filed reeds." Above the red text panel (which has slanted corners like the top of an octagonal stop sign) is a die-cut image of a bearded Aboriginal man playing a large Boomerang mouth organ. He has white boomerang-shaped body paint on his upper chest and arms, and is wearing a gorget or breastplate engraved "King Boomerang." The word Boomerang is written with the two o's interlinked. A small lyre with its frame formed from overlapping boomerangs also appears.
- Biography/History:
-
"The J. Albert and Son Boomerang mouth organ was an iconic Australian musical instrument during the late nineteenth century and throughout much of the twentieth century. Being compact, portable, tuneful and cheap it became immediately popular with the Australian public upon its release onto the market in 1897. Between late 1896 and late 1897 an estimated 44,000 mouth organs, including the Boomerang, were sold by Alberts ... From their introduction the instrument remained popular supporting a notion of Australian identity, bolstered by broader national concerns such as Federation in 1901 and later, World War One. Being pocket sized, mouth organs generally became a popular instrument amongst Australian soldiers providing a welcome distraction to the rigours and tedium of war. Ironically most mouth organs including the Boomerang were made by German manufacturers such as CA Seydel and Son of Klingenthal in Saxony, who manufactured the Boomerang mouth organs for Alberts. ... Boomerang mouth organs came in a variety of pitches, styles and sizes, most being the more common rectangular shape. From about 1924 the production of an instrument actually shaped like a boomerang, complete with similarly shaped box, created a unique design that would always be associated with Australia....." (Michael Lea, Curator, Music & Musical Instruments, Powerhouse Museum, March 2014. http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=38001, viewed October 2016).
The Large De Luxe "Boomerang" had 48 reeds and was introduced in about 1925, priced at 18/6. (See advertisement, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131452050, viewed October 2016).
- Notes:
-
- Caption title.
- Ephemera Formed Collection 23 (Australian shop counter display advertisements) copy Also available online https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2649285301
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- J. Albert and Son, issuing body
- Also Titled:
- Boomerang Mouth Organs : easy to blow, easy to play
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the [Ephemera relating to Australian shop counter display advertisements].
This collection contains 7 records. - Copyright:
-
Out of Copyright
You may copy or order a copy through Copies Direct or use the online copy for research or study; for other uses Contact us for further information about copying.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Since 1995 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Artistic
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1925
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.