'5 Minute Mouth Organ Course' booklet, 1926

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J. Albert & Son Pty Ltd

c. 1926

Overview

'5 Minute Mouth Organ Course' instruction booklet produced by J. Albert & Son, Pty Ltd, Sydney in 1926.
The cover is a bright orange-red colour and features 10 cartoon style images of the heads of men, women and children playing mouth organs. The title of the booklet is written in cream on a black background and there is a central oval area with a black border where details are given about the contents.
There is a large image of 'The Miniature Boomerang' mouth organ at the lower right and the publisher's details in the centre at the bottom of the cover.
The first page is a guarantee from the company to refund the purchase price should the buyer be unable to master the mouth organ in five minutes. Then follows eight lessons, a page describing 'how to produce the tremolo' and 'to obtain a mellow, rich tone', three pages of sheet music (6 songs), and two pages advertising 'Cole's Spanish Guitar Method' and various Abert's albums and songbooks.

Historical information

According to 'The Powerhouse Collection': "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.
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".

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00169

Item type

Themes

Material