Probably the smallest and most overlooked musical instrument in our display is the “harmonica.” Though not as impressive looking as the bass fiddle that might have been played at a dance in colonial times or as loud and commanding as the home organ, the lowly harmonica had something that they didn’t – portability.
I’m sure that when as kids, we tried to make music on our toy harmonicas, we had no idea of the instrument’s history. In East Asia, the “sheng” is the Chinese version of the instrument, used in ancient times. In 1821, in Europe, several inventors came up with the first harmonica in that part of the world. The Hohner Co. in Germany began marketing them in 1857.
The company’s owner shipped some harmonicas to his relatives in North America and they became instantly popular and a staple of certain genres of music. A good musician can get amazing sounds out of a harmonica, creating mood and beat.
More to their portability, Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp, both, were known to carry harmonicas and Abraham Lincoln always carried in his pocket.
By Connie Eshbach