Pre War Hohner Marine Band Harmonica -New Old Stock- Never Played NOS Key of C

Description

Pre War Hohner Marine Band -New Old Stock- -Never Played- Key of C Time Capsule Discovery
As pictured.
Found in a New Jersey estate original store stock from an unopened package. M. Hohner Harmonica C no.1896 Marine Band A440 Stimmen 20.
The family had a music store in Newark New Jersey from the early 1900's when the store closed 50+ years ago the remaining stock was stored and forgotten.
Play tested just enough just to confirm the reeds are good
Some web info regarding the brass reeds used in pre-World War 2 Hohner harmonicas:
"The brass that was used in pre-WWII Hohners, known as bell metal brass, has been out of production since just prior to WWII. It was a softer, but stronger brass made by a few small brass factories, all of which have shut down since that time. There are as many as 500 different grades of brass, and better than half of them have been out of
production since prior to WWII and no harmonica factory uses the kind of amounts needed for the companies that are left to make it worth their while to continue making it, and it's too bad that every harp
manufacturer didn't have the foresight to own their own brass factories,
much like what the Zildjian cymbal company (now has)."
I found this on the web to share courtesy of patmissin.com:
"The next example is something of an oddball:
I assume from the presence of the star in the trademark that it
dates from before WWII, however it also has a few features that are normally associated with post-war models. The lips at the rear of the covers are still flattened, making the harp more open at the rear, but the M. HOHNER on the lower cover is slightly shorter than on the previous
examples and where it used to say MADE BY and GERMANY on either side of the name, it now says MADE IN GERMANY and FABRIQUÉ EN ALLEMAGNE. To make space for this, the medals are all slightly smaller and have smaller lettering around them. Although the WIEN
medals keep their single circle outline, there is a partial circle of
dots inside this outline. The circle with the star has the words
GESETLICH and GESCHUTZT in full, instead of the abbreviated forms
GESETL. and GESCH. used on every other Marine Band I have seen. On the upper cover, the lettering is fractionally larger than on the previous examples, both for the name MARINE BAND and the Hohner signature. The picture of Matthias Hohner is slightly simplified compared with earlier versions and the laurel around his picture is also a little different. The A440 is a little bigger than before and the key on the right tab of the
upper cover is now stamped into the metal, rather than engraved."
Truly a time capsule discovery! This is the best available on the market
today! Upgrade your collection with this outstanding example from the
golden era of Hohner!
A very unusual find. Original store stock. Free US Shipping
Selling as-is, as described and pictured, since any playing impacts the value.
See pics for details - They are part of the description
103-3722