Music & Musical Instruments

This harmonica was made by Magnus Harmonia Corp. in Newark, New Jersey, after 1947. It is a Horn Harmonica model with 10 single holes and 20 reeds. This harmonica has a black and orange plastic comb with white plastic cover plates with resonator. It is stamped:

MAGNUS
TRADE MARK
HORN HARMONICA

(and):

MADE IN U.S.A.
MAGNUS
NEWARK N.J.
Pat. No. 2416451 – 2407312 – 2373129 OTHER PATS. PEND.

This harmonica features the following patents:

U. S. Patent 2372129, dated April 10, 1945, for the construction of the reed plate and reeds for instruments of the harmonica type by Finn H. Magnus.

U. S. Patent #2407312, dated September 10, 1946, for harmonicas in which the reeds or reed plate, or both the reeds and reed plate are formed of a plastic composition by Finn H. Magnus assignor to International Plastic Harmonica Corporation.

U. S. Patent #2416451, date February 25, 1947, for a method of and making integral reed plates and reeds by Finn H. Magnus assignor to International Plastic Harmonica Corporation.

This music box disc was made by Regina Music Box Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, about 1897. It is Regina Disc #4098 - "Love's Dream After the Ball," by Alphons Czibulka. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 27” diameter disc.

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

This violin was made by Sergio Peresson in Haddonfield, New Jersey in 1990. The violin has the original label:

Sergio Peresson di Udine
Fece Anno 1990
Haddonfield
Sergio Peresson

The number "90" and "Haddonfield Sergio Peresson" are handwritten]:

[and a coat of arms logo with the initials "s," "p," and "u"]

Sergio Peresson (1913–1991) was an Italian-American violin maker. Born in Udine, Peresson began making violins in Italy in 1943. Four years later, Peresson moved to Caracas, Venezuela, where he made new instruments and was repairer to the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra. In the early 1960s he moved to Philadelphia and worked for the firm of William Moennig & Son from 1963-1971. In 1971 Peresson moved to the suburb of Haddenfield, New Jersey and continued to make instruments until his death in 1991.

This pitch pipe was made by Wm. Kratt Company in Union, New Jersey, undetermined date. It is tube-shaped, flared at one end, made of black lacquer coated metal. Accessioned with original cardboard box. The box is marked:

PITCH PIPE
A-440
Wm. KRATT Co.
Union, N. J.
MADE IN U.S.A.

This item was sold by Albert Moglie (b. December 16, 1890, Rome; d. June 9, 1988, Washington DC), instrument maker and restorer, and proprietor of a violin shop in Washington DC for 65 years from 1922 until 1987. At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to Antonio Sgarbi and subsequently worked under Luigi Enbergher, Giuseppe Rossi and Rodolfo Fredi, all of Rome. Following these apprenticeships, Moglie was a student of Hippolyte Sylvestre in Paris and Leandro Bisiach in Milan.

Albert Moglie came to America at the age of 24 to work for the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, first in Cincinnati and then New York City in 1916. By 1917 he had established his own shop in New York at 1431 Broadway. He moved to Washington DC in 1922.

Moglie enjoyed a fine reputation in Washington as a violin restorer, and is especially remembered as the caretaker of the Gertrude Clark Whittall Stradivari quartet of instruments at the Library of Congress, an association that began in the 1930s and lasted more than 50 years.

The Smithsonian, National Museum of American History, Archives Center houses additional information on the life and career of Albert F. Moglie:

https://sova.si.edu/record/NMAH.AC.0283

This music box disc was made by Regina Music Box Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, around 1897-1899. It is Regina Disc # 4080 - "Ben Bolt," by Nelson Kneass. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 27” diameter disc.

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

This music box disc was made by Regina Music Box Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, around 1900-1905. It is Regina Disc #4606 - "Goodbye My Lady Love," by Joe Howard. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 27” diameter disc.

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

This audio consolette was made by Radio Corporation of America in Camden, New Jersey, late 1950s. It is a Type BC-5 Audio Consolette, self-contained metal unit with a hinged front panel for access to components and wiring. The front panel is comprised of the following:

8 input selector switches
4 mixer attenuator switches: MIX 1, MIX 2, MIX 3, MIX 4
4 mixer switches
2 remote line selector switches: REM 1 and REM 2
master gain control knob: MASTER
monitor input selector switch: MON INPUT
monitor gain control: MON GAIN
phone selector switch: PHONE
VU (Volume Unit) meter
phone jack

There are two additional components attached to the right side of the consolette: tape starters and tape audio. This consolette was used by WANN (1190 AM) radio station.

WANN (1190 AM) was a radio station based out of Annapolis, Maryland that primarily served the area's growing African American community. Morris Blum founded it in 1946, and it broadcast to the entire mid-Atlantic region. The station was home to disc jockey Charles "Hoppy" Adams starting in the early 1950s. Adams hosted weekly events at a local African American only beach, Carr's Beach, which were popular with the area's youth population.

WANN continued to program gospel, rhythm and blues, and public affairs features until 1992 when the station changed to a mainstream country format with the catchphrase “Bay Country 1190.” Around 1998, the station changed ownership and became WBIS, broadcasting a News Talk Information format.