ACCORDION
https://collections.galtmuseum.com/link/artifact8102
- Material Type
- Artifact
- Other Name
- C/W CASE
- Date Range From
- 1920
- Date Range To
- 1930
- Materials
- WOOD, PLASTIC, LEATHER
- Catalogue Number
- P19980056000
- Material Type
- Artifact
- Other Name
- C/W CASE
- Date Range From
- 1920
- Date Range To
- 1930
- Materials
- WOOD, PLASTIC, LEATHER
- No. Pieces
- 4
- Height
- 40.4
- Length
- 39.1
- Width
- 25.5
- Description
- 1. ACCORDION: IMITATION IVORY/MOTHER-OF-PEARL PANELED BODY WITH FRENCH IVORY AND BAKELITE KEYBOARD. PANEL BELOW KEYBOARD HAS CUT-OUT GEOMETRIC PATTERN, WITH FINE BROWN SCREENING BENEATH. "HOHNER" NAMEPLATE AT CENTRE. CENTRAL PORTION OF BODY HAS EXPANDABLE BELLOWS, BELOW WHICH IS A SET OF BLACK CHORD BUTTONS. "VERDI II" NAMEPLATE ABOVE. TWO WORN LEATHER STRAPS ATTACHED ACROSS BACK; EACH HAS SILVER BUCKLE. BOTH ENDS OF TOP STRAP BROKEN. BACK OF ACCORDION HAS GOLD VINYL(?) PANEL RIVETED BELOW KEYBOARD SECTION. BOTTOM OF INSTRUMENT PERFORATED, WITH LEATHER STRAP RUNNING ACROSS LENGTH. ACCORDION FUNCTIONAL. 2. CASE: 22.7CM (H) X 52.5CM (L) X 44.5CM (W). WOODEN BOX WITH HINGED LID, SHAPED WITH PEAK NEAR CENTRE TO FIT OVER INSTRUMENT. PAINTED BLACK THROUGHOUT INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR; PAINT IS BADLY CHIPPING AND WORN IN SEVERAL PLACES. LENGTH OF BUTCHER'S TAPE AND PACKING TAPE ON EACH SIDE OF LID. TWO HINGED AND SPRING-LOADED METAL CLASPS AT FRONT OF CASE; ONE BROKEN AND MISSING. BLACK LEATHER HANDLE FIXED TO METAL RINGS ON FRONT BASE OF CASE. LEATHER WORN INTERIOR OF BASE LINED WITH RED WOOL/FELT FABRIC, TACKED TO WALLS OF CASE. LINING IS WRINKLED, DISCOLORED, AND WORN. CASE APPEARS HANDMADE. *UPDATE* AS OF 2011 INVENTORY THIS ITEM WAS DEEMED TO HAVE 4 PIECES (RATHER THAN 2), AS BOTH LEATHER STRAPS CAN BE DETACHED FROM THE ACCORDION BODY. THE STRAPS ATTACH TO THE ARTIFACT WITH A BELT AND BUCKLE SYSTEM.
- Subjects
- MUSICAL T&E
- Historical Association
- LEISURE
- History
- THE DONOR, HARRY ELDON, WAS NAMED HENDRIK ELZINGA WHEN HE ARRIVED IN CANADA FROM HOLLAND IN JULY OF 1948, AT AGE THIRTEEN. THE ELZINGA FAMILY WENT TO A FARM IN COALDALE FOR ONE YEAR, THEN SETTLED IN LETHBRIDGE. HENDRIK'S FATHER PURCHASED THE ACCORDION SECOND HAND IN 1943-44 AT THE RECOMMENDATION OF HENDRIK'S MUSIC TEACHER, AS HENDRIK HAD OUTGROWN HIS PREVIOUS INSTRUMENT. AS THIS WAS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR INSTRUMENTS WERE VERY DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN SO MUCH TRADING OCCURRED TO OBTAIN THIS ACCORDION. THE PIECE CAME TO CANADA WITH THE FAMILY IN 1948. HENDRIK LEARNED TO PLAY THE ACCORDION IN HOLLAND, AND PLAYED IT IN CANADA AT FAMILY AND CHURCH FUNCTIONS THROUGHOUT HIS TEENS. THE ACCORDION HAS REMAINED IN THE FAMILY SINCE, UNTIL BEING DONATED TO MUSEUM. *UPDATE* IN 2018, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED AN AUDIT OF ACCESSORIES, INCLUDING A BOX DONATED BY BERNICE ELDON. ON 2 MARCH 2018, PUNDYK INTERVIEWED MRS. ELDON’S HUSBAND, HARRY ELDON, ABOUT THE DONATION MADE BY HIS LATE WIFE. IN THAT INTERVIEW, ELDON RECALLED HIS FAMILY’S SETTLEMENT IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, “[WE WENT] TO COALDALE FIRST [IN 1948]… [FOR] FOUR TO FIVE MONTHS… AND THAT WAS A MISTAKE. AND THEN WE WENT TO LETHBRIDGE. AND THEY STAYED HERE, AND DIDN’T GO BACK TO HOLLAND BECAUSE MOM DIDN’T HAVE… THE PROBLEMS THAT SHE HAD IN HOLLAND...” “IN HOLLAND, MY FATHER NEVER WORKED FOR A MAN,” ELDON EXPLAINED, “HE WAS A SALESMAN… [HE] HAD HIS OWN STORE... BUT IN 1940, WE MOVED BECAUSE THE WAR WAS STARTING, AND HE WOULDN’T STAY IN THE PLACE THAT HE WAS… I DON’T KNOW WHY WE MOVED, BUT [WE] MOVED TO FRIESLAND… [WHICH IS] A PROVINCE IN HOLLAND THAT IS ON THE NORTHERN EDGE, MAYBE 40-50 MILES FROM GERMANY. AND HE MOVED THERE TO BE CLOSER TO HIS PARENTS AND SIBLINGS. SO, THEN WE LIVED THERE FOR SEVEN TO EIGHT YEARS, UNTIL THE WAR WAS FINISHED, AND THEN WE DECIDED TO MOVE TO CANADA. BUT THAT WAS A BIT OF A MISTAKE AS WELL, BECAUSE [SOME OF] THE NEIGHBORS WERE MOVING, AND THEY SAID, ‘TONY’ – THAT’S MY DAD. HE WAS TINUS… IN HOLLAND, BUT THEY CALLED HIM TONY HERE – SO THEY SAID, ‘TINUS, WHY DON’T YOU MOVE AS WELL?’ AND [HE SAID], ‘HUH, I’LL TRY IT.’ AND, HE DID. WELL, IT WAS A DIFFERENT LIFE OUT HERE THAN IT WAS THERE FOR THEM… BECAUSE IT WAS EASY FOR THEM TO MAKE A LIVING [IN HOLLAND], AND IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR [THEM] HERE… BUT THEY ADJUSTED TO IT.” “AND, IN LETHBRIDGE, A JOB WAS PROVIDED FOR [MY DAD] AT THE ADVANCE LUMBER COMPANY… [THEY] LIVED AT 1318 6TH AVENUE SOUTH, AND THAT’S WHERE WE GREW UP. I WENT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL THAT IS NOT FAR [THERE]… WE COULD WALK IN 6-7 MINUTES. AND, THAT WAS IT… I HAVE ONE BROTHER, [AUKE], WHO IS 5 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME; AND A SISTER, [MARY], WHO IS A YEAR OLDER THAN ME.” ALL OF THE ELZINGA CHILDREN WERE BORN IN HOLLAND BEFORE THE FAMILY’S IMMIGRATION. ELDON SAYS, “I WAS BORN IN ’35… [WHEN WE WERE MOVING] IT SOUNDED EXCITING TO SEE WHAT IT WAS GOING TO BE LIKE... AND [WHEN] WE MOVED… AS FAR AS WE WERE CONCERNED AS KIDS, IT WAS FINE…” “I WAS 12 WHEN I LEFT HOLLAND,” ELDON SAYS, “I HAD MY 13TH BIRTHDAY IN COALDALE. BUT, I’VE BEEN BACK TO HOLLAND QUITE A FEW TIMES BECAUSE OF MY BUSINESS, AND I HAVE GONE BACK AS WELL TO VISIT SOME COUSINS, AND WHAT-HAVE-YOU, THAT I KNOW THERE…” WHEN THE FAMILY FIRST MOVED TO CANADA, ELDON SAID, “WE BROUGHT ALL SORTS OF FURNITURE… A LOT OF STUFF THAT WE DIDN’T NEED BUT, ANYHOW, WE BROUGHT IT, AND USED IT… WE HAD THREE BIG CASES… [WHICH ARRIVED] A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER, AND THEY WERE DELIVERED TO OUR HOUSE, AND WE HAD TO UNPACK IT, AND SHOVE IT WHERE IT HAD TO GO.” ELDON EXPLAINED, “MY MOTHER’S NAME AND MY FATHER’S NAME WAS ‘ELZINGA’, AND I CHANGED MINE, WHEN I WAS CLOSE TO GETTING MY DEGREE, AS CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT, TO ‘ELDON’, BECAUSE I DIDN’T THINK I WOULD GO THROUGH THE – WELL, THEY USED TO CALL US NAMES – AND SO I THOUGHT I WAS STARTING UP MY OWN ACCOUNTANCY, AND I DIDN’T THINK THE NAME ‘ELZINGA’ SOUNDED ALL THAT FAMILIAR. THAT’S A LONG TIME AGO.” A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE STATES THEUNIS AND DIRJKE GAVE THEIR APPLICATIONS FOR CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP TO THE LETHBRIDGE DISTRICT COURT ON 2 FEBRUARY 1954. ACCORDING TO HIS OBITUARY IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, THEUNIS (TONY) ELZINGA PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE AT THE AGE OF 73 YEARS ON 12 OCTOBER 1983. THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD PUBLISHED A THANK YOU FROM THE FAMILY FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF DOROTHY ELZINGA ON 10 OCTOBER 2000. THE DONOR, BERNICE ELDON (NEE LANCASTER), PASSED AWAY ON 6 NOVEMBER 2006. PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION. PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW.
- Catalogue Number
- P19980056000
- Acquisition Date
- 1999-02
- Collection
- Museum
Images
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