As promised in a previous post, here are a number of photos (at bottom of post) of my Cyril Damien "accordion". Known as "Flutinas", at the time, it seems they became "accordions" when French manufacturers began making 2-row boxes (but, who knows for sure).
The images below depict a very early (1830-31) Damien (the one that is whole). The original Austrian patent application (available online) depicts a 5 button design, but notes that the design is expandable, respecting the number of buttons (and tones). These Flutinas were, of course, diatonic and bi-sonoric. The bellows are paper, and still functional, although quite stiff. There is a bellows vent on the left side (the bass side isn't, yet) to facilitate silent bellows movement.
The second box (the disassembled one) is a mid 1830's, French made "Busson". Because of the lack of ornamentation and no left side bass buttons, I suspect that this unit is a very early example. By the 1840's, left side bass buttons (levers, actually, referred to as "spoons") had become commonplace. In order to get around the Austrian patent, Busson re-designed the mechanism, as seen by comparison of the photos. Busson relocated some of the pallets so as to "surround" the right side handle, and added two thumb operated bass tone pallets to the top of the aforementioned handle. When I acquired the Busson, it was already in pieces, the glue joints having failed. I originally planned to restore (re-glue) the box, but decided the exposure of the internals was more valuable in conjunction with the Damien. The majority of Flutinas I have found on the I-net appear to be Bussons, or another French maker.
The example of the Damien I have is the only one I have ever seen for sale (they didn't know what they had). I have discovered photos of a couple of examples of 8 button boxes, while mine is a 12 button.
Research efforts on the I-net revealed very little on Damien. Busson, however, was a different story. Below is the best single compilation on Busson I could find, submitted with permission from the author, Rob Howard of the UK.
BTW; If anyone can provide additional info on the Damians, I'd surely be interested.
Busson - First of the Great Accordion Builders
The most prolific designer/builder of accordions in France during the 19th Century was Constant Busson (1801- 1900). Nobody knows how many instruments carry Busson’s name, though the number must run into thousands, many of which have survived and are to be found in collections around the world. Sadly, no picture of Busson himself can be found.
Busson trained as a technician at Musical Instrument Merchants, his father George Busson’s well established
business in Paris, building harmoniums, pianos, and barrel organs. Constant Busson took a special interest in the
accordion (a.k.a. flutina), patented in Austria in 1829, and by 1835 was designing and constructing his own flutinas. He put a lot of time and effort in improving the playing action of the treble keys, and was one of the first to design instruments with 2 rows of treble, plus bass keys. Busson was the first to decorate bodywork and bellows with lithographed pictures, featuring designs such as accordionists playing in the presence of high society,
men in white ties and women in gowns, and depictions such as the great bell of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.
Busson was also a hard headed businessman who knew how to effectively market his products, and he visited Britain and the USA to set up profitable export deals for his instruments. His production methods included training large numbers of prisoners to build accordions in the Parisian prisons La Conciegerie, La Force, and La Santé. All the work was personally quality controlled by Busson, whose standards were high. The prisoners were unscrupulously paid only a quarter of the national wage, and in doing so, Busson was able to undercut the retail prices of all his competitors in France, and by the 1850s he had achieved complete dominance of the French market for accordions.
Busson designed a variety of accordions including some instruments that were hybrids, combining features of the accordion and harmonium. The Flutina Polka, patented in 1851 by Busson, was a flutina with two ranks of treble reeds. Busson presented this model at The Great Exhibition, held at the Crystal Palace, London, in 1851. In 1853 Busson, in collaboration with ‘American reed organ’ designers Auguste Théophile Rousseau and Auguste Alexandre Titeux, patented the harmoniflute (right), which was a hybrid instrument - a combination of flutina and harmonium (resembling a piano accordion), with a uniform action (same note on push/pull of the bellows), and designed to be played flat on a stand or held on the knee. The harmoniflute was presented at the 1855 Paris Exhibition (Exposition Universelle). In 1873 Busson designed the bussophone, an accordion with a piano keyboard played flat on the lap.
By 1860 Busson had 63 employees, many of whom were prisoners in the Paris jails. Busson’s business, originally based at 166 Boulevard du Prince-Eugène, Paris, moved to 17 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Marais, in 1867, and to 166 Boulevard Voltaire in 1883. Busson’s sales rooms were situated at 24 Passage Jouffroy, Faubourg Montmartre, Paris, now part of a modern popular shopping mall.
Busson, like many other accordion makers, protected his designs by copyright (breveté), and on July 29th 1862 was awarded damages in court against two of his rivals, Blanchard and Kasriel, for copying his instruments.
By the 1850s the French accordion builders, and Busson in particular, were leading the world in accordion designs and productivity. However, this position changed dramatically due to politics and war. The military adventurism of the Emperor Napoleon III, who had long fantasised about creating a new French Empire to rival that of his famous uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte, led to an unwise declaration of war on Prussia on July 19th 1870, whose neighbouring German states all rallied to the Prussian side. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, including the calamitous Siege of Paris, involved great suffering for the civilian population and was a complete disaster for France. The war’s consequences included the defeat of the French army, the overthrow of Napoleon III, enormous social unrest and civil strife, and great loss of life in Paris and elsewhere, and also the establishment of a unified Germany. The war proved disastrous for most of the French accordion makers, especially those based in the capital. The chaos that ensued almost put Busson out of business, and it took him a few years to fully recover. The war, in effect, paved the way for the newly emerging Italian accordion makers, led by Paolo Soprani in Castelfidardo, to take over as the world’s leading accordion manufacturers.
Busson did regroup his business, and was awarded a Bronze Medal at the 1878 Paris Exposition for a Double Play Flutina- Polka, yet another new design. He also showed harmoniums and harmoniflutes at the 1889 Paris Exposition, and was awarded a Silver Medal for the latter, described as an Organ Accordion.
Busson died in 1900 at the grand age of 99, and his company was then dissolved.
Press on....
Waldo
The images below depict a very early (1830-31) Damien (the one that is whole). The original Austrian patent application (available online) depicts a 5 button design, but notes that the design is expandable, respecting the number of buttons (and tones). These Flutinas were, of course, diatonic and bi-sonoric. The bellows are paper, and still functional, although quite stiff. There is a bellows vent on the left side (the bass side isn't, yet) to facilitate silent bellows movement.
The second box (the disassembled one) is a mid 1830's, French made "Busson". Because of the lack of ornamentation and no left side bass buttons, I suspect that this unit is a very early example. By the 1840's, left side bass buttons (levers, actually, referred to as "spoons") had become commonplace. In order to get around the Austrian patent, Busson re-designed the mechanism, as seen by comparison of the photos. Busson relocated some of the pallets so as to "surround" the right side handle, and added two thumb operated bass tone pallets to the top of the aforementioned handle. When I acquired the Busson, it was already in pieces, the glue joints having failed. I originally planned to restore (re-glue) the box, but decided the exposure of the internals was more valuable in conjunction with the Damien. The majority of Flutinas I have found on the I-net appear to be Bussons, or another French maker.
The example of the Damien I have is the only one I have ever seen for sale (they didn't know what they had). I have discovered photos of a couple of examples of 8 button boxes, while mine is a 12 button.
Research efforts on the I-net revealed very little on Damien. Busson, however, was a different story. Below is the best single compilation on Busson I could find, submitted with permission from the author, Rob Howard of the UK.
BTW; If anyone can provide additional info on the Damians, I'd surely be interested.
Busson - First of the Great Accordion Builders
The most prolific designer/builder of accordions in France during the 19th Century was Constant Busson (1801- 1900). Nobody knows how many instruments carry Busson’s name, though the number must run into thousands, many of which have survived and are to be found in collections around the world. Sadly, no picture of Busson himself can be found.
Busson trained as a technician at Musical Instrument Merchants, his father George Busson’s well established
business in Paris, building harmoniums, pianos, and barrel organs. Constant Busson took a special interest in the
accordion (a.k.a. flutina), patented in Austria in 1829, and by 1835 was designing and constructing his own flutinas. He put a lot of time and effort in improving the playing action of the treble keys, and was one of the first to design instruments with 2 rows of treble, plus bass keys. Busson was the first to decorate bodywork and bellows with lithographed pictures, featuring designs such as accordionists playing in the presence of high society,
men in white ties and women in gowns, and depictions such as the great bell of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.
Busson was also a hard headed businessman who knew how to effectively market his products, and he visited Britain and the USA to set up profitable export deals for his instruments. His production methods included training large numbers of prisoners to build accordions in the Parisian prisons La Conciegerie, La Force, and La Santé. All the work was personally quality controlled by Busson, whose standards were high. The prisoners were unscrupulously paid only a quarter of the national wage, and in doing so, Busson was able to undercut the retail prices of all his competitors in France, and by the 1850s he had achieved complete dominance of the French market for accordions.
Busson designed a variety of accordions including some instruments that were hybrids, combining features of the accordion and harmonium. The Flutina Polka, patented in 1851 by Busson, was a flutina with two ranks of treble reeds. Busson presented this model at The Great Exhibition, held at the Crystal Palace, London, in 1851. In 1853 Busson, in collaboration with ‘American reed organ’ designers Auguste Théophile Rousseau and Auguste Alexandre Titeux, patented the harmoniflute (right), which was a hybrid instrument - a combination of flutina and harmonium (resembling a piano accordion), with a uniform action (same note on push/pull of the bellows), and designed to be played flat on a stand or held on the knee. The harmoniflute was presented at the 1855 Paris Exhibition (Exposition Universelle). In 1873 Busson designed the bussophone, an accordion with a piano keyboard played flat on the lap.
By 1860 Busson had 63 employees, many of whom were prisoners in the Paris jails. Busson’s business, originally based at 166 Boulevard du Prince-Eugène, Paris, moved to 17 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Marais, in 1867, and to 166 Boulevard Voltaire in 1883. Busson’s sales rooms were situated at 24 Passage Jouffroy, Faubourg Montmartre, Paris, now part of a modern popular shopping mall.
Busson, like many other accordion makers, protected his designs by copyright (breveté), and on July 29th 1862 was awarded damages in court against two of his rivals, Blanchard and Kasriel, for copying his instruments.
By the 1850s the French accordion builders, and Busson in particular, were leading the world in accordion designs and productivity. However, this position changed dramatically due to politics and war. The military adventurism of the Emperor Napoleon III, who had long fantasised about creating a new French Empire to rival that of his famous uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte, led to an unwise declaration of war on Prussia on July 19th 1870, whose neighbouring German states all rallied to the Prussian side. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, including the calamitous Siege of Paris, involved great suffering for the civilian population and was a complete disaster for France. The war’s consequences included the defeat of the French army, the overthrow of Napoleon III, enormous social unrest and civil strife, and great loss of life in Paris and elsewhere, and also the establishment of a unified Germany. The war proved disastrous for most of the French accordion makers, especially those based in the capital. The chaos that ensued almost put Busson out of business, and it took him a few years to fully recover. The war, in effect, paved the way for the newly emerging Italian accordion makers, led by Paolo Soprani in Castelfidardo, to take over as the world’s leading accordion manufacturers.
Busson did regroup his business, and was awarded a Bronze Medal at the 1878 Paris Exposition for a Double Play Flutina- Polka, yet another new design. He also showed harmoniums and harmoniflutes at the 1889 Paris Exposition, and was awarded a Silver Medal for the latter, described as an Organ Accordion.
Busson died in 1900 at the grand age of 99, and his company was then dissolved.
Press on....
Waldo
