Guitarophone- Oscar Schmidt,New-Jersey,USA, Circa 1917

Hi
Everyone.
I found this Musical instrument fews month ago at my local Goodwill, the "Guitarophone" kinda little harp with cords, was manufactured by Oscar Schmidt,87-101, Ferry Street, Jersey City, New Jersey.USA. In Canada was Distributed Guitarophone Co, 45 Jarvis Street,Toronto, Canada.
I look online, there not in good physical condition like this one, amazing condition it is, decals, polychrome original, label inside the instrument was in fine shape, even the varnish was perfect, need little cleaning, that's the funny part, the only part need some more work, is the tin plate with the inscription on, small little lift corners, here and there, easy fix.

This Guitarophone measure 17 inch long by 15.25 wide, on a 1.50 inch thick.

Thanks for Viewing.
Alan

----------------------------OSCAR SCHMIDT INC---------------------------------

Founded by Oscar and Otto Schmidt in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1871, the company applied for dozens of patents in musical instruments and related equipment. The Oscar Schmidt Company was formally incorporated in 1911 and at the company's peak in the early 1920s, with the company operating manufacturing facilities in five cities.

The instruments were primarily sold door-to-door by travelling musical salesmen from the early 1880s until 1965. The company often employed current events as a marketing strategy. Each year, the company would offer new "special editions" of its products linked to newsworthy events likely to appeal to the sympathy of customers the door to door salesforce would encounter. These special editions would include a small dedication commemorating the event and sheet music also written to commemorate the event. The company's salesmen kept detailed records of the buying habits of customers, and the selection of special editions was made annually with the intent to sell additional instruments to existing customers.

The company's instruments were intended to be relatively easy to play for amateurs. Oscar Schmidt designed small, portable, durable instruments intended to be easy to learn, and useful for family entertainment in the decades between the Civil War and the emergence of radio and later television.

---------------------------Origins of the "Guitarophone"--------------------------

The origins of the Guitarophone are uncertain, but the central figure in the manufacture and distribution of the instrument seems to have been Henry Langfelder. An Austrian, born about 1865, he worked at the Symphonion
Company at the time the first Symphonion music boxes were built.4 He also worked at Polyphon; then in 1893-94 he emigrated to the U.S. and joined the F.G. Otto Company in New Jersey. In 1894 he filed a patent application for designs of the original Capital Cuff box.2 Five other American patents were granted in his name between 1894 and 1897.4 In 1901 Langfelder returned to Germany and joined the Berlin firm of Menzenhauer and Schmidt, noted for their non-mechanical "guitar-zithers." instruments with playing instructions keyed to scales and numbered pushbuttons such that inexperienced and musically unknowledgeable people could play proper notes and chords.4 By 1902, Langfelder was owner of the firm.

The Guitarophone may have been a trial piece of sorts, wherein a small
number tf/non mechanical guitar-zithers (proto-autoharps), complete with instruction decals for manual play were encased in wooden boxes, then fitted with spring motors and disc hold-down/ hammer assemblies.

Friederich Menzenhauer had established his company in Berlin in 1897; in 1899 he joined with Oscar Schmidt of New York to open a branch of the business in the United States.4 After Langfelder's affiliation, the company
prospered through sales of nonmechanical zithers and a smaller line of mechanical musical instruments. Among the latter was a small trumpet played via a paper strip or band.4 In 1916, Menzenhauer and Schmidt acquired the Kalliope Musikwerke and continued the manufacture and distribution of Kalliope music boxes.3 They also acquired the Anker gramophone.4 Oscar Schmidt was a manufacturer of stringed wooden
instruments in the United States; his company survives to this day as a well-regarded maker of autoharps. descendants of the "guitar-zithers" of 100 years ago. Remember, Schmidt's name appears on the Guitarophone as the "manufacturer of Menzenhauer Guitar-Zither." Interestingly, Schmidt produced a nonmechanical Guitarophone in a Jersey City factory just a short way down the street from the manufactory of the mechanical Guitarophone. This "Liberty Model" instrument carries a 1917 date, which
likely explains why its manufacturer was cited as Oscar Schmidt, Inc., no mention being made of the German Menzenhauer and Schmidt Company.