By Dr Louis Adendorff, March, 2005
South Africa.
LOUISADENDORFF[AT]TELKOMSA.NET
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Dear Paul,
I am sure you are aware of the story of the 50,000+ concertinas, which were thought to be non existent until they were rediscovered in South Africa. I would like to mention a few points of interest.
The concertina is a very popular instrument in our country and is used for playing our traditional “boere musiek”. Concertinas dating back to the middle of the 19th century are still to be found and were probably played during the time of the Great Trek. (I had the privilege to play on a 1863 Lachenal in perfect working order last week.) There are still quite a few Wheatstones to be found, but as you can imagine these are all aging. Furthermore we have had people exporting the Wheatstones to be sold in other countries, depleting our stock of these lovely instruments even more. The Wheatstones have become so expensive now that youngsters wishing to continue playing our music, can in no way afford to buy a serviceable concertina.
Fortunately one of our top musicians, Koot Brits, who has been repairing and reconditioning concertinas for many years, has now started manufacturing concertinas. Using modern technology and materials, these are of such a high standard that I am sure it can compete with any concertina available in the world. Both the construction and sound are of absolute superb quality. However, large scale production of these concertinas, which would make them more affordable, can only be achieved if there is a big enough demand.
In South Africa there is at present a major problem with unemployment. Any venture that could create jobs, is of national importance to us. If a market could be found for Koot’s concertinas, we should be able to create a livelihood for quit a few families.
Being in the position you are, I believe you can help us with answers to a few questions:
1) Is there a market large enough to justify production?
2) Where do we find the market?
3) Who are the people to talk to?
We would appreciate your views.
I also hope this will open a South African contact to the concertina world, sharing thoughts on the instrument we all love so much.