How has the Hohner Marine Band changed over the years?
HOHNER MARINE BAND的历史变迁
The Hohner company has produced more than 40 different models bearing the name Marine Band over the years, ranging from simple Richter diatonics with 20 reeds, to huge multiple tremolo instruments with almost 200 reeds and all sizes and types in between. However, the one which concerns us here is their model number 1896, Hohner's best-selling diatonic and probably the most well-known harmonica in the world. Its design has changed quite a bit over the last century and I have attempted here to draw up a chronology of its evolution. Clicking on the links under each picture will open new windows with close-ups of the instrument.
Hohner 公司百年来制造了40多款命名为MARINE BAND的口琴，从ritcher式调音的20簧片的自然音阶口琴，到含有200多簧片的大型复合式复音口琴，各种型号和尺寸应有尽有。然而，布鲁斯口琴 手们最熟悉的还是那款标有1896字样的十孔口琴。这是hohner卖得最好的布鲁斯口琴，也许还是这世界上最著名的一款口琴。过去的一个多世纪时间 里，marine band的设计历经变化。我想在这里给出一个关于marine band 历次变革的大致描述。
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 1896 model first appeared in the year 1896, but back then it seems to have been called the Marine Orchestra. I have never seen any actual examples of this stage in its evolution, but here is a picture from the 1896 catalog of the William Tonk and Bro. Co. of New York:
1896这款琴最早出现在1896年，但那个时候不叫1896而叫做marine orchestra.我自己也从没有见过真正的marine orchestra口琴，这里给的图片来自纽约William Tonk and Bro.公司1896年的一份产品手册：
The covers on this instrument are "upside down" compared with the current incarnation of the Marine Band, ie. if you hold the instrument with the low notes to the left, the trademark is on the upper cover.
当时的marine band的琴盖板上的图案跟如今的正好上下颠倒，持现在的hohner琴,低音孔在左时，hohner商标应该在上盖板的，而当时的相反。
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just to confuse matters even further, the model number 1896 was also applied to a harmonica with the name Up To Date, as shown in this picture taken from a 1906 Hohner catalog:
更让人奇怪的是，大家可以看到，当时的琴身上刻着：up to date,
Hohner produced more than a dozen different models bearing the name Up To Date, but this one clearly resembles the Marine Band, particularly with regard to its covers. A later catalog shows an octave tuned harmonica with the same name, given the model number 1986?and claiming a patent date of August 24th, 1897 - the date of the patent claimed on Marine Band covers. (The picture above shows the words PATENT APPLIED FOR on the cover, so presumably this 1906 catalog must have used an old illustration.) It is perhaps possible that the 1896 model had different names for different markets, as another Hohner catalog from the same year shows the 1896 model with the name Marine Band and the familar picture of Matthias Hohner on the cover (also with the words PATENT APPLIED FOR, even though the accompanying caption clearly states Patented August 24th 1897).
