Roll Harmonica: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This player harmonica was made by Emenee Musical Toys, a subsidiary of Emenee Industries, Inc. in Flushing, New York, around 1955-1968. It is a Roll Harmonica model, comprised of an orange plastic harmonica with 16 double holes, enclosed in an orange plastic case. There are two sprockets inside the case for perforated rolls. The Roll Harmonica is played by blowing through the external mouthpiece while turning an external handle that moves the roll over the holes of the harmonica, similar to a player piano. Instructions are pasted inside the case. With original paper packaging.

Emenee Industries was organized in 1949 and produced mainly organs and musical toys for children. Between 1955 and 1968, Emenee was located in Flushing, New York where it became a leading manufacturer of plastic toys while continuing to produce musical instruments.

In May of 1968, the Ohio Art Company, a toy company from Bryan, Ohio, purchased 51 percent of Emenee’s stock and the company’s production was moved to Stryker, Ohio.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1955-1968
• maker: Emenee Musical Toys
• Object Name: harmonica
• Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: harmonica: 3 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in; 8.89 cm x 16.51 cm x 16.51 cm
• Measurements: box: 3 3/4 in x 12 in x 10 1/2 in; 9.525 cm x 30.48 cm x 26.67 cm
• Measurements: leaflet: 5/8 in x 2 1/2 in x 3 9/16 in; 1.5875 cm x 6.35 cm x 9.04875 cm
• place made: United States: New York, Queens, Flushing
• ID Number: 1988.0783.491
• accession number: 1988.0783
• catalog number: 1988.0783.491
• Credit Line: The Peter Kassan Collection
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.