A nice picture of an Ocariflute

Several times, we have published posts about the Ocariflute (which used to be named "Oclariflute" at its beginnings), notably when we heard of its existence through advertisements, about its Silver Medal at Concours Lépine in 1923, when it was played on french TV or when we found the great (and too short) footage showing Jean Dubuffet and his Ocariflute in 1961...
So, we partly knew this french nose flute, but had never seen one in detail... until I found this beautiful picture coming from the Scenkonstmuseet (Swedish Museum of Performing Arts), based in Stockholm.



There is no doubt this instrument is an Ocariflute: the very typical shape of the heel is an evidence. What is interesting to notice, is that this nose flute was not stamped by a trademark or a name, contrarywise to any known and trademarked nose flutes we know. I have an hypothesis... as usual :)



On the advertisement above, the text "Instruments Brilhault - BT SGDG" (a not the name Ocariflute!) appears on an oval white background: it could be because the flute is not stamped but only got a sticker on the heel. And why not a stamping? Remember there was another instrument that was called Ocariflute at this time. "Ocariflute" was probably a better name than "Oclariflute", but was already in use. So Brilhault chose "Oclariflute" in 1922. But we know than after 1930, the nose flute finally got the name "Ocariflute" (Did Brilhault buy the trademark? Or was the name not renewed by he Ullmann company?). So, in the 20's, why would you have built a stamping machine with a trademark that you don't want to keep (Oclariflute) or are not yet allowed to use (Ocariflute). Better to glue a sticker, no?

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The Scenkonstmuseetpossess also in its collection another metal nose flute, which appears to be a German no-name Nasenflöte, and look very similar to the German one I bought... in Danmark.



Mine:

Yet Another German Nasenflöte!

Donnerwetter! Another mistake! Well, let's be positive: another mistake corrected!

I thought that the metal Nasenflöte that was advertised in (almost) any german catalogue in the 1920-1930's was the one made by PaBru, the Paul Brunner's company in Brunndöbra.

The omnipresent no-name german metal noseflute and the Paul Brunner's one:


The no-name german Nasenflöte:


But if you look well at both engravings, you'll see the shape is not the same, particularly for the airway cap and the nose shield.

It could have been a drawing artefact. But I found a record of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a german nose flute. There is no picture, but the record says the instrument is in metal and dates of before 1941.

Much more, the description says:



Donnerwetter (again)! The "water pump" was the PaBru trademark! The exact mark that appears of the Fanfare instrument as on the flutes and kazoos, playing with the rebus around Brunner: Brunnen means well, spring, fountain in German.



So, there was "another" german nose flute, stamped with a "water pump" and made by PaBru. The question remains to find who produced the no-name german flute, and where... Klingental district too?

A Humanatone copy from 1997

Maikel Mei generously sent us a lot of plastic nose flutes made in China. These are Humanatone copies in very bright colors, which appeared in 1997 (check the end of this post). Bright colors, indeed, with very interesting shades, notably ranging from orange to pink.



Yes, this is a copy, and no brand or text appears on the nose flute (for sure no patent references), except "Made in China". This is the only detail that keeps from calling it a total forgery. Indeed, if you check a Hum-a-Tune from the end of the 60s, you can see a Humanatone copy, but some differences : no "true tremolo" hole, no heel at the bottom of the mouth shield... In this case, this is a real copy : exact same shape, same dimensions, same details, same angle of the nose scoop...

Even the printed wrapping is an "interpretation" very inspired by the original : Yes, the drawing has been "re-drawn", the brand name has disappeared, but the text and his typesettings are absolutely identical.

Well, there some differences. First, as we told before, no text or patent mentions appear on the flute, except "Made in China". But there are other ones.
The most obvious is the quality of the plastic material that has been use in the injection. The genuine Humanatone one is a bit soft (PVC?), and the chinese spin-off one is much more breakable. With this plastic, some moulding stigmata were left on the air duct cover :



But the easiest way to make you feel the difference in the plastic is a recording : first, you can hear a genuine Humanatone falling on my desk. Then the chinese copy, dropped the same way (but I had to amplify the original Humanatone recording), then followed by a scale played on each (I must admit I prefer the chinese copy sound (2nd scale), a bit less "windy"):



Another difference lays in the quality of production. The chinese "Hum" has been made with no care, and the bottom of the mouth shield is rather "worn". Is it because the Humanatone was directly copied by moulding it ?



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On a similar topic :

- Hum-a-Tune : a vintage low grade copy
- Hum-a-Tune : different colors
- Bullwinkle's Hum-a-Tune and Humanatone
- Humanatone copy from 1997

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Help needed : nose flute identification

Please, do someone know what is the brand of this very pure design little plastic baby ? More, where to get one ?