The Rare, Amazing and Ugly Snoot-Flute!

To fish a Snoot-Flute was a quest. Do you remember the highly desirable Snoot-Flute, kind of a Nosy Grail for the nose flute collector ?... We had published the beautiful advertisement (see here) which was published in the Kenner toy catalog. We also had written a long article about Nelson Ronsheim (NFHoF), its funny and creative inventor (see here)…

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Well, we just were incredibly joyful when we recently found a Snoot-Flute!



It was very dirty and the cardboard was a wreck, having enormous moist blotches. I cleaned it a bit with a soft eraser, tried with diluted Hydrogen peroxide, but was not able to get the brown blotches to a lighter color. So, I just passed it a minute over steam, then carefully ironed it. Too bad that this card is so damaged, the design by Nelson Ronsheim is so great...





1.- The Cardboard

The design is tremendous, very vintage, with its oblique lines separating colored areas. Many of the typographics were hand drawn, including the adorable big logo. Here is a scan of my board. But I didn't resist providing also a 'digitally restored' version (yes yes, some work again:), to show how the paper should have looked when still new:




The first thing I noticed gave me an 'official' answer to the question of the date. I thought the Snoot-Flute was dating of the early 1960s, and a reader of this blog then posted a comment asserting « that is a page from the 1963 Kenner catalog. It's not in the '62 or '64 catalogs so it looks like it only lasted a year.». It would need some investigation to check if the Snoot-Flute ad really appeared in the 1963 catalog then, and above all, in other vintages. But... One thing is now sure and ascertained, the Snoot-Flute dates of 1959!!



The 'Pats. Pend.' should never have been registered, since I never found any traces of them and the date is not so far to have disappeared from the patent office.

Indeed, this part of the cardboard was totally unknown to me. The only picture I had was the catalog advertisement which showed the nose flute clipped on the paper, masking this essential info. Then, Mr. Michael Smith (Nelson Ronsheim's grandson) had sent me the only picture he had, and there again, the flute was clipped on the board (there).

By the way, please note the differences (colors, text, oblique lines) between the cardboard design on the catalog ad and the one that was actually printed:



Another nice surprise was to discover the user manual, announced by the mention 'Directions underneath', but also masked by the flute. I was surprised to read « To play different notes, breathe harder or softer » which is only really true associated with « and change the shape of your lips. » I think it is the very first time I read this advice in a nose flute instructions sheet.



Also hidden under the Snoot-Flute, a nice little drawing:




2.- The Nose Flute

On that topic also — the instrument by itself – a great mystery was still laying: on the catalog ad and on Michael Smith's picture, as well as on the pictures of the advertisement I got the Snoot-Flute from, the flute is displayed reversed side, showing its back only. How was the front ? The only design that was helpful for imagination was the one on the cardboard with the kid playing: rather flat front on its top part...

Have you seen how ugly it is ?? Hahaha! That was my first surprise when I open the parcel I received. The front of the flute is never shown, because it looks horrible! Very funny, and I love this flute even more. Have you seen the very crappy and distended yellow plastic sheet covering the front?

The second thing that surprised me is that, I was expecting a sturdy and thick plastic nose flute, and I got the lightest instrument. Among the plastic nose flutes, it is the lightest I know, even lighter that the Humanatone (3g) that is much smaller. The Snoot-Flute weight 2.5 grams!!



In fact, this nose flute is really clever. The plastic is very thin… because the Snoot-Flute was produced by thermoforming! Not injected plastic. As you know, the thermoforming uses a hot shape upon which is placed a sheet of thin plastic, while vacuum is produced in order to stick down the sheet and form it according to the shape. It is the only nose flute I know made this way. This explain why the front is so flat. The (red) bottom was thermoformed and at the same time the (yellow) flat top was superposed and glued by fusion on its sides. I suppose that it is at this very moment that this softened (yellow) part got a bit bulged (Some air was probably blown into the nose intake, to avoid the yellow sheet to stick the red one).



There are still some embossed points visible on the red part: the points where ejection pushrods did their work. There are 3 pairs of them (top, middle, bottom). If you take a look, they are also visible on the Michael Smith's picture, as well as the bizarre kind-of-boomerang shape. But this weird shape is not at the same place on both flutes, and it should be a mark made from but after ejection:




Oh! The sound? Well the sound quality is not so bad and quite powerful, just a bit sqwacking in the sharps:



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Don't you think it looks much like a...



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Now, let just make a fake picture, just for the pleasure of looking at a mint Snoot-Flute:

Humatune… addendum

After having posted yesterday's article, I incidentally found some pictures of a pair of Humatunes that have been sold on Etsy.com (it is always easier to find when you know what to look for...). Those were still packed in a cellophane envelope, and sealed by a paper header:




The first interesting thing is the price: 10c. It doesn't ascertain nothing, but comparison with other nose flutes (sold in groceries or so) may help to give a date:

1963: Snoot-flute - 10c.
1965+: Topps (Humanatone) - 19c.
1969: Bullwinkle's Hum-a-tune - 29c.

But all three were plastic made. So, a metal nose flute should have been more expensive, or, at 10c., on the market earlier. Thus, the Humatune should probably date of the 1950's.

The second interesting point is obviously the mention Packed by "Toy-Pak" .

It was not easy to find info about this company, but I finally did through... obituary notices!

Vancouver Sun (BC):


So, Toy-Pak was founded by Stuart and Mary Whitehouse, and was 'the first wholesale toy distributor for the grocery trade in BC'. So, Toy-Pak was located in British Columbia (CA), precisely 8455 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby (Eastern suburb of Vancouver):

Sorry, I didn't find bigger:


My first thoughts were that Humatune could have been the Humanatone brand for the Canadian market... But the seller of this pair of Humatunes was in California, and the seller of mine too!

Indeed, Pak-Toy seems to have had subsidiaries in Santa Maria, California, and in Stirling, Scotland:



The Humatune looks to date of the 1950s; anyway, Toy-Pak was still existing in 1976:

Squamish Times (BC), May 20, 1976:



And if...

... if Gretsch had simply bought the brand Humatune ?

Remember, the Hum-a-tune was a kind of circular kazoo that got a good fame in the 1930s (see here). Its production probably stopped with the WWII. But the brand was reknown...

I got a late sample likely from the early 40s [according to the Junket Rennet powder box (ad on the papers) which had changed in 1943], complete and I dare to say 'pristine':




And if you see well, whether the brand is written 'Hum-a-tune' on the papers, it is stamped without the dashes on the instrument itself:




So? It is just an hypothesis, but if Gretsch had bought the brand Hum-a-tune/Humatune, it would explain why the graphic chart of the Humantune is the same that the Gretsch one, but also details like the article 'the' in 'Humatune (The Nose Flute)'. Indeed, the people already knew Hum-a-tune the kazoo, and here came the nose flute. But why not Humanatone? It could have been either to differenciate the metal flute from the plastic one, but more likely to get the benefit of a brand known in a different sector of distribution than music resellers: the grocers.

The Australian Magic Flute - Part II

This post is the sequel of The Australian Magic Flute - Part I


So, the Magic Flute came with its papers, I was saying... Yes, two beautiful memories, almost one century old.


First sheet


Sheet 1 - Page 1

The front page has a beautiful header, showing joyful birds gathering before the Magic Flute. One of them has already landed on it and looks very curious: maybe could he use the nose flute as a nest box! (One thing bothers me on that image though: the drawing of the flute has been directly borrowed from the 1903 American Magic Flute advertisement... Is it a simple steal or does it mean a link between the two Magic Flutes?? Why to choose this image of a flute that is not shaped like the one in the box??)



On the left side of the nose flute, a Magic Flute trio live on stage, before an orchestra. And on its right, the info that the Magic Flute was available in three grades:

N(ICKE)L - (P)LATED	DE LUXE MODEL	CONCERT MODEL
B(right) finish	Copper oxidized	Silver oxidized
1/-	1/6	2/6

Wow! Already some surprises here! The first one is that my beautiful shiny nose flute was the cheapest and the most humble grade among the three available!
Then... there was a silver model! Silver plated, I assume, but silver! :)

I'm not very easy with Commonwealth currencies and prices, but I guess they were, respectively: 1 shilling, 1 shilling and 6 pence, and 2 shillings and 6 pence. I suppose my flute was from the 1920s, and at the time, the Australian currency was the Australian Pound.




On the left side of the page, a series of drawings showing different possible uses of the Magic Flute, as explained in the text. In a concert hall, forming a nose flute orchestra, as a bird call at a hunting session, as a « shrill summons of alarm » (the image depicts a street demonstration!), or as a solo instrument.

Sheet 1 - Page 2

The back page of this first flyer has also a beautiful header. It shows a couple of noseflutists whistling, and separated by the title "A Magic Flute Romance". Hahaha! What a program! (It just makes me think of my personal case with the Incomparable Nosy Diva...). Well, take a moment to read the story of Mr. and Mrs Henderson.



This header is, one more time, a source of questions... If you take a look at the design of the nose flute played by Mr. Henderson, you'll be able to see the flat top on which he puts his finger. The model draught here is, with no doubt, the American Magic Flute... The text deals with a story happening in Omaha (Nebraska, US). More, the story is quoted from the Home Journal, Nov. 19th, 1899. Wait... The American Magic Flute was patented (filed) on Nov. 21st, 1899, just two short days later!!! Is it a coincidence? It looks like a communication campaign! I'm more and more inclined to believe this whole flyer borrowed drawings and texts from the original Magic Flute. But... but the shape of the Aussie model and the three different grades seem to belong only to the Australian instrument. What's the meaning of all of that?

The Howe catalogue ad, the US Magic Flute and Mr. Henderson:


At this time, any Noseflute.org reader not interested in history research has left for an aspirin and a nap. The other(s) should be very excited!


Second sheet

Sheet 2 - Page 1

The front page of the other flyer is a detailed user manual. At the top, the Howe catalogue illustration once again, but this time in a nice format and complete of the legends that were barely readable on the catalogue (nothing special, however):



Under it, Mrs. Henderson, and the user manual. It is probably the most complete « How To » sheet for nose fluting I ever saw, with detailed instructions to get low or high notes, how to blow, how to obtain a vibrato and so on. And once again, the price list.




Sheet 2 - Page 2


The last of the four pages is the only one which doesn't deals with the Magic Flute, and even more, with any nose flute at all. It is a full advertisement page for mouth organs! But contrarywise to what one may think at first, it is maybe the most interesting page of all four!! Why? Well... you'll have to wait for Part III!


>> Access Part III

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Related links :

- The Australian Magic Flute - Part I
- The Australian Magic Flute - Part II
- The Australian Magic Flute - Part III
- The Australian Magic Flute - Part IV
- The Australian Magic Flute - Part V
- The Australian Magic Flute - Part VI
- The Australian Magic Flute - Part VII

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Topps Nose Flute (Humanatone)

Two years and a half after having discovered its existence, we finally found and got one: the rare Topps Nose Flute, with its great packaging!



We will not repeat what we already wrote there about the Topps company and cheap toys. Let just say — contrarywise to what we stated in 2012 — that this flute is a *real* Humanatone, branded by Gretsch, and not a Topps dedicated version Humanatone. It dates of the second half of the 1960s.

Mine is a beautiful monochromatic mid-blue sample, and is similar at any point to the regular Gretsch Humies that were sold in cardboard boxes. I carefully removed the stapples to take pictures, and then repacked this collector for another long sleep.

As we said, the difference lays in the great packaging offered to the Topps flute. The young player looks totally enchanted by the whistlings he produces, the colors are rather flashy, and the typographics are funny.



A user manual is included with the Humanatone, with no particular surprise, but showing a strip of three boxes, drawn like a triptych by Roy Lichtenstein :)



A good addition in the collection!