Concertina Factory Aka Concert In A Factory (1961)

Islington, London.
Various shots of a man before a piece of machinery where a small piece of metal is being cut; commentator tells us this precision ground piece of metal is destined to become numerous reeds. Another man at a machine is seen carving slots for the reeds fit into in a sound board as we are told these are the first stages in the production of concertinas.
M/S and C/Us of a ginger-haired young man at a machine carving fret patterns which vary according to whether the instrument is treble, tenor or baritone. C/Us of a woman sticking leather on the folds of the bellows. We hear from the commentator that the concertina is the only musical instrument ever invented by an Englishman (Sir Charles Wheatstone). Then each reed is tuned individually, and filed to reach perfect pitch. A woman sits at a worktable putting a mechanism into the end of the concertina (whatever is on the other side of those little buttons!). The ends and fret covers are attached.
C/U of a man picking up a symphonium; he puts it to his mouth and blows into it, pressing the little buttons on the end to play a snatch of a sailor's hornpipe. From a collection on a table he then picks up the first concertina ever made, with ivory keys, mother of pearl pallets and silver reeds. Picking up another concertina, he plays a jaunty sea shanty (or is it a sailor's hornpipe? Is there a difference? Answers on a postcard, please).
Note: On file is a news cutting from The Sunday Times about this factory, C Wheatstone and Co., plus some pages from a leaflet about 'The Wheatstone Concertina' and the processes shown here.
Cuts are available on Pathe Master 135 *PM0135*.
FILM ID:137.02
A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT'S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES. www.britishpathe.tv/
FOR LICENSING ENQUIRIES VISIT www.britishpathe.com/
British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website. www.britishpathe.com/

[@jandesnoo]

Lovely film. All concertina players will love this.

[@paulinedesnoo1084]

Such an interesting film for all concertina players around the world. There are still many actively playing and building/repairing the instrument. The International Concertina Association shows this through it's magazine Concertina World and it's website/facebook page and twitter.

[@michaelsmusicinstruments9980]

very cool, thank you for upload. Nice that he also had two different symphonium from wheatstone

[@ConsairtinFergus]

The fragment he plays on the symphonium is part of the tune 'The Rakes of Mallow'.

[@christianbrown7442]

is the title "Concert In A Factory" a reference to something?
a concert in a box would be a apt nickname/ marketing slogan for a concertina, does anyone know if it is?

[@tullochgorum6323]

Wheatstone was on its last legs by this time. The best instruments were made in the 1910s and 1920s. By the '60s they were cutting quality corners to try and keep the cost down.

[@coolerificmiller9475]

wish there were more placed that made the instument like this

[@jeric_synergy8581]

What's required is more musicians that want to play them.