This harmonica has been passed down and until this weekend we thought it was my grandfathers but it was his mother’s and she may have brought it over from Poland. Just trying to get a date but the stamps are very worn and I am unable to determine what exactly they are.
Hohner harmonicas don’t have serial numbers, so it’s difficult to date them accurately. It would be helpful to post a photo showing the entire instrument, this stamp is common to all Hohner harmonicas and doesn’t permit identication of the actual model. That may provide an indication of the approximate period when this instrument was made.
The 6 pointed star suggests it’s pretty old, when did your great grandmother leave Poland?
When she came from Poland is up for debate but it would have been close to 1900. The markings saying “Made in Germany” in English leads me to believe she got it in America. The “Echo” is slanted and has a different font and have not seen on other harmonicas and maybe that will give some indication.
That does look old! I’ve not seen the intertwined MH logo before either. The earliest mention of an Echo model in the list I have is 1894, then again from 1902 onwards. Does the box still exist? That may offer more information.
To the best of my knowledge, all Hohner harmonicas are stamped Made in Germany, whether for the German market or for export, so this doesn’t provide any indication of where the harmonica was purchased.
Hope that’s a help!
Martin Häffner, the former director of the German Harmonica Museum in Trossingen, says he’s seen these before, but this model is rare. He will try to look in old catalogues for a more accurate date, but his estimate is that your harmonica was made sometime in the 1920s. If he comes up with a more exact date I’ll post it here.