Talk:Autoharp

Registered trademark
From the trademark database at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as of September 7, 2006:

Word Mark	AUTOHARP Goods and Services	IC 015. US 036. G & S: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE ZITHER TYPE. FIRST USE: 18820509. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: May 9, 1882 Mark Drawing Code	(5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM Design Search Code Serial Number	71239369 Filing Date	October 28, 1926 Current Filing Basis	1A Original Filing Basis	1A Registration Number	0227835 Registration Date	May 17, 1927 Owner	(REGISTRANT) INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL CORPORATION CORPORATION NEW JERSEY JERSEY CITY NEW JERSEY (LAST LISTED OWNER) WASHBURN INTERNATIONAL, INC. CORPORATION BY CHANGE OF NAME FROM ILLINOIS 230 LEXINGTON DR. BUFFALO GROVE ILLINOIS 60090

Assignment Recorded	ASSIGNMENT RECORDED Prior Registrations	0022339 Type of Mark	TRADEMARK Register	PRINCIPAL Affidavit Text	SECT 12C. SECT 15. Renewal	3RD RENEWAL 19870517 Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE — Walloon 22:49, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Trademark case?
The jurisdiction for all trademark cases in the U.S. is in federal courts. I just did full-text searches in Westlaw for any federal court case involving the terms "autoharp", "Oscar Schmidt", or "Orthey" but found nothing about any such case. In which court was this litigation, and when? — Walloon 04:01, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

History of the Trademark Litigation
US District Court decisions are not commonly reported. The Federal Courts have moved only recently to electronic form, and the decision we are speaking about was quite a number of years ago. It may have resolved as a compromise agreement, as well. I didn't know George at the time.

Briefly stated, George Orthey, a luthier in Newport Pennsylvania, began production of an autoharp. Oscar objected to the use of the term. George initially dubbed his instruments "Dulciharps", but as George is a very stubborn man, and not without resources, he instituted litigation on the issue. The ultimate decision was that the term had fallen into common usage during a time Oscar Schmidt was not protecting it. Following the decision, George began marketing his harps as autoharps. You can see this at http://www.ortheyautoharps.com/. In similar fashion, the magazine for autoharp players, Autoharp Quarterly, is able to seek protection of its own using the term in its generic sense. Had the decision been other than as I am representing it, Oscar would be legally required to issue a cease and desist against George, the web site, and, if you will google a bit, quite a number of other businesses handling chorded zithers, or risk the outcome that was, in fact, reflected in the litigation I am reporting. Protect it or lose it, in the trademark field.

As an aside, George trademarked a stylized flower, commonly called "the Daisy" (Although it doesn't look much like a daisy. You can see it under George's right hand in the right hand photo) to distinguish his instruments. Oscar, still stinging from the defeat, later introduced the model OS45CE http://www.oscarschmidt.com/product/autoharp/os45ce.htm which has a soundhole that looks more like a daisy than George's does, but still dissimilar enough that George can't bring an action for infringement. The serious autoharp community is neither amused nor confused. George's instruments are the ones which were played by the Carters and the other well known performers in more contemporary times. Sarah, of course, played an Oscar on the early recordings.

As a final aside, although George's instruments are beautiful both artistically and acoustically, George himself is hearing impaired. Ivan Styles,pickeringbend@worldlynx.net, was present during the litigation, and could tell you a case number, or further details. George refuses to deal with computers under any circumstances. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.20.63.77 (talk) 23:37, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Goose Acres, as mentioned in the article...
Is quite well out of business, sadly, though I'll have to dig for a local citation. Went down to Little Italy and saw the building cleaned out- even the Ducati was gone. Jdos2 20:19, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Stephen Hawking as an autoharp player?
Not removing it because of the possibility of it's being truthful (and not knowing as much about Stephen Hawking as I'd like,) but I'm awfully tempted to call Shenanigans on that. Does anyone want to confirm (or deny) it? 216.201.119.71 (talk) 18:37, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

I'd say we leave it. It's either: a) true, or b) hilarious. 140.247.133.85 (talk) 06:48, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

He cant move physicly enough to play. Its probably a prank! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.203.237.86 (talk) 17:38, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * The same for John McEnroe and Jeff Bridges. --151.67.27.127 (talk) 15:30, 30 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I see no one with citations that say they're professional players. Of the autoharp, at least. They should be removed -- 98.182.50.153 (talk) 12:23, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Registered trademark revisited
USPTO now shows Autoharp trademark as DEAD, as of February 2008. USPTO has no other on-line records of a trademark for Autoharp alone. 98.182.50.153 (talk) 12:28, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Cut out "notable performers" for new article?
The "Notable performers" section takes up a huge chunk of the page. What say we chop almost all of it out, save for a few really important names, and form a new List of autoharp players? This is also useful in that such lists are often prone to overlisting, jamming in famous musicians who used the instrument on a handful of tracks in their entire career, and tons of non-notable folks. Better to keep that controversy in a separate article and keep the main article clean. Any objections? MatthewVanitas (talk) 04:28, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

Might as well chop them ALL out, then. Remove the entire section, heading and all. Otherwise, who gets to define "notable"? (I think Grammy-winning artists are generally considered "notable" even if the autoharp isn't their only instrument.) beerslayer (talk) 00:31, 1 August 2010 (UTC)


 * The standard in a lot of instrument articles seems to be to list the 3-4 best examples; not necessarily the most famous celebrities who ever used an autoharp on one single song, but moderately well-known people who are specifically linked to the autoharp.  Of the current section, the Carters should definitely stay as indelibly associated with the instrument, but I'm not sure mentioning that Janis Joplin used it (in one unreleased song) and PJ Harvey (in a a couple tracks) is really worth having in the main article.  I dunno, is Bryan Bowers notable enough to be in the main, especially as autoharp is one of the instruments he's most known for? MatthewVanitas (talk) 07:19, 2 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Seeing as I've never heard of him until now, he can't possibly be all that notable... :) Seriously, it seems to me that one of the reasons for having a "notable performers" section is so that a "typical" reader - one who isn't well-acquainted with the instrument in question - might see a name he/she recognizes in that section and say "really? so-and-so played the whatzit? how cool is that?" and be inspired to do further research on the instrument. Using only names of little-known specialists in that instrument may be gratifying to those "in the know", but will likely do little to stir interest in other readers. beerslayer (talk) 02:52, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=603761462981508&set=oa.549310468440823

worth someone adding Bob Dylan to the list? EdRicardo (talk) 19:22, 1 June 2013 (UTC)


 * So far as Bob Dylan, is playing the autoharp an important part of his music (or used on some very significant tracks of his), or just something he occasionally does? That's the issue of WP:Notability.


 * So far as the other question about "really? so-and-so played the whatzit? how cool is that?", it's a little bit of both. There's some utility in having widely-known names (provided said people have some significant connection to the instrument), but also if there are less-known people who are very significant in the autoharp world (PJ Harvey for example) having their name in the article introduces the "average reader" to examples of people whose bios and music they can look into to better understand prominent uses of the instrument. MatthewVanitas (talk) 16:48, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Removal of "Autoharp festivals and schools" section
It appears that the "Autoharp festivals and schools" section is pretty unencyclopedic, being just general interest info. Plus it's all just external links (see WP:EL) for events that don't have their own article. It should be removed, just giving a heads-up here first. MatthewVanitas (talk) 17:39, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

Upright playing style
There's a brief mention of "upright" playing style in the article, but no explanation of what this is, and what the alternative style(s) might be. I'd like to see an explanation of the different styles and maybe a discussion of their advantages and disadvantages. Could we get some photos of different players using the different styles? Mandolamus (talk) 00:13, 1 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Fixed, but for the pictures. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 03:51, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * "In the mid-20th century performers began experimenting with taking the instrument off the table and playing it in an upright position, held in the lap..." and later in the article John Sebastian is noted as an autoharp player. He would put it on his shoulder. Wastrel Way (talk)Eric

Sears?
From what I remember, Sears-Roebuck used to sell an Autoharp under their own brand name. Anyone want to research this? Too Old (talk) 06:03, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
 * I see at the Sears website that they still sell Autoharps, but not under their own brand name. The page also has pics of performers holding the instrument in various ways.Sears Autoharp page.  Too Old (talk) 06:25, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

Range? Tuning?
Don't see any information on either of these in the article. This information is given in virtually every other article about a stringed instrument. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 21:21, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Fixed.

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Trixie Mattel
Trixie Mattel is a drag performer known primarily for her comedy and reality TV appearances, and secondarily as a recording artist who performs folk, pop and country music. Though she *can play* autoharp, she is not *known for doing so*. The inclusion of her image in this article in the "notable" section is contradicted even by the fact that she isn't LISTED in that section. She is NOT notable "for playing autoharp". She is a notable person who also can play the autoharp. Her image is not appropriate for the article. CouplandForever (talk) 08:01, 26 May 2024 (UTC)

History
Since the last substantive edit was made to the section on its history, an article on the origins of the autoharp has been published in a peer-reviewed journal. An offprint and addenda are online here. This explicitly cites sources flagged as needed in the WP article and also clarifies a misrepresented sequence of innovations. The upshot is that Zimmermann had attested priority over Gütter every step along the way, with one possible exception. Either of them can arguably have been the first give the instrument its now characteristic contour. I’ll be re-editing the section accordingly but will wait a bit to allow other editors to weigh into the discussion. --Futhark|Talk 11:09, 9 July 2024 (UTC)