Pigini Girotondos

[AlanD]

I've just bought a mini accordion at auction for £10, for the name rather than the playability since it's in such poor condition. I've tried looking online but found no reference to it anywhere, despite the rather famous manufacturer. It has a seventeen note keyboard and eight bass buttons (photo attached). I'm curious about its history: on opening it up the number 213 is written beside both sets of reeds. I assume it's either a child's accordion, a toy, or perhaps some type of promo instrument. Any ideas out there? Thanks in anticipation.

 

[niels]

Hello AlanD and welcome.
Nice find! I have never come across one of those.
Only thing i found is Girorondos is an italian children's song. This is the English version:

 

[AlanD]

Thank you for that Niels. I didn't realise that ring o'roses was so International. I've checked again and found the name plate is 'Girotondos', I wonder if Pigini made that deliberate link to the song?

 

[niels]

That seems plausible...
In the picture it looks like it has only four bass buttons, is that right?
That would make it quite suitable for children 's songs i would think
Edit: eight bass buttons...

 

[Dingo40]

Any ideas out there?

Welcome Alan,
Eight (and twelve) bass piano accordions were made by several different firms after wwii.
They are surprisingly effective in the right hands and much more than a "toy".
They are suitable for a variety of entertainers and folk musicians who know how to get the most out of them!
To get some idea of what can be done, Google "8 bass accordion YouTube ": you'll have plenty of hits!
An example:

Another example:

Whoops (elderly moment )!
Now for an 8 bass example:

Another:

One more?

 

[AlanD]

Thank you Niels and Dingo, fascinating stuff and the videos were interesting. I've been in touch with Pigini who said:

We tried to find some information about this accordion in all our old files, but unfortunately we didn’t find anything.

It can be assumed that this was a limited production of a child’s instrument, but no way to know for sure.

If we come across any information about this model in the future, we will inform you right away.

I assume that record keeping back in the 1940s and 1950s when it's likely the instrument was made wasn't as thorough as in modern times. Still, it was interesting to find that it's very rare (there are no photos or records anywhere on the internet) but not really in good enough condition for playing.

Thanks again.