Wednesday Open Line


A musical instrument requiring much skill to play, but with few popular outlets for performing, is the spurned accordion. During June, fans of this neglected musical instrument have been celebrating National Accordion Awareness Month, with the idea of increasing its popularity beyond polka bands. The earliest ancestors of the accordion are traced to China of some 5,000 years ago, while the modern instrument had its beginnings in Germany in the 1820s. Older Americans might recall that the accordion was featured for years, played by Lawrence Welk on his long-running television show from 1955 to 1982. Accordions are part of the nearly $1.8 billion worth of musical instruments manufactured each year in the U.S. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.