ABSTRACT
Jews-Harp were cheap, easy to transport, novel and, crucially, unknown in any part of the American Continents. The Spanish introduced trombes to South America in the sixteenth century and they were taken up by various indigenous people, such as the Mapuche of Argentina. The number of traders advertising jews-harps during this period went from five in the 1730s, centring mainly on Philadelphia, to 17 in the 1740s, again mainly in Philadelphia but also spreading north to Massachusetts. Generally there has been very little research into the jews-harp in the United States, though those archaeological finds available for scrutiny indicate that supplies were coming from Europe. There are a few types that might have been made locally, but the vast majority can be identified as European in origin, with 'Gloucester', 'Rochester', 'Bruck', 'Ekeberg' and 'Stafford' types all identified. Jews harps were similarly used by young women as walking instruments, much of the performance repertoire becoming interchangeable with that of mouthbows.
