Does anyone have information on how the Greek laterna relates to
the Hicks-type English street piano, barrel piano, barrel dulcimer,
or whatever you like to call it?  Ord-Hume and others state that
Joseph Hicks of Bristol was the first to make small barrel pianos
somewhere around 1805 to 1810, and other British makers followed
suit, many of them having worked with Hicks.

According to Panos Ioannides (a maker of new laternas), the laterna
was popular in Greece for nearly a century, ending with the Second
World War.  That would make its earliest appearances somewhere around
1840.  Ord-Hume makes no mention of the laterna that I can find.

Did Joseph Hicks export any of his barrel dulcimers to Greece,
I wonder, and did the Greeks adopt it as their own?  Laternas are
generally quite a bit larger than Hicks pianos, usually have a single
bell to emphasise the rhythm and have ornate cases, often hung with
extra drapery, etc., when out on the streets.

Here's a link to Panos Ioannides playing one of his instruments.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asu_7SQ1Efw 

There are several other videos of the machines on YouTube.

Regards,
David Evans in Canada

 [ See http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/KWIC/L/laterna.html and
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/KWIC/R/rueckenklavier.html 
 [ and http://www.mmdigest.com/Pictures/greinacher3.html 
 [ and http://www.mmdigest.com/Pictures/kaiorgel.html  -- Robbie