Vintage 1940s GRETCH Ocarina Alto C Recorder Made in USA Pink Swirl

Description

VINTAGE 1940s GRETSCH ALTO C OCARINA
PINK SWIRL MODEL
Here is a very nice vintage ocarina made by Gretsch some time during the 1940s. In a very pretty pink swirl color, this item is clean and works!
The ocarina is an ancient wind musical instrument—a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body.
Test
your
musical prowess-- learn to play an ocarina today!
BRAND: Gretsch
MODEL: Alto C
COLOR: Pink swirl
DIMENSIONS: 5.75"L x 2 7/8"H x 1.125"W
Embossed on one side it says "PATENT NUMBER 2145605  2195992" and "MADE IN USA"
On the other side the holes are marked with numbers 1 thru 7
Condition: Very Good! CLEAN. Good color! Minor surface wear in the form of very faint uniform scuffing.There are a few slightly rough patches in the plastic, but they seem to be results of the nature of casting this type of plastic (where perhaps the plastic had not hardened yet when the molds were removed. Otherwise the raised letters "U S A" from the phrase (MADE IN USA) seem to be worn a bit flat as they are located on the "handle" of the ocarina.
From the web. . .
Sometime in the 1930s the American firm Gretsch started making ocarinas out of thermosetting plastics. These plastic ocarinas were sold in large numbers to the US military during WW2, with tunebooks and instructional materials to go along with them (an ideal soldier's instrument - light and pocketable, resistant to jungle mold).
Most seem to have been blue, but there were pink ones made for women in the US forces overseas. According to the Gretsch company timeline, which doesn't mention their ocarinas, the company stopped making instruments between 1942 and 1946 to assist in the war effort; so perhaps the supply was drying up by the later phases of the war.
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