March 03, 2004
#26 :: Hohner Little Lady
This may or may not be the world's smallest harmonica. At less than an inch long, it plays a full chromatic scale. The tongue and lip work is demanding, but you can actually play ittybitty tunes on it, then either clip it to a keyring or stick it back in its little fitted box. I fell in love with this at about age 10 (this is a replacement for one lost long ago) when I visited the United Nations and spotted one in the gift shop. Magpie eyes noticed the brand stamped in the tin cover, and I asked the man at the counter to "show me the Little Lady, please." Whereupon he pulled out a matruschka doll next to it, thus completely embarrassing me. It took all the guts I could muster to correct him, then plunk down four and a half bucks - all the money in the world to me then. I rode home in the car, turning it over and over in my hands, occasionally blowing into it carefully to make only soft, peeping notes so as not to disturb my dad while he was driving.