Accordion To Whom?

This donation came to the museum after sitting untouched in someone's home for many years.
I removed it from the grocery bag very carefully, afraid to even breathe on it.
I'm sure it has an interesting story to tell, but it lost its voice long ago.

This is a Tivoli "accordeon."
As you can see, it was made in Germany.

You can also see that it is "REGISTERED."
It's probably illegal to play an unregistered accordion in Germany.

The accordions you see in polka bands, etc., usually have a piano-like keyboard for the right hand.
This simpler design is diatonic, meaning it can only play the notes of a major (or natural minor) scale.
Here, ten buttons are used. Some button accordions do have a greater range than this, so more buttons.

Pressing a right-hand button opens a passageway that contains a reed,
so when the bellows pumps air through, the desired note is produced.
As with a harmonica, one note is produced when the air is moving in,
and a different note is produced when the air is moving out.

The left-hand buttons are normally for the bass notes.
No, really! There used to be some buttons here!
I have been unable to learn whether these were used in that way;
it seems odd to have a gap between the top and bottom three.

On a button accordion, the left thumb operates the air button.
I don't know why this accordion had three buttons here.

Missing are the thumb strap for the right hand and a strap for the left hand.
There also used to be latches for holding the bellows closed when not in use.

I can no longer close this relic by using its latches.
But now that you know as much as I do, I can close this narrative.

~ FURTHER READING ~

I lived for a few years in a corner house in a small town
in an area populated by Germans and Eastern Europeans.
The man in the house across the street in front of me played the accordion.
The man in the house across the side street played the accordion.
The man in the house across the alley played the accordion.
The man in the house next door in my block played the radio.
Nonconformist!

For comparison, here's the museum's modern accordion. The left-hand buttons play chords.