Related by Marriage: An Accordion Anniversary

Mr. Irene had his first accordion lesson, conducted at home, forty-eight years ago today. Kindergarten classes would soon be ending for the school year, leaving a summer calendar open for daily practices of at least forty-five minutes each. The lessons continued on a weekly basis for the next seven years.

Mr. Irene's teacher worked for The Music Center, a Chicago business that combined instrument sales with a large, home-based instruction program. Robert Halter founded The Music Center in 1939. Halter recruited the finest students to perform in his all-star "Accordioneers" orchestra. At the height of its popularity in the late 1940s through the early 1950s, the orchestra performed for audiences of 100,000 in the Chicago Music Festivals at Soldier Field.

Suburban Chicago. March 25, 1965. This sheet of accordion music was the subject of Mr. Irene's first lesson. The teacher added an instruction: "Memorize."