The person selling the Mouton accordion says it has
"Crowley La USA" written on it. There is a Mouton shop in Crowley on La 13 Highway going to Eunice. It looks like it can be authentic. But $699 for the shape it's in....no. Maybe $500 or $550. Any thoughts on that.
... probably a Shine Mouton box .. but not worth more than $200, unless of course you are a collector of all the defunct brands. I've been to the Mouton shop you mentioned but that wasn't around when this was built.
I suspect Glenn is correct, that it was probably built by Walter ("Shine") Mouton, who was from and built accordions in Crowley. Several years ago his nephew, Greg, began helping his uncle build accordions. Greg continues the "Mouton" name in accordions since Shine's death, building and repairing boxes in his own music store a few miles north of Crowley on Highway 13 headed toward Eunice.
While I was in Crowley in June visiting my family, I stopped in at Greg's store. He took considerable time from his work bench to chat and show me his current building and repair projects -- interesting seeing some old German melodeons he was repairing -- great Cajun hospitality!
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
