automatic musical instrument collectors’ associationyh853hs8684/mar-apr-14.pdf · published by...

AMICAwww.amica.orgT H E

B U L L E T I N

Volume 51, Number 2

March/April 2014

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTCOLLECTORS’ ASSOCIATION

45Entire contents © 2014 AMICA International Printed by Engler Printing Co., Fremont, OH • [email protected]

VOLUME 51, Number 2 March/April 2014

FEATURESMeet the Younger Generation . . . . . . . . . . .edited by Glenn Thomas . . . . .53Nickel Notes: Jim Krughoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Matthew Jaro . . . . .56Wurlitzer Style 180 Band Organ . . . . . . . . . . .by Matthew Caulfield . . . . .64Link A Orchestrion Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Glenn Thomas . . . . .73Link A Orchestrion Restoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Paul Manganaro . . . . .74Repairing / Replacing Piano Roll Leaders . . . .by Douglas Heckrotte . . . . .81Facade a la Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Kenneth Hodge . . . . .84Where Are They Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Terry Smythe . . . . .86

COLUMNSEditorial Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48From the Membership Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48Membership Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Web Sites of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50On-Line Research Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Chapter News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

Front Cover: Felix Popper and Hupfeld Pan Orchestrions - Jim Krughoff Collection -Page 56

Inside Front: Link A Orchestrion - Glenn Thomas Collection - Page 73Inside Back Cover: Music Roll SuppliersBack Cover: Wurlitzer Style 180 Band Organ - Jasper Sanfilippo Collection - Page 64

THE AMICA BULLETINAUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION

Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association, a501(c)(3) non-profit, tax exempt group devoted to the restoration, distribution,research and enjoyment of automatic musical instruments. AMICA was founded in San Francisco, California in 1963.

Visit the AMICA web site at: http://www.amica.orgto enter the “Members-Only” portal,

Current User Name: AMICAPassword: Bellows@1963

AMICA BULLETINDisplay and Classified AdsArticles for PublicationLetters to the PublisherChapter News

UPCOMING PUBLICATIONDEADLINESThe ads and articles must be receivedby the Publisher on the 1st of theOdd number months:

January JulyMarch SeptemberMay November

Bulletins will ordinarily be mailed inthe 1st week of the even months, forexpected delivery mid-month.

Glenn Thomas, Publisher165 Kildee Rd.

Belle Mead, NJ 08502Phone: 908-431-0490

e-mail: [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP SERVICESMembership Dues:

USA Bulk Mail . . . . . . . . . . $55.00USA First Class . . . . . . . . . . .$70.00Overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$70.00Canada-Mexico . . . . . . . . . . .$65.00

Renewals – Additional $5.00 due if renewed past the Jan. 31 deadline

Address changes and correctionsDirectory information updatesAdditional copies of

Member Directory . . . . $25.00Single copies of back issues ($10.00 per -

issue – based upon availability)Lyle Merithew & Sandy Swirski416 Colfax DriveSan Jose, CA 95123-3403 [email protected]

To ensure timely delivery of yourBULLETIN, please allow 6-weeksadvance notice of address changes.

AMICA Publications reserves the right to accept, reject, or edit any and all submitted articles and advertising. While the AMICA Bulletin offers accurate and historic information to its members, the bulletin, its publisher and the AMICA Board cannot be held responsible for contributions that may be considered by some as inaccurate, speculative, or of an OP/ED Format

ISSN #1533-9726

46 AMICA Bulletin - Mar/Apr 2014

– INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS –

PRESIDENTTim Baxter939 Briarcliff Rd NEAtlanta, GA [email protected]

PAST PRESIDENTJohn Motto-Ros110 Allen Ranch RoadSutter Creek, CA95685209-267-9252

VICE PRESIDENTAlan Turner148 Kingsway AvenueWinnipeg, MB, Canada R3M 0H1 [email protected]

EDITORGlenn Thomas165 Kildee RoadBelle Mead, NJ [email protected]

SECRETARYBob and Bonnie Gonzalez26 Foremast CoveCorte Madera, CA [email protected]

TREASURERJoe Orens8917 Wooden Bridge RoadPotomac, MD [email protected]

AMICA ARCHIVESTom Hutchinson15361 Hopper RoadSturgeon, MO [email protected]

CONVENTION COORDINATORFrank Nix6030 Oakdale Ave.Woodland Hills, CA [email protected]

AMICA MEMORIAL FUNDRay Dietz1250 Lanier RoadMartinsville, VA [email protected]

AMICA HONOR ROLLThomas & Donna Stengel46 Court St.Lancaster NY [email protected]

AUDIO-VISUAL & TECHNICALVacant

WEBSITE MANAGERKarl Ellison6 Lions LaneSalem, MA [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARYLyle Merithew & Sandy Swirsky416 Colfax DriveSan Jose, CA 95123-3403 [email protected]

– COMMITTEES –

AMICA INTERNATIONAL

47AMICA Bulletin - Mar/Apr 2014

FOUNDING CHAPTERPres: John Ulrich - 510-223-9587

[email protected] Vice Pres: Karen Simons Sec: Jack & Dianne EdwardsTreas/Board Rep: Lyle Merithew & Sandy Swirsky Reporter: Bob & Bonnie Gonzalez

BOSTON AREAPres: Kirk Russell

[email protected]: Bill KoenigsbergSec: Phyllis Konop

[email protected]: Dorothy Bromage

[email protected]: (open)Board Rep: (open)

CHICAGO AREAPres: Jerry Biasella - 708-756-3307Vice Pres: Richard Van MetreSec: Carol Veome - 773-338-1042

[email protected]: Joe Pekarek Reporter: Curt Clifford

[email protected] Rep: TBD

HEART OF AMERICAPres: Bob Stout - 816-833-1556

[email protected] Pres: Dan Davis Sec: Mike SchoeppnerTreas: Greg MoffittReporters: Dan & Carol DavisBoard Rep: Gary Craig

LADY LIBERTYPres: Vincent Morgan - 718-479-2562

[email protected] Pres: John Dousmanis - 646 638-2201Sec: Bob Stuhmer Treas: Maryam MorganReporter: Martin "Buzz" Rosa Board Rep: Vincent and Maryam Morgan

MIDWEST (OH, MI, IN, KY)Pres: Don Johnson - 248-650-1840

[email protected] Pres: Liz Barnhart Sec: Hilda Merchant Treas: Alvin Wulfekuhl Reporter: Don JohnsonBoard Rep: Liz Barnhart

NORTHERN LIGHTS (MN, ND, SD, MB, NorthernOntario)Pres: Paul Watkins - 763-421-0672

[email protected] Pres: Don BartonSec: Mark KraabelTreas: John Ellingson [email protected]: Jerrilynn Boehland Board Rep: Paul Watkins or Mark Kraabel

PACIFIC CAN-AMPres: Stuart Swanberg - 206 282-7376

[email protected] Pres: (open)Secretary: Halie DodrillTreas: Robert WilsonReporter: David Goodwin, Larry SanchezBoard. Rep: Carl Dodrill

ROCKY MOUNTAIN Pres: Jere DeBacker - 303-570-6243

[email protected] Pres: (vacant)Sec: Louise Lucero Treas: Barry Weiss Reporter: Larry EmmonsBoard Rep: Jere DeBacker

SOWNY (Southern Ontario,Western New York)Pres: Glenn Roat

[email protected] Pres: Larry Weingartner Sec: Shirley Roat

[email protected]: Holly Walter

[email protected] Reporter: Glenn and Shirley Roat

[email protected] Rep: Mike Walter

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAPres: Don HenryVice Pres: Diane De TarSect/Reporter: Shirley Nix

[email protected]: Diane Reidy Board Rep: Frank Nix

TEXASPres: Rich Clayton - 972-369-0470

[email protected] Pres: Michael Barisonek

[email protected]: Janet Tonnesen

[email protected]: Suzanne McCall

[email protected] Reporter: Ken Long

[email protected] Rep: John McCall

j-mccall@sbcglobal .net

AFFILIATED SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS

American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS)President/CEO – Ken Double1815 DeFoors Walk, NWAtlanta, GA 30318PH: 404-790-5400E-mail: [email protected] OrganCo-Editors – Mike Bryant and Don FeelyEditorial Office3111 NE 165th Pl.Vancouver, WA 98682Phone: 206-619-6645E-Mail: [email protected] Italiana Musica MeccanicaVilla Silvia - Via Lizzano, 124147023 Cesena (FC), ItalyPhone: 0039-547-323425Fax: 0039-547-661264Email: [email protected]: www.ammi-italia.comAustralian Collectors of Mechanical Musical InstrumentsPeter Phillips - Editor26 Alice Street Padstow, NSW 221, Australia Phone: (612) 9773-4734 email: [email protected] Netherlands Pianola AssociationNederlandse Pianola Vereniging Att. Jan van Hulzen, Member of the Board Chopinrode 25 2717 BH Zoetermeer, Netherlands email: [email protected] Organ Association of AmericaEditor/Publisher: Ron Bopp (918) 527-0589 4725 Montrose Dr., Bradenton, FL, [email protected]

Friends of Scott Joplin1217 St. Croix Ct.Kirkwood, MO 63122-2326website: http//stlouis.missouri.org/fsjoplinEmail: [email protected] Piano Archives at MarylandPerforming Arts Library,University of Maryland2511 Clarice Smith Performing Arts CenterCollege Park, MD 20742Phone:301-405-9224Fax: 301-314-7170Email: [email protected] Vintage Phono & Mechanical Music SocietyC.G. Nijsen, Secretaire General19 Mackaylaan5631 NM Eindhoven, NetherlandsMusical Box Society of Great BritainAlison BidenSt Giles Hilltop, Northbrook CloseWinchester, Hants.SO23 0JR, UKemail: [email protected] Box Society InternationalRosanna Harris, EditorP.O. Box 111, Custer, SD 57730 605-673-3068Email: [email protected] Mechanical Organ Society-KDVA. T. MeijerWilgenstraat 24NL-4462 VS Goes, Netherlands

Northwest Player Piano AssociationEverson Whittle, Secretary11 Smiths Road, Darcy Lever,Bolton BL3 2PP, Gt. Manchester, EnglandHome Phone: 01204 529939Business Phone: 01772 208003Email: [email protected] Organ SocietyJim Tyler, Editor, email: [email protected] Historical SocietyRollin Smith, Editor, The Trackeremail: [email protected] InstituteClair Cavanagh, Secretary43 Great Percy St., London WC1X 9RA, EnglandPlayer Piano GroupDuncan James (Secretary),9 Christy Avenue, Chelmsford, Essex,CM1 2BG, England.E-mail: [email protected] InstitutionDivision of Musical History Washington, D.C. 20560Society For Self-Playing Musical InstrumentsGesellschaft fur SelbstspielendeMusikinstrumente (GSM) E.V.Ralf Smolne, PresidentEmmastr. 56D-45130 Essen, GermanyPhone: **49-201-784927Fax :**49-201-7266240Email: [email protected]

CHAPTER OFFICERS

AMICA INTERNATIONAL


Editorial ObservationsWelcome to Spring. For those of us on the East Coast, it couldn’t come soon enough. Theinstruments will be pleased to see the warmer temperature and higher humidity!

While I have your attention early, if you haven’t already done so, now would be a good timeto register for the AMICA Convention in Fresno, May 14-18. Even though it’s only a fewweeks away, convention chairman Frank Nix has reserved some space for late registrants.Simply phone him at 818 884-6849 to make your arrangements.

Content in this Bulletin is an example of what we will strive for: a focused balance betweenhuman interest, player and reproducing pianos, coin pianos / orchestrions, band organs, and diverse and unusual features. Of course that only works when you submit good articles. Contact me with your ideas, and send me yourarticles!

AMICA has long said that we need to entice more young people to appreciate our hobby, then hopefully into the organization. Are you doing your part? In this Bulletin, the first in a series of content from younger members appears in “Meet the Younger Generation.” You’ll be seeing more from them in the future. Who else can you suggestto be added to this group and featured in future Bulletins?

Happy centennial anniversary to the Wurlitzer 165 band organ! In 1914, this magnificent instrument was born andspawned many similar models and variations. Can you guess I have a strong relationship with this organ? In honor ofthe centennial, expect to see several articles related to this organ, its brothers and sisters, and operation throughout2014. In this issue, Matthew Caulfield writes about its big brother, “The Wurlitzer Style 180 Band Organ.”

In the next Bulletin, we will start a new column, “Calendar of Events”, listing forthcoming events such as chapter meetings, conventions, special events, and functions of interest to members. Please submit your listing!

We are still looking for users of midi or any of its components for a future article.

Early deadline next issue. Due to the Fresno Convention, all material for the May – June issue must be received byApril 25, rather than the traditional May 1.

Regards,Glenn Thomas

[email protected]

FROM THE MEMBERSHIP SECRETARYHi everyone,

Our efforts at renewal are moving slowly along. As of 2/28/14, 126 members have not contacted us about renewal.Hopefully, they will soon. Even if they are not renewing it would be great to know that.

If you know of someone who has decided not to renew, please let us know.

It seems that there was a computer glitch and a few people were omitted from the new Directory. We don't know why,but we apologize. Please check your new Directory to verify if your name is included. If you were omitted, please let usknow and we will compile a list to have printed and included in the next Bulletin hopefully as a separate insert.

So far Mark and Charmine Hass and Roy Beltz have contacted us. They are both in the old directory.

Best,Sandy Swirsky and Lyle Merithew

Membership Secretaries


Membership UpdateLyle Merithew & Sandy Swirsky

John & Pat Bartlett146 Bridwell Rd.

Woodruff, SC, 29338864-476-7100

[email protected]

David Bjork2511 Highwood Ave

Maplewood MN 55119

Paul BrownRPO Denman Place

PO Box 47046Vancouver, BC, Canada V6G 3E1

[email protected]

Peter Corfield 76 Carlile Cres

Saint John New Brunswick E2J5C4Canada

[email protected]

Robert Dwyer15112 Winesap Drive

North Potomac, MD, [email protected]

Shane & Karen FaireP.O. Box 1210

Point Clear, AL, 36564251-990-4994

[email protected]

Charles & Louise Hield7203 Forestwind Ct

Arlington, TX, 76001-4843817-483-6574

[email protected]

Robert LoefflerRobert's Musical Restorations2172 N. Spring Garden Ave

Deland, FL, 32720407-234-4747

[email protected]

Gordon Lund2910 Donelson Road

Jamestown, NY, 14701

Donald Nichols2691 Lewis Place

Lompoc, CA, [email protected]

Ronald Palmer1651 n. Kst. Apt 20

Pensacola, FL, 32501850-454-6492c

Bob Smith23971 Jonathan PlaceMurrieta, CA, 92562

[email protected]

Phil Troost491 W. Funk Rd

Lake Arthur, NM, 88253575-365-2793

Richard Volk1809 Sun-Gazer Dr

Rockledge, FL, 32955-6320716-839-9767

[email protected]

Heine Piano Co., San Francisco. Can you identify the car and the piano?Photo courtesy Bill Chapman


Web-Sites of Interestby Terry Smythe

Additions to our On-Line Research Libraryby Terry Smythe

7 Year old boy conducts Die Fledermaus Overture(contributed by Vincent Morgan)http://tinyurl.com/bxpy3gl

Virginia's Musical Museum (contributed by Vincent Morgan)http://www.virginiamusicalmuseum.com/

A Very Special Concert(contributed by Vincent Morgan)http://tinyurl.com/n4osyo8

Rick Smith-Piano Man(contributed by Neal Siegal)http://tinyurl.com/n7o3f57

Reproducing Piano Roll Foundationhttp://www.rprf.org/

Convert audio to midi.http://tinyurl.com/oe7c748

Greenfield Bowie's Piano Music Site (midi)(contributed by Andrew Barrett)http://www.greenfieldbowie.com/

Bob Berkman and his Pianola(contributed by Robert Perry)http://tinyurl.com/mtqbenf

Keys For Kids, a charity of note.(contributed by Thad Kochanny)http://keys44kids.com/

Carillon_to_Ampichron, Founding Chapter program 1977Ampico A and B Consolidated TechnicalDuo-Art Consolidated TechnicalMusic Trades 20 March 1926Music Trades 27 March 1926Music Trades 3 April 1926Music Trades 10 April 1926Music Trades 17 April 1926Music Trades 24 April 1926Music Trades 1 May 1926Music Trades 8 May 1926Music Trades 15 May 1926Music Trades 22 May 1926Music Trades 29 May 1926 Convention IssueMusic Trades 5 June 1926Music Trades 19 June 1926Music Trades 26 June 1926Music Trades 3 July 1926Music Trades 10 July 1926Music Trades 17 July 1926Music Trades 24 July 1926Music Trades 31 July 1926Music Trades 7 August 1926Music Trades 14 August 1926Music Trades 21 August 1926Music Trades 28 August 1926Music Trades 4 September 1926Music Trades 11 September 1926Music Trades 18 September 1926Music Trades 25 September 1926Music Trades 2 October 1926Music Trades 9 October 1926Music Trades 16 October 1926Music Trades 23 October 1926Music Trades 30 October 1926Music Trades 6 November 1926Music Trades 13 November 1926

Music Trades 20 November 1926Music Trades 27 November 1926Music Trades 4 December 1926Music Trades 11 December 1926Music Trades 18 December 1926 Annual Review and ForecastMusic Trades 25 December 1926Music Trades 2 July 1927Music Trades 9 July 1927Music Trades 16 July 1927Music Trades 23 July 1927Music Trades 30 July 1927Music Trades 6 August 1927Music Trades 13 August 1927Music Trades 20 August 1927Music Trades 27 August 1927Music Trades 3 September 1927Music Trades 10 September 1027Music Trades 17 September 1927Music Trades 24 September 1927Music Trades 1 October 1927Music Trades 8 October 1927Music Trades 15 October 1927Music Trades 22 October 1927Music Trades 29 October 1927Music Trades 5 November 1927Music Trades 12 November 1927Music Trades 19 November 1927Music Trades 26 November 1927Music Trades 3 December 1927Music Trades 10 December 1927Music Trades 17 December 1927 Annual-Review_and_1928-ForecastMusic Trades 24 December 1927Music Trades 31 December 1927

To access these files, please follow the log-in instructions in the Bulletin on the Title Page, top-right.


June, 2014 European TourDear Editor,

Below is a short contribution from Europe for the AMICA Bulletin, destined to keep alive what's going on here and toarouse interest for the Amica tour in June 2014.

The annual meeting of GSM, the German Gesellschaft fur selbstspielende Musikinstrumente, was held in October in thevery exciting surroundings of the huge Technical Museum at Speyer, near the river Rhine, north of Mannheim.

Apart from the meeting and two technical/historical expert lectures, there were dinners and demonstrations and gettogethers of old and new members, interspersed by guided tours through the huge museum halls with classic cars, airplanes, etc. from Germany, the USA, France and elsewhere. Most interesting, however, was a tour through a buildingdevoted to automatic musical instruments, Wilhelmsbau.

There we were guided by permanent restorers Gotthard Arnold and his lovely assistant Sina Hildebrand. The day before this was preceded by a visit to the Technical Museun's main hall, where the duo had restored the giant Welte Philharmonie Orgel, now playing automatically as well as manually, impressive if not sensational. This organ was originally built in 1916 by the Welte subsidiary in New York, in cooperation with the Skinner Company. The first owner wasEugene Meyer Jr. founder of the Washington Post, who bought it for 22.000 $. In 1993 it went to Speyer in a very poorcondition with many important parts missing. Renovation took almost two years and it now has an automatic roll changer(lO-fold paternoster) to operate 2592 pipes.

The Wilhelmsbau Museum takes visitors back to the turn-of-century era. It has rooms with historic fashion, uniforms,weapons, toys, hunting trophies and other items used by the middle classes in the same years the exhibited musicalinstruments were built, mainly in Germany by Hupfeld, Popper, Losche, Weber, Blessing or Imhof & Mukle. Hupfeld'sPhonoliszt Violina with its self-playing violins can be admired in three forms, combining three or even four violins with thesound of a piano. On each violin one of the four strings is played by a circular bow holding 1344 strands of horsehair. Thepitch being determined by 11 pneumatically controlled metal fingers.

There is, of course, also a Mills Violano Virtuoso, a large number of hand-cranked organs and street organs in various sizes. Thanks to the owner, Mr. Layher, the visit could be arranged by Ralf Smolne, GSM chairman and his board members.

Kees NijsenInternational Vintage Phonograph & Mechanical Music Society,19 Mackaylaan, 5631 NM Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

LETTERS

Phonoliszt Violina at Speyer Museum's Wilhelmsb

Giant Welte Philharmonic organ at Speyer Museum main build


Welte Cottage OrchestrionResponses to the undated photo of a Welte Cottage Orchestrion on page 260 of Nov-Dec 2013 AMICA Bulletin:

The big orchestrion organ on page 260 is a Style 10 Welte from all appearances. Where is anybody's guess, although itmight be the William P. Snyder residence in Sewickley, PA. Derward Center ought to know. The Spreckels mansion inSan Francisco is supposed to have also had one.

Jim Crank

What a wonderful photograph of a large Welte. Alas, I have no knowledge of where it was. I do know that it is not theSnyder's of Sewickley Welte. That organ was installed behind a grill with no case in 1905. It remained there until about1938 when it was scrapped in order to utilize the space for a wet bar, according to Whitney Snyder. The room with theorgan grill looks about the same today as seen in some of the Welte literature. A few pipes and all the 100 key rolls survived in the basement of the house.

The attached photo shows the 1905 receipt for the Snyder Welte. I do not have the original and did not credit the photo'ssource. It could have been Larry Givens.

If you find out the location of the one in the AMICA Bulletin, please let me know

Durward Center

That Society RagFrom the San Francisco Call, 18 Jan 13, we read: "Land and Products" Show Opens Tonight Fresno, Jan17. Decoratorsworked all night in the Rowell auditorium to rush the final preparations for the San Joaquin valley land products expositionwhich opens here tomorrow night.

The show will last for a week and each day will be devoted to some special group of towns. Some of the excursionistswill arrive with their own brass bands.

Tuesday night is to be featured as "society night" and musical specialties are to be given, including a "society rag,"repeated from the recently produced operetta, "The Girl in the Dark," written by Lionel Dalton and James Gearhart of thiscity.

Miss Rene Dalton, cousin of the librettist, will be the soloist and a chorus of society girls and chorus men will provide theaccompanying "rag" steps. Among them will be Misses Margherita Beveridge, Helen Rogers, Dorothy Forsyth, Estell andJane Gray.

A prominent exhibit will be the "bank pyramid." Each block will be labeled with the name of the banking house it represents and its size will be in proportion to the amount of the bank's resources.

From Dick Baker (via Stephen Kent Goodman)


Editor’s note: A part of AMICA’s future is to introduce mechanical music to a new generation of enthusiasts. We encourage Chapters and members to share their other profiles and successes. Here are profiles authored by four of thenew generation. You may see contributions from them in the future.

ANDREW E. BARRETTCosta Mesa, CaliforniaAndrew E. Barrett was born in New York City. His father is a professional jazzmusician and arranger, and his mother is a secretary.

While very young, his parents took him to Germany on a trip as part of a seriesof jazz concerts. He visited the Technik-Museum in Sinsheim, Germany where heheard a number of automatic musical instruments for the first time, includingwhat he now believes was a Decap coin-operated dance organ mounted high upon a platform. The moving accordion, flashing lights, and happy music from thisinstrument captivated the youngster.

Back in New York, Andrew soon discovered the area had many antiquecarousels with operating organs. Unlike many children his age who eitherignored the organ music on the carousel, or were terrified by its volume, Andrewloved the organ, especially the Ruth organ on the Central Park Carousel.

At about seven years old, Andrew received Bowers’ book, "Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments" from two friends of the family. As a voraciousreader, he soon devoured the book.

After a move to New Jersey. Andrew met and was influenced by instrument collectors Rusty King and Tom Billy whoshowed him a Wurlitzer 125 band organ, a Link AX Orchestrion and a Ruth 33-A organ, among others, and explained howthese instruments work. More personal influences, collection visits, and recordings soon followed to continue Andrew’sinterest. After moving to Southern California in 1996, he soon became a regular attendee of the band organ rallies there,and became an AMICA member in 2006.

Andrew's current automatic instrument collection includes: "Lehmann” upright player piano (H. C. Bay action); "Hammond” upright player piano (Standard Player action, current project!); Aeolian "Pianola" 65-note push-up piano player; Reproduco piano / organ, missing the piano and player action; and "National" brand coin piano made by theNational Piano Player Co. of Oregon, Illinois, using a Seybold piano.

As a mechanical music enthusiast and historian, Andrew’s wish list includes many exceedingly rare or thought-to-be-nonexistent instruments: Wurlitzer 38 (not 38-B) Mandolin PianOrchestra; Wurlitzer style 163 band organ; Niagara En-Symphonie player pipe organ; North Tonawanda Orchestrina orchestrion; Wurlitzer style 126 band organ; and a Wurlitzer style 27-B or 27-A Mandolin PianOrchestra.

Andrew is quick to mention that except for the 126, none of these are known in general circulation, and hopes someonewill identify one’s whereabouts and notify him! At the very least, he is expecting a few entertaining adventures into oldnewspapers and/or neighborhoods, with the reward of the rediscovery of one or two previously-lost instruments or musicrolls or on-location photographs at the end of the journey!

Andrew E. Barrett is currently a college student studying Musicology, and a Southern California musician specializing inragtime, pop, and jazz piano, and American popular songs and instrumentals from circa 1905-1925. He can be reachedat [email protected]. Additionally, his scholarly musings on mechanical music can be found on Facebook.

Meet The Younger Generationedited by Glenn Thomas


TJ FISHERLexington, VirginiaTJ Fisher is a junior at Washington & Lee University, where he majors in historyand theatre and minors in museum studies. His primary interests in mechanicalmusic are band organs and piano-based instruments, and particularly ensuringtheir continued cultural relevance. TJ has been the primary day-to-day caretakerof the Wurlitzer 165 at Glen Echo Park since 2010 and has explored differentmethods of historical interpretation there, including handouts, a "Now Playing"display, the use of social media, and educational programs for children andadults. He is searching for further opportunities to use these interpretive skillswhile learning more about the technical aspects of mechanical music, and isteaching himself to arrange for band organ."

Among TJ’s other historical interests are amusement parks, on which he plans to write his undergraduate thesis, and American popular music of the 1920s-1960s, the subject of one of his two weekly radio shows on WLUR in Lexington,VA. His other activities at Washington & Lee include Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity (Chaplain and former Vice President for Member Development, theUniversity Singers (Manager and Tenor I), the Washingtones a cappella group(President and Tenor I), club swimming (Manager and Coach), and the GLBTEquality Initiative (President), and he is active at Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church.

TJ looks forward to graduate school after earning his undergraduate degree, and to continued activity in the mechanicalmusic community in 2014. He can be reached at [email protected].

IAN FRASERStaten Island, New YorkIan Fraser is the youngest member of AMICA and COAA. He becameinterested in mechanical music when he was two years old after watching and listening to a Stinson style 35 band organ play at theCarousel for All Children in Staten Island, New York.

In addition to mechanical music, he is also a carousel fan. With his family, he has traveled to carousels throughout the Northeast. Theyespecially like visiting the ones with working band organs. Favorites areat Knoebels, Seabreeze Amusement Park, and Crescent Park.

After attending his first rally at Knoebels in 2008, he bought his firstorguinette. It is an 1881 Celestina made by the Mechanical OrguinetteCompany of New York. He has since started a “mini collection” with twomore orguinettes, a Brewster player piano, and many music rolls. Healso hopes to buy a band organ one day. His dream is to own a Wurlitzer 153 since that’s his favorite model. He would also like torestore player pianos and band organs.

For the past several years, he has played his Celestina orguinette atmany rallies in New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. He looks forward to returning to Knoebels in June to watch the band organs andplay his Celestina.

He joined AMICA in 2013 after participating in the Coney Island rally. He has had a great time attending AMICA events in the past few months and looks forward to more great times. He would like to thank Vincent Morgan for his help andintroducing him to the Lady Liberty Chapter. He would also like to thank Glenn Thomas and the other members who havetaken the time to share their knowledge with him. Ian can be reached at [email protected]


MIKEY MILLSCold Spring, KentuckyMikey Mills was born in New Jersey and was exposed to mechanicalmusic at a very early age. The first music machines he saw were bandorgans including the Wurlitzer 153 at Hershey Park, along with theassorted band organs at Knoebels. He has many fond memories of alsogoing to Dorney Park and listening to their two band organs. (Althoughaccording to him, the condition of them was only ‘so-so’)

He then moved to Kentucky when he turned seven, where he remainstoday. There, he was exposed to Kings Island’s Wurlitzer 157 bandorgan, which unluckily was put into storage right after he moved there!He then made it his mission to have it fixed, and playing on the carousel,and it finally will be this summer – after nine years of what he calls ‘nagging’.

In 2009, Mikey went to his first band organ rally and was more hooked than ever before. He was astonished by the arrayof restored band organs playing some of the best music. His only complaint was that he did not learn about these sooneras he discovered organ rallies through YouTube.

Previously to around this time, Mikey hadn’t heard a nickelodeon, orchestrion, or reproducing piano live and only invideos, due to them not being on public display. When he saw his first Wurlitzer PianOrchestra (Phillips Pianella), hecouldn’t believe his eyes. (Let alone ears!) His first experience with a Seeburg KT had the same effect, as he recalls PeteWendling’s arrangement of “Sweet Georgia Brown”, which is one of his favorites on the scale.

Mikey then attended more and more organ rallies and events, and published a website exclusively about mechanicalmusic. (www.mechanicalmusic.org) Mikey says that his goal of the website is to ‘stir up’ new interest, and entertain othersin the hobby with his more than 200 different sound recordings of different instruments.

Recently, Mikey has gotten into arranging for mechanical instruments, especially the Wurlitzer 165 scale, but he has alsoarranged for Wurlitzer 150, A.P.P, and 20 note street organ. (And is considering others) Mikey has completed over 100individual arrangements for different instruments, and is ‘working on’ getting a roll cut.

He firmly believes that mechanical music is the best hobby in the world, along with the ‘happiest music on earth’, but alsosays that “a great hobby always has great people in it, which mechanical music definitely has!” He can be reached [email protected].

Music Trades, May, 1926.Courtesy Terry Smythe


There are three major collections of mechanical music in the U.S. Upper Midwest: Robert and Sharon Gilson’scollection in Wisconsin, and in the Chicago area, the collection of Jasper and Marian Sanfilippo, and the collection ofJim and Sherrie Krughoff. In this issue of Nickel Notes we are going to visit Jim and Sherrie Krughoff of DownersGrove, Illinois. Whenever there is an MBSI or AMICA convention in the Chicago area, the Krughoff collection is always onthe tour. In fact, these collections are the REASON there are so many mechanical music conventions in the area.

In addition to having a wonderful collection, Jim and Sherrieare the nicest people you will ever meet. They are known fortheir hospitality and willingness to open their collection to visitors. I have been with the Krughoffs on two BumblingBruder Tours and they were always great to be with. (TheBumbling Bruder Tours are travel events organized by Ronand Mary Jo Bopp to visit important mechanical music sitesin Europe and which always coincide with the WaldkirchOrgan Festival every three years in June).

The Krughoffs used to collect early cast iron slot machinesand Corvette cars. They had one of the largest and mostimportant collections of both. They decided to liquidate these collections because the slot machines didn’t do much and one wouldn’t want to add mileage to such valuablecars. Jim had seen a player piano at a Skakey’s Pizza Parlorand knew a deep interest had been born. Jim acquired aSeeburg KT Special, then went home and told Sherrie hehad bought a nickelodeon and it would be delivered the nextday. Sherrie asked “What’s a nickelodeon?” Jim explained,

“It is a wooden box that has musical instruments inside.” She said it sounded like a “piece of junk” and she wouldn’t wantone in their home. However, after seeing and hearing it, she fell in love with mechanical music and since then they haveshared the obsession.

Simultaneously, they discovered the MBSI (1983) and theother area collectors. While visiting Dave Ramey, to see anavailable machine, Dave remarked that since they likedmechanical music and had collected slot machines, theymust know Jasper Sanfilippo. Jim and Sherrie asked,“What’s a Jasper Sanfilippo?” Jim and Sherrie then acquireda Regina changer, some cylinder boxes, a Seeburg “H” andfinally a Weber Unika, restored by Dave Ramey. While Jimand Sherrie like the American machines, after visiting theSanfilippo and Gilson collections, the Unika marked theirtransition to the European machines that played moresophisticated music. The Krughoffs joined AMICA in 1986.

The Krughoffs were in the real estate development businessand built over 3,000 homes in the Chicago suburban area.Son Dan and his wife, Nikole and their two children, Gavinand Gillian, live next door and assist with hosting musicalevents. Dan has a major role in the operation of the familymusic collection. They are members of both AMICA andMBSI.

In 2009 and 2013 Jim and Sherrie were presented the AMICA International Award. Also in 2013, they received the 2013Roehl Musical Ambassador Award at the MBSI convention in Chicago. Additionally, Jim and Sherrie Krughoff founded theLake Michigan Chapter of the MBSI.

Nickel Notesby Matthew Jaro

Jim Krughoff

Sherrie Krughoff


De Grote Steenput Concert Fairground OrganThe Steenput Frères Company of Puurs, Belgium built this wonderful organ in 1928. It’s a 97-key instrument with 786pipes and 14 automatic registers. In 1963, the large Steenput was purchased and preserved by Herman Wind who alsoobtained a large library of music from Carl Frei. The organ was rebuilt by the Perlee Company in Amsterdam. This wasthe only organ described as phenomenal by the mechanical organ preservation group in Holland.

In 1992, the organ became available and was recommended to the Krughoffs by Tim Trager. They purchased the instrument after hearing Tom Meijer’s superb arrangement of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 performed on the organvia an old 78 rpm recording. Johnny Verbeeck and his staff completely restored the organ in 1993. The Krughoffs boughtan extensive library of music from the only other Steenput concert organ (destroyed in a World War II bombing raid).

One exciting note – The Steenput organ was on the list of the National Treasures of Holland and could not be exportedfrom Holland. However, the law restricting the export did not go into effect until a month after the Krughoffs received theshipment.

The Krughoffs had the Steenput mountedon a trailer and would take it to the various organ rallies pulled by a Ford F-350 Dually. It made its American publicdebut at the MBSI Mid-Am Organ Rally inMuscatine, Iowa during the MississippiRiver flooding in July, 1993, only hoursafter being delivered to the Krughoffsfrom its restoration in Belgium. Johnnyand Jeffrey Verbeeck accompanied theKrughoffs and their organ on this journey.(Some readers might remember theimpromptu meeting of the “Steenput Concert Organ Club” at that rally). It was certainly America’s largest travelingconcert fairground organ. There are twowonderful CDs of the organ, one withlight classical overtures (including theHungarian Rhapsody) and the other withfavorite popular selections.

The Krughoffs no longer take the Steenput on tours. The machine is permanently on display in their music building.

The Ruth 38er Keyless Concert Fairground OrganThe Ruth & Sohn model 38 (96 keyless)organ was built in Waldkirch, Germanyfor a showman from Berlin named Hattenhorst. The fol lowing is an extract from Andrew Pilmer’s website(acpilmer.com):

An inscription in the bellows isdated February 26, 1907. Thisorgan is reputed to be the last withwhich Adolf Ruth I was personallyinvolved, for he died shortly after-wards, on March 21 of the sameyear.

On Hattenhorst’s retirement, theorgan passed to his son-in-law, OttoViol, who was based in Erfurt, East

Steenput organ

Ruth 38 fairground organ


Germany. Having somehow survived the ravages of the Second World War, the instrument was acquired byBerlin showman Ludwig Rausch in 1949. Eventually, his son Dieter became the organ’s owner, and he oftenused it at fairs alongside his Dodgem track. Restrictions enforced by the East German authorities limited whathe was able to do with the organ, but Rausch did succeed in acquiring some new music for it from Carl Frei,and was also able to have the façade re-decorated.

After the Berlin Wall fell in 1990, the organ gradually became known to a number of collectors in Europe andthe US, but it was Jim Krughoff who eventually succeeded in acquiring it in June 2002. It was shipped to theUnited States in its original showman’s display trailer and set up at his home near Chicago. Its travels werenot at an end, however, for it was discovered on further inspection that only a comprehensive restoration couldbring the instrument back to its intended playing standard.

The absolutely original condition of the organ had been a major factor in Jim Krughoff’s decision to add it to hiscollection. Perhaps the scarcity of organ builders in the communist state and a general lack of money therehad spared the instrument from later enlargement or ‘improvement’. Anxious not to spoil the integrity of theinstrument, the task of restoration was entrusted to AC Pilmer Automatic Music Ltd. and the organ was dulyshipped to York, England, where the work was carried out over the next couple of years.

Under the direction of Russell Wattam, workshop manager, every component of the instrument receivedattention. The open flue pipework had particularly suffered from unsympathetic handling in the past and much care was bestowed on returning it to its original state. The wind pressure had been increased at sometime, and this was returned to its correct level. The work also involved the complete overhaul, repair and re-leathering of the large bellows (‘pump’ to our readers in the United States), wind chest, glockenspiel and primary action; in all many hundreds of hours of work. A careful tuning at the correct pitch and to the originaltemperament completed the job.

During this time, the façade and figures remained in the United States as the decorative work of the 1980’s is still in very good condition. The organ’s return to Chicago in July 2006 coincided with the AMICA convention when it was premièred in its restored state. Its majestic, dignified sound, optimally balancedbetween the silvery upper work of the mixture and the deep, full, rounded trumpets and trombones is an example of the very best in German fair organ building.

Jim Krughoff, realizing the potential of the extensive library of music available for the Ruth 38 scale, alsoordered around 1300 m of new books, which were produced from the original patterns of the Ruth firm(acquired by Voigt Orgelbau, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) in 1936), as well as the patterns of Carl Frei andGustav Bruder, now in the possession of Keller & Kern, of Saverdun, France. Gustav Bruder produced someexceptional arrangements for this scale after World War II.

Amongst this music are some of the finest arrangements of operatic overtures and fantasias, concert waltzes,characteristic pieces, selections from operettas, marches etc. ever made for fairground organs. A particularlychallenging piece is Tchaikowsky’s Cappriccio Italien, the well-known symphonic tone poem, in a masterfularrangement by Gustav Bruder. Such repertoire elevates the fairground organ to that of a convincing interpreter of serious music. These books were cut on a traditional foot-operated punching machine while therestoration of the organ progressed.

After the restoration Jim and Sherrie ordered an additional 1375.5 meters of music, making a total of 2,675.5 meters, or atotal of 11.5 hours of music for the Ruth!

On one of the Bumbling Bruder tours, I heard the Cappriccio Italien played on a Ruth 38. It was the Gustav Bruderarrangement. I was so excited -- I had to drag Jim to the train station to hear it. Imagine how I felt when I visited Jim’s atthe AMICA convention and heard the same arrangement on his own Ruth 38. It was positively electrifying – especially sowith a brand new restoration by very skilled craftsmen. I’ll never forget the experience. Of all the mechanical musicmachines, the Ruth 38 would have to be at the very top of my list. Andrew Pilmer’s website has a sample of music youcan hear.

The Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina MachinesJim and Sherrie Krughoff acquired a Model B Phonoliszt from a Butterfield and Butterfield auction in San Francisco in

1987. According to Art Reblitz in his Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments book (a MUST for every collector),the machine was in the Smallwood collection, the Eakins Gay 90s Village, Horn’s Cars of Yesterday (Sarasota, FL) andMangel’s American Museum of Public Recreation (Coney Island, NY) in the late 20s. It was retailed by Ernst Böcker inNew York City. The Krughoffs had it restored in 1989 by Dave Ramey. They later sold it to J Douglas Cusick.


The Krughoffs also acquired a Model APhonoliszt, which was restored bySiegfried Wendel in 1993. The story wasthat it was taken out of Eastern Europeby gypsies.

Tim Trager asked Siegfried if he couldconstruct a machine with six violins(instead of the usual three). Though theyno longer existed, six-violin machineshad appeared in the l i terature, soSiegfried Wendel experimented with playing two machines with two rolls at thesame time to see how multiple violinssounded. Jim had agreed to buy one if itcould be made. So Siegfried and his sonJens designed a bigger pneumatic system and built the machine. The resultis currently in Jim’s music room.

The Wurlitzer 4/33 Theatre PipeOrganThe beautiful theatre organ, known as the “7th Street Organ” came from the Organ Stop Pizza Restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona. They currently have a location in Mesa, Arizona with another organ. According to their website:

In 1984, Bill Brown decided to retire from the restaurantbusiness. The Phoenix Organ Stop was sold to a real estatedeveloper, who sold the pipe organ and demolished thebuilding in favor of an office complex. Incidentally, that instrument was sold to a couple in Downers Grove, Illinois,for installation in their home!

The couple, of course, is our own Jim and Sherrie Krughoff!The incredibly talented David L. Junchen was hired to move the organ and install it. It took Dave and two organtechnicians approximately nine months to do this. Therewere two semi-trailers full of parts. The organ console originally came from the Missouri Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. According to a cinema blog:

The first console of the Missouri died in a fire due to acareless smoker. The 2nd console along with a newexpanded unification relay took its place and made theorgan noteworthy. In 1954 the console was purchasedby Harvey Heck who made it part of the Grauman’sEgyptian Theatre Wurlitzer that he owned. In 1972 itbecame part of Bill Brown’s Wurlitzer in the first “OrganStop Pizza”. In 1987 the restaurant closed, organremoved and was sold to Jim and Sherrie Krughoff inDowners Grove, IL and Dave Junchen restored it and itis now part of the Krughoff Residence Wurlitzer sinceAug. 5, 1989 when it was formally dedicated with three concerts played by Walt Sorony..

More history on the organ:

The origins of the organ can be traced back to the 3/14 Wurlitzer installed in the Grauman’s Egyptian theatre inHollywood, California in 1921. The organ was purchased and removed by Harvey Heck, and installed in hishome in Tarzana, California. Harvey added to the organ including the acquisition of a four manual Wurlitzerconsole from the Missouri Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. Harvey later sold the organ to Bill Brown whoinstalled it in a pizza restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona. During the pizza parlor days the organ was the testingground for determining what was the best sounds for a public venue restaurant theatre organ. When the

Wurlitzer 4/33 theatre organ console

Double Phonoliszt


restaurant closed, the organ was purchased by Jim and Sherrie Krughoff for their residence organ and it wasinstalled by the late Dave Junchen. The organ is still controlled by the same console from the Missouri Theatre(minus the layers of grease from its pizza parlor days)!.

The Seeburg H OrchestrionJim and Sherrie acquired the Seeburg H orchestrion in 1985 from Bob Brown. Before that, it belonged to Sam Robins(Play it Again Sam’s, Chicago, IL). Before that, it belonged to Steve Hecht (Chicago) and before that, the salvage yard(Paris, IL). It was restored by Dave Ramey around 1977.

There is an interesting story about the acquisition of rolls. Someone familiar with mechanical music saw a truck haulingrolls from a flood-damaged theater. They turned out to be 60 untouched original Seeburg “H” rolls on their way to thedump! Fortunately, these were saved and are now in the Krughoff collection.

The Hupfeld Pan Orchestra Model I The Pan Orchestra was originally retailed by Duwaer and Naessens, Amsterdam (1920), then in the 1940’s it was bought by Lou Bennet, then Jim DeRoin (1950s), then Otto Carlsen, then Haning and White, then Harold Freiheit, then David Bowers (1986) and finally Jim and SherrieKrughoff in 1987. It was restored by Reblitz Restorations in 1989. When theKrughoffs bought the machine, it had been stored on Harold Freiheit’s porchfor years. It was restored by Reblitz Restorations in 1989. The Pan has a fullreproducing piano, a ten roll changer, along with many multiplexed functions,making things even more complex. (See cover photo)

The Philipps Monstre Paganini OrchestrionThis is one of the most stunning machines you will ever see. It was restoredfrom many original parts and a gorgeous reproduction cabinet was made by Siegfried Wendel and his Mechanische Musikwerke Manufaktur. It’s one of the largest orchestrions ever made. Philipps said it represents a string orchestra of 40 to 50 musicians. Siegfried discovered the machine in Budapest and describes his adventures in his book, Datenspeicher-Musikinstrumente (Data Storage Musical Instruments). On his visit toBudapest, Siegfried says:

The place was filled to the ceiling. Instead of walking on the floor we had toclimb over suitcases, valises, trunks and old furniture. “Where is the PaganiniKino machine?” “We have to climb on this trunk to your right and then on the armoire.” Behind this, we saw the Paganini.We saw, among the bric-à-brac, the only instrument of its kind that likely survived in the world. “Is it complete?” “Yes, andit works!” It was evident that the instrument was not likely in a working state but its survival was certainly a miracle.

A Tour of the Krughoff CollectionThe extent of this collection is staggering, representing one of the finest mechanical music collections in the world. Someinstruments are the only known examples. Consider the instruments on display and their restorers:

• Ruth 38 Concert Fairground Organ (Andrew Pilmer and Russell Wattam)• Steenput Concert Fairground Organ (Johnny Verbeeck)• Mason & Hamlin Italian Carved AMPICO A Piano (Bob Taylor)• Wurlitzer CX Orchestrion with bells (Jerry Biasella)• Philipps/Wurlitzer PianOrchestra Style 33 (Tim Westman) obtained from the RKO prop department• Philipps Monstre Paganini Orchestrion (Siegfried and Jens Wendel)• Welte Briscovia C Luxus Orchestrion (Hayes McClaran.)• Early style Weber Maesto (Dave Ramey)• Hupfeld Violina-Orchestra (reproduction by Siegfried and Jens Wendel)• Hupfeld Model A Phonoliszt-Violina (Siegfried Wendel and Jens Wendel)• Bursens Arburo Dance organ (Johnny Verbeeck)

Philipps Monstre Paganini


• De Cap Robot Band (Andrew Pilmer and Russell Wattam)• Weber Grandezza with moving scene Dave Ramey)• Seeburg “H” Orchestrion (Dave Ramey)• Le Ludion Organ 32-note Baladin Organ (Eve and Philippe Crasse)• Verbeeck 40-key small Dutch Street Organ (Johnny Verbeeck)• Bruder Aerophon roll-operatedFairground Organ. It has a pinned cylinder that plays bass drum and

snare drum during rewind• Holl German barrel organ (Hohl)• Bacigalupo Trumpet Organ (reproduction by Kurt Niemuth)• Welte Multitone (Motion Picture and Cabaret Midget Orchestra). Same as a Coinola X with 4 extra foot pedals

and extra control buttons on the keyboard for hand use to play the instruments in the machine. The Welte version was probably something special that Welte had ordered from Coinola to be able to offer a photo-player in the Welte lineup. Only two are known to exist. (Dave Ramey)

Welte Style IV

Welte Briscovia C Luxus

Mason and Hamlin Ampico A

Decap Robot Band


• Mills Bow Front Violano Virtuoso (Dave Ramey)• Wurlitzer 4/33 Theatre Organ (David L. Junchen)• Hupfeld Pan Model I (Art Reblitz)• Welte Style 4 Concert Orchestrion (Siegfried Wendel

and Durward Center)• Hupfeld Peasant Band Orchestrion. From 1897

catalog. (Pipes play from metal disks)• Double Phonoliszt-Violina (reproduction by

Siegfried Wendel and Jens Wendel)• Hupfeld II/25 Helios Orchestrion (Hayes McClaran)• Popper Felix Orchestrion (Hayes McClaran)• Hupfeld Symphonie Jazz Orchestrion Model 19

(Ron Cappel)• Weber Unika with moving scene (Dave Ramey)• Oehrlein Flute Player (Franz Oehrlein)• Oehrlein Organ Grinder (Franz Oehrlein)• Cremona “J” Orchestrion (Dave Ramey)• Mason & Hamlin Hepplewhite AMPICO B Piano

(Jim Blanchard and Bob Taylor)• Steinway Model AY Duo-Art with original

Concertola changer• Ramey Banjo-Orchestra (Dave Ramey)• Lochmann Disk Music Box with bells• Regina Corona Style 35 Disk Changer Music Box

with clock• Reginphone Rookwood Style 140 (15 ½ inch disk

music box with phonograph)• Le Ludion Musical Secretary Desk• Various Cylinder Music Boxes• Nicole Frères Variation Box with 194 teeth, 6 octaves

fully chromatic except for lowest four notes.• Monopol Gnome Automat (Style 71)• Syphonion Gambrinus Style 25GS

All of these machines are beautiful ly displayed and everything works wonderfully. In short, visiting Jim and Sherrie Krughoff was an exhilarating experience.

I gratefully acknowledge the help of Art Reblitz in compiling this article.

Jim Krughoff can be reached at [email protected]

Matt Jaro can be contacted at [email protected]

Duo-Art Concerola

Hupfeld Pan Interior

Art Reblitz by Hupfeld Pan Dave Ramey by Welte


Pianorchestradetail

Ruth 38 Close up

Steenput Close up

Welte Maesto


Introduction by Q. David Bowers:

Among American band organs one name stands out above all others: Wurlitzer!

Starting in the 1890s with an arrangement with Eugene deKleist of the North Tonawanda BarrelOrgan Works, the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, headquartered in Cincinnati with a branch in Chicago, began selling barrel organs. Customers included traveling shows, roller skating rinks,merry-go-rounds and other venues in which loud music was desirable to draw crowds and keep them there.

This arrangement continued into the 20th century, by which time the band organs were larger and more complex, eventually using paper rolls instead of pinned wooden cylinders. At the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis World’s Fair) in 1904 Wurlitzer had a large exhibit featuring band organs, automatic pianos, and other instruments made for them by deKleist. In 1908 deKleist sold out to Wurlitzer. In 1909 Farny Wurlitzer, one of Rudolph’s three sons, movedfrom Cincinnati to North Tonawanda to take charge of operations.

In ensuing years the Wurlitzer line of band organs was expanded, most of which used one of three main standard rolls: the 125, 150, and 165 types used on organs with those style numbers as well as others. Among the best sellers were the Style 125, 146, 150, and 153. At the top of theline was the 165. In the 1920s the Style 180 was introduced and publicized. However, it remained

The Wurlitzer Style 180 Band Organby Matthew Caulfield

Figure 1: Wurlitzer style 180 band organ factory photograph (courtesy: The American Carousel Organ by Ron Bopp)


rather spectral in publicity at the time (such as pictures of other instruments being used in theiradvertising) and in actuality—few people ever saw or heard one.

When beginning in the 1950s and swelling to a strong passion in the 1960s the collecting of bandorgans became popular with historians, museums, and others the Style 180 remained mysterious.Today, although more is known about the 180s, still many mysteries are wrapped around this enigmatic style—to paraphrase Churchill.

Now, with this article Matthew Caulfield, a long-time researcher and scholar in the field, tells all! In the following pages you will learn more than anyone else ever knew about the 180. Enjoy!

In 1922 the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company came out with its largest band organ, the Style 180 Band Organ, playing its ownstyle 180 roll. The last 180 was made in 1930. Five 180s in all were produced in those nine years, plus one Ruth organthat was converted to the 180 system.

Wurlitzer’s undated advertising purports to show a picture of its “Style No. 180—Concert Band” (fig. 1). But that is actually a picture of Wurlitzer’s Style 175 band organ. That same picture is reproduced at the top of p. 944 of Q. DavidBowers’ Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments, but with a picture of a real 180 below it.

180 Band Organ #3439The first 180 made was serial #3439, shipped on April 21, 1922, to John E. Gooding, Puritas Springs Park (West Park),Cleveland, Ohio. It is described in the Wurlitzer Shipping Dock ledger as having a WA 236 snare action. That organ waslater acquired from Gooding by Tom Champion, Terre Haute, Indiana, who recently related this to Art Reblitz about theacquisition of the instrument:

In 1956, I went to the winter quarters of the Gooding Company, which was at 1300 Norton Avenue to talk toErwin Heller. Erwin had to go to Puritas Spring Park in Cleveland to finish working on a 180 organ. He hadworked on it in the Summer of 1964. The park didn’t want to pay the labor on the 180, which was $3,500.

Figure 2: Wurlitzer catalog promotional illustration shows style 175 incorrectly identified by Wurlitzer as style 180


Erwin contacted me to see if I was interested in it. I paid the labor bill and got the organ in May, 1956. Movingit out of Gooding’s building is a story in itself, involving several blocks and tackles and a lot of manpower. In1964 it was sold to the Geisler Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo, South Dakota.* Before it was sold, I touredIndiana with it. It was used in the 1957 MGM movie, “Some Came Running”, directed by Vincente Minelli andstarring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley McClain.

As purchased by Jim Wells from Tom Champion, the 180 was missing the crest on its façade. Tom suggested that the crest might be back in the Macedonia, Ohio shop of organ man Erwin Heller, where Tom had left it when he acquiredthe organ because it didn’t fit in the trailer. Lots of detective work and some good luck resulted in the finding of the missing crest and also the discovery of the famous Heller Hoard (see the MBSI’s Mechanical Music, v. 53, no. 5 (Sept. /Oct. 2007), p. 12-22). Since the crest had suffered from rot during its storage, Jim had carver George W. Long, ofSeabreeze Park, carve a replica replacement crest. Mr. Long kept the original crest, but now almost forty years laternobody at Seabreeze knows what happened to it. The last person to know its whereabouts was Merrick Price, GWL’sson-in-law, and he is dead now. The last time I saw the crest, it was in the basement of Merrick’s house, now torn down to make room for expansion of the park’s Water Park area.

In 1994 Jim Wells sold the organ to Jasper Sanfilippo, Barrington Hills, Illinois. The organ went to Jasper via Mike Kitner’s shop for checking and tweaking. Mike must have removed the 165 roll setup from the one tracker bar, becausetoday, in the Sanfilippo collection (inside front cover), both tracker bars play the 180 roll. Art Reblitz has installed a non-invasive MIDI system to supplement the small library of 180 rolls that is with the organ. That library is the totality ofknown style 180 rolls, and is discussed at the end of this article.

After Jasper acquired the 180, he had artists Jill Bradshaw, Barrington, Ill., and Rosa Patton, Saxapahaw, N.C., repaintthe façade. I asked my friend Rosa for her recollection of the process. She replied, “I honestly don’t remember what the Sanfilippo Style 180 organ front looked like when I first saw it. It was my project to restore it. I did it at Jasper Sanfilippo’s shop, and Jill did the landscape paintings while I prepped the surface and painted and gilded the scrollworkaround the paintings. If it had any original paint, I would have saved it, so I’m thinking it was repainted when I got to it. I planned the color scheme based on two Wurlitzer 165 fronts that I restored which did have original paint; one being the front at Glen Echo and the other being in a private collection. Robert Ridgeway, the Sanfilippo curator at the time, got some photos for me of a Style 180 that someone had in Texas [the Bies/Boehck 180] and I had a black and whitephoto from the factory of a Style 180. Jill used the factory photo as reference for subject matter for her landscapes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -* Dave Bowers sent me a copy of a letter from Tom Champion to him dated Nov. 15, 1963, offering the organ, with trailer, for $4800. Tom states that the organ’s dimensions are 10’8” high, 18’8” wide, 4’ 3 1/2” deep. From the letter’s 1963 date, it appears that the sale to the Geislers was not made until after 1963.________________________________________________________________________________________________

In addition to the small library of 180 rolls with the organ (the only 180 rolls known to exist, discussed at the end of this article), the organ now plays from a MIDI system built by Tim Westman and installed by Marty Persky and JerryBiasella. Art Reblitz has custom-arranged several dozen musical selections for it, with more being arranged as this is

Figure 3: #3439 when on display at A. J. Geisler’s Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo, SD, in the 1960’s


being written. Art sent me this information about the MIDIfication of #3439 for the technically inclined. The technicalspecifications and MIDI scale are being kept proprietary:

“The couplers in a Wurlitzer 180 band organ bear no musical resemblance to any couplers ever used in a pipeorgan. Wurlitzer designed them to eliminate holes in the tracker bar and keep the roll within a practical width,not to add higher or lower ranks or shift ranks from one division to another as in a pipe organ.”

“In Jasper’s 180, the original couplers for the clarinets and piccolos are connected between the tracker bar tubing and the unit valves. For each coupled note that plays on the tracker bar, the coupler sends the trackerbar signal either to the low octave or high octave unit valve depending on the setting of the coupler. Since thehigh and low notes each have separate unit valves, we added enough MIDI magnets for all of them, enablingthe MIDI system to bypass the couplers for the clarinets and piccolos.”

“The trumpets work differently, with only one unit valve, pneumatic, and chest pallet valve for both high and lownotes. The coupling is done in the manifolds directly under the pipes by turning big cutout pouches on or off.”

“There was no way to bypass the trumpet coupler without altering the pipe chest, which I didn’t want to do.Consequently, the MIDI system must play the trumpets just as the roll does.”

“Uncoupling the clarinets and piccolos makes a world of difference in the organ’s musical capability, and I haveto live with the trumpet coupler.”

“Since the high trombones and low trumpets form a continuous scale, I have to be careful not to use the trumpet coupler when playing a high trombone melody that runs into the low trumpets, or the trumpet notes willjump up an octave too high.”

(Editor’s note: a picture of this organ today in the Sanfilipo collection appears on the back cover. From The Golden Ageof Automatic Musical Instruments by Arthur A. Reblitz, © 2001. Used with permission.)

180 Band Organ #3612

The next Wurlitzer 180 produced was serial #3612. It is shown in the Shipping Dock ledger as shipped on November 17, 1923, to the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. (Mr. Mac Cormack [sic]), Chicago, Illinois. It is listed again in the ledger for June 29, 1932, when it was rebuilt (order no. 444) for Frank S. Hagy, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The case color is given as “white,” and these other modifications are noted: Music: Duplex frame; Snare action: WA 238; Chest type: Metal Unit chest; Plays 65-note piano rolls [APP rolls]; No bells; Tracker frame driven by 1/6 H.P. motor.

When the organ was shipped in 1923, Wurlitzer had not developed its 4-in-1 pot-metal valve blocks; so the chest type, although not noted in the ledger, would have been the standard wooden unit-block chest known as the Jameson chest. (See http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/200810/2008.10.24.04.html for a description of Wurlitzer valve chest designs.) The 1932 conversion to playing APP rolls must have involved replacing the Jamesonchest with the latest style of chest using the 4-in-1-valves A 1931 date is shown in Wurlitzer’s Repair ledger, but that is certainly a misprint for 1932, because the entry there for that organ is among the entries for 1932 in proper chronological order. Also, the organ is shown in the Shipping Dock ledger in proper 1932 position with the correct 1932 date. The ultimate fate of serial #3612 is unknown. Tim Trager owns a tracker bar and perhaps some other roll frame parts from a 180 band organ. That may be all that survives of organ #3612.


The next organ in chronological order is serial #1763. That organ was a Model 38 Ruth taken in by Wurlitzer for conversion to the 180 system and entered into the Shipping Dock ledger under its original serial number, which was often Wurlitzer’s practice in working on an organ made by some other company. It is shown in the ledger as a “Gebruder,” another Wurlitzer practice where they tended to call German-made organs simply “Gebruders.” This suggests that Wurlitzer workers may not have been as savvy as we are today about European organs. The ledger entry shows that the organ was shipped on April 10, 1924, to Krug Park Amusement Co., Omaha, Nebraska. It had a


WA 236 snare action, and a notation shows it as a rebuilt “Gebruder,” with special gear to drive the tracker frame; 24 teeth in pinion; 50 teeth in gear. There are no other entries for that organ in Wurlitzer records except for a Repair ledger entry dated 4/10/1924, calling it a 180 Special Band Organ. Order no. 2675. Location: Omaha, Neb.Notation: Remodeled.

But Fred Dahlinger, Jr., has completed the story of serial #1713 in an article published in the COAA’s Carousel Organ, no.53 (October 2012), p. 28. Fred writes a summary of that article: “The organ went from Krug Park to Playland, Houston,Texas, then to Venezuela, and finally to Barcelona, Spain. There it was bought by the Hinzens, the Dutch showmen, whoarranged to have Wilhelm Voigt restore it back to the original 96-keyless specification. This included removal of clarinetpipes which were installed by Wurlitzer in the physical space originally occupied by the bell action. Wurlitzer had installedone of their own bell actions behind the bandleader. Voigt removed the 180 apparatus and installed a keyless frame,along with re-construction of altered pipework, such as trombones, and installing a Voigt-style ocarina. In recent yearsStefan Fleck has accomplished a nice re-voicing of the organ. I have queried both Voigt and Hinzen about the 180 apparatus and rolls, but neither had any knowledge of them.” Fred also states that the Model 38 Ruth was originallyinstalled by Charles Looff in The Zone, a midway area at the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco. It was later relocated to Krug Park with the 4-abreast carousel it played on.


The next 180 produced, serial #3765, is entered in the Shipping Dock ledger as 180 Band Organ. White. Shipped April29, 1925, to Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. (G. Merritt Jones), Ocean Park, California. Music: Duplex frame. Snare action: WA 236. That organ was lost in a fire, of which there were several in the Ocean Park area over the years: in 1908, 1912, 1915, 1920, 1924, 1969-1973. Amusement park historian Jeffrey Stanton has described them here:http://www.westland.net/venicehistory/articles/fire.htm

I contacted Mr. Stanton for any information on the 180 band organ sent to G. Merritt Jones. He replied, “The Ocean ParkPier burned in January 1924 [January 6, to be exact], so that the band organ was likely shipped to replace the lostcarousel. The pier reopened in 1926 with a Parker carousel in a building that housed many rides, much like Steeplechase’s Pavilion of Fun at Coney Island. Jones owned the attraction.” Dana Johnson supplied me with a briefbiography of George Merritt Jones (1861-1932), real estate investor, and also appended a note saying that Ed Schmidtremembered that Herbert Vincent, who is well-known as the man who maintained Ross Davis’ band organs, looked at the180 after the fire and said that there was nothing left except a few parts of the roll frames. But because of the number of

Figure 4: #1713 as it now exists in Holland (photo courtesy of Fred Dahlinger)


fires that afflicted Santa Monica’s Ocean Park/Venice area, it is impossible today to identify the particular fire in which the Jones 180 was lost.


The 180 band organ with serial #4182 has a peculiar history. The Shipping Dock ledger shows it as being walnut, notwhite, and equipped with swell shutters. It was shipped June 18, 1929, to St. Mary’s Church, Amsterdam, New York. The entry shows that, except for the unusual walnut finish and the swell shutters, it was typical, with a WA 238 snare action, duplex roll frame [playing style 180 rolls], and a unit block chest. My extensive correspondence with St. Mary’s Church revealed nobody there today who had any knowledge of the church having owned a band organ. Infact they were puzzled about the need for one, since the church always had a well-maintained pipe organ for use in its services. Apparently St. Mary’s owned the organ for only a few years before it went to a new owner. It may be that thechurch owned it for use in some public venue outside the church itself, much as the All Hallows Guild of the WashingtonNational Cathedral, Washington, D.C., owns and uses a Wurlitzer Caliola and an antique carousel for fund-raising events.Another possibility is that the organ was acquired for use as a substitute organ for church services in the 1930’s while thechurch’s 38-rank organ was out of service for rebuilding, a less likely possibility, all things considered.

Serial #4182 appears again in the Shipping Dock ledger as shipped on November 11, 1936, to Bells [i.e. Bell’s] Rink, FortWayne, Indiana. The only changes noted from the specifications in the St. Mary’s entry above are “Chest type: WA 100FP” and a notation “Plays 65 note piano rolls [i.e. APP rolls]; $250.00.” Another ledger entry four months later shows thatthe organ was shipped on March 22, 1937, to John L. Bell, Fort Wayne, Indiana, the modifications noted being “16 ft. Bordon pipes; keyboard; plays automatic piano rolls.” A Repair ledger entry for the same date shows that the order no.was 105484. Bell’s Skating Rink still operates today in Fort Wayne; but my letter to the present owner went unanswered.In an interview published in the New Haven (Indiana) Bulletin (http://www.newhavenbulletin.com/?p=11598), owner JohnDunlap is quoted as saying, “Of course, the music was different back then, too. Back in the days of dress codes andFlintstone skates, Bell’s Skating Rink didn’t have a live DJ during open skate; it actually had an organ with brass pipesand big tubes. An organist would play live music for the skaters back then as opposed to the music on CD’s that areplayed these days. My Dad sold that organ for $800. I wish we still had it, it’d be worth a fortune!”

Somehow, serial #4182 seems to have found its way to S.H. Cargill in New York City, from whom Senator Charles Boveypurchased it for $900 in the early 1950s, according to information recorded in a cryptic little notebook kept by the Senator.

Figure 5: #4182 as it exists in Nevada City, MT


Bovey moved it to the Music Hall in his Nevada City, Montana, Restorations, where it remains incomplete today as pictured here (figs. 5-7). The Bovey Restorations in Virginia City and Nevada City are now owned by the State of Montana. Charlie Bovey related to Art Reblitz that the trumpets and trombones were missing and that Ozzie Wurdeman replaced them with the ones shown here. On the other hand, Tom Wurdeman, who was also present whenthe organ was moved to Nevada City, remembers the current pipework being what was in the organ when Boveyacquired it. Organ brass tended to go missing, especially during wartime, as it became more valuable as scrap metal.The largest bass pipes were once mitered to fit inside the case, but they were unmitered and made to stand up straightso that they protrude through a hole in the top of the case today. The position of the keyboard suggests that the organ,when at Bell’s Skating Rink, might have been elevated on a platform or positioned in a balcony over the skating rink,since to play it now would require lying on the floor.


The last 180 band organ manufactured is serial #4275, listed in the Shipping Dock ledger as a white organ, shippedDecember 30, 1930, to Mrs. Nellie Conrad, Waukegan, Illinois. Music: Duplex frame. Snare action: WA 238. Chest type:Metal unit chest. Notations: OK/WHW 7/15/31.** [WHW are the initials of manager Walter H. Wendell]. It appears in theledger five years later as shipped August 12, 1935, to Hagy Bros., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, without any changes in thespecifications. In 1937 it was remodeled for Hagy Bros. to play 65 note piano rolls [APP rolls] and shipped to them April23, 1937.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -** I realize that Wendell’s OK is dated more than a half year after the supposed shipping date of the organ. Such occasional dating conflicts are found in the ledgers, and cannot always be explained.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -There is an entry in the Serial ledger for a #4375 (order no. 57627, 8/14/1935, location: Harrisburg, Pa., with a notation“rebuilt”; but this probably a serial number mistake for #4275.

Some time before 1946, serial #4275 was acquired by Bob Long of Eldridge Park, Elmira, N.Y. It was originally used asthe park’s stage organ, until it went into storage, where it spent some years until it came to the notice of Hathaway &Bowers. Dave Bowers was friends with the late Harvey Roehl, of Vestal, N.Y., who I was told tipped Dave off to the existence of the organ. The second picture on p. 944 of Bowers’ Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments,referenced in the second paragraph of this article, shows serial #4275 when Dave Bowers owned it. It was purchasedfrom Hathaway & Bowers by Judge Roy Hofheinz of Houston, Texas, and moved to his Astroworld Hotel in that city. In

Figure 7: Side view of #4182 showing keyboard

Figure 6: Additional view of #4182 in the Nevada City Music Hall


June 1974 the Hofheinz collection was auctioned by Sotheby Parke Bernet Galleries, N.Y., and the 180 band organ waspurchased on June 8, 1974, as lot #19 by Alan Bies (figs. 8, 9, 10).

The organ remains in the Alan Bies/Steve Boehck collection, Houston, Tex., playing APP rolls and equipped with a MIDI player, as well. Bill Klinger reports, “Alan and Steve had me build two new sets of pipes for their 180. When it was at the Wurlitzer factory for a rebuild, they removed the brass piccolo and clarinet. The first revision was to add the piccolo to the melody. It is 28 notes, three more than original. The clarinet was added back over a year ago. There was space in front of the center section to add the pipes almost where they originally resided. Wayne Holton has been making arrangements for the MIDI player that include the extra notes.”

Figure 8: #4275 at auction in Sotheby's, June, 1974 Figure 9: #4275 at auction in Sotheby's, June 1974

Figure 10: #4275 as it is today. (Photo courtesy, “The American Carousel Organ” by Ron Bopp)


Wurlitzer Style 180 Band Organ Rolls

With only five band organs, plus the one conversion, manufactured to play the style 180 roll, Wurlitzer’s 180 roll businesswas certainly never a financial success. By 1937, there can have been only one customer for 180 style rolls, all the other then-existing 180 band organs having been converted to playing APP rolls. I have copies of Wurlitzer’s MonthlyRoll Bulletins, wherein they announced their new roll releases, from January 1922 to August 1925, and in not one of them is there a listing for a style 180 roll. It may be that, given the tiny market for 180 rolls, it was easier for the companyto announce its 180 releases directly to its five potential customers via labels pasted on penny postcards, a system thatWurlitzer eventually used for all their music rolls, abandoning the printing and mailing of Monthly Roll Bulletins.I have copies, from the Smithsonian Institution’s Wurlitzer archives, of an inventory list of various types of rolls that the company manufactured. The inventory must have been prepared in the mid-1940s for some unknown purpose. It consists merely of sheets with headings for the various types of rolls, e.g. “Pianino Rolls,” “65 Note-5 pc.,” “Autograph,”each followed by columns of roll numbers, nothing more. The sheet captioned “180 Band Organ” has these numbers:15076, 15077, 15078, 15079, 15080, 15081, 15082. Roll 15076 was probably made in 1930; so the other six must have been made in 1931 and later. That is the extent of our information about Wurlitzer 180 roll production. Specifications for the style 180 scale can be seen on p. 395 of Art Reblitz’s “The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments.” Dana Johnson also has some original Wurlitzer documents detailing the 180 scale and the Caliola/APPconversion.The only known extant 180 rolls, original or copied, are now with the Sanfilippo organ. I have recorded all of those rollswhen they were owned by Jim Wells, except for one roll which escaped my notice, roll 15050. A list of the rolls and theircontents can be seen here on my website: http://wurlitzer-rolls.com/180list.html. It seems clear from evidence on the rollsthat all style 180 rolls had no more than eight tunes, probably to minimize the losses Wurlitzer suffered in its 180 venture,a venture that never should have been started.

Some Remarks About Wurlitzer Ledger Data

Terry Hathaway, Dana Johnson, and other who have studied and processed the reams of data in Wurlitzer factoryrecords. Their work has brought clarity to most of the part numbers or phrases used in the entries for the 180 bandorgans described above. The WA 236 and the WA 238 snare drum actions differ in the type of valve used. The WA 236used wooden valve blocks like those used in the Jameson chest. The WA 238 used one metal 4-in-1 valve. Early 180’s were equipped with Jameson valve chests (noted in the ledger entries as either “unit block chest” or as “WA100 FP” chest). After Wurlitzer production went to the use of pot-metal 4-in-1 valves instead of wooden valve blocks (unitblocks), their 180’s are shown as having “metal unit chest.” For the Jameson chest, see my article in the COAA’sCarousel Organ, issue #38 (April 2008), p. 21.The one ledger notation that isn’t well pinned down by research done by those who have studied the Wurlitzer records iswhat Wurlitzer’s color notations refer to. That may be because the employees who kept those records over the decadeswere not consistent in their usage. Does the color “white” in the entries above refer to the case color or the façade color?What does the notation “walnut” for organ #4182 mean? A perusal of ledger entries for other styles of Wurlitzer bandorgans over the decades show enough variation in terminology to make Wurlitzer usage very uncertain. Early colors aremostly white oak, golden oak, silver grey, and mahogany. Up until 1909, no colors were noted in the ledgers. Whitecomes on the scene later and begins to predominate by 1920. With Wurlitzer’s introduction of the Caliola, green beginsto appear.Credits: Wurlitzer ledger data come from Art Reblitz’ and Terry Hathaway’s Mechanical Music Press website, whereTerry has transcribed the contents of the various Wurlitzer band organ ledgers and made the data available in useful sortorders. Expanding on those data is information generously provided by Alan Bies/Steve Boehck, Q. David Bowers, TomBurhyte (Eldridge Park), Fred Dahlinger, Jr., Dana Johnson, Bill Klinger, Art Reblitz, Jeffrey Stanton (Venice, Calif.), andSt. Mary’s Church (Kathy Farquhar, Darren Peconie, Robert Going).

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About the author: Matthew Caulfield’s interest in Wurlitzer band organ music developed during World War II from listening to the Wurlitzer 165 at Seabreeze Park. While in college and a few years after, he worked at the park forGeorge W. Long, becoming the manager of the park’s food operation. Moving to Washington, D.C., in 1962 to become acataloger at the Library of Congress, eventually specializing in rare book cataloging, he researched and cataloged allknown Wurlitzer 165 band organ rolls. On retirement in 1997, he returned to Rochester to resume his association withSeabreeze and the fourth generation of the Long family. He can be reached at [email protected].

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My love of Link coin-operated pianos dates back to my youth on the West Coast when I first saw one. Since Link pianoswere made in Binghamton, NY, not too many made it all the way to the West Coast, with most in the Eastern half of the country. Nevertheless, my love of great musical arrangements led me to both Link and Wurlitzer pianos whosearrangements I found quite different, unique, and musically more creative than the more common QRS masters that werethe predominant roll on Clark and Automatic rolls on A and G roll machines.

Link rolls were almost all arranged on a drafting board by company arranger Ray Deyo who used sheet music, recordings, and his own creativity to crank out arrangements that were quite distinctive and pure honky-tonk in theirsound. He was very prolific turning out hundreds of style 2E rolls for Link pianos. Fortunately, many survive and havebeen recut, first by Ed Freyer and later Don Rand.

The endless music rolls were also a moment of early wonder, never requiring a re-roll, but I would later admit after a Linkacquisition, the time consuming process in a roll change almost offset the great music.

My first Link was a model 2E, a common model with no keyboard, playing piano, mandolin, and repeating xylophones,acquired directly from Rod’s Roadhouse Restaurant in Morristown, NJ where it entertained patrons for over 40 years.After restoration, I became an even greater devotee of wonderful Link music.

Link also made a larger keyboard style orchestrion, playing pipes and percussion using a different style Link “A” roll (notto be confused with the rewind style A rolls for basic coin pianos made by Clark, Automatic, and Capitol). Fewer of thesepianos were made, and even fewer survive. I became aware of one that had gone through a flood, had some residualdamage and issues, was otherwise complete, and had been made playable by an Eastern restorer for sale. While thepiano played, its condition and residual damage would clearly require major surgery to bring it back to proper life. After consulting with master restorer Paul Manganaro and agreeing what and how needed to be done, I negotiated the purchase.

The almost insurmountable problem was the flood caused major structural damage to the sounding board, bowing andfracturing the plate. The plate was repaired while slowly being tensioned and bolted to ensure integrity of the repair.Since the plate was not true, initial tuning was C=B minus 30 rather than A=440. In order to set up the pipes correctly,they had to be moved up a note, dropping a pipe at the treble end and adding one at the bass end. Even so, the instrument tuning was questionable, and trying to tension and tune the strings further on the repaired plate could produce a nasty surprise.

The best although unlikely solution was to find another, identical gutted instrument using the same piano where the board and plate could be used as a donor. Link, as did many other coin piano manufacturers used common pianos from a few manufacturers such as Haddorff, of Rockford, Illinois. Thus began a yearlong, countrywide search through ads,online, enthusiast publications, and word of mouth to find an appropriate donor piano. Several leads were offered, pursued, and abandoned due to inaccuracy or incompatibility. Just when the all hope appeared to wane, a contact inSeattle, Washington told me he thought he had seen a gutted Link upright in an antique shop in Tacoma, Washington.After several phone calls, measurements, specifications, and pictures were exchanged, the shop indeed had a guttedLink A orchestrion, no player mechanism, but a similar case, different art glass, and an identical board and plate! A dealwas struck and this piano began its journey across the country.

Restorer Paul Manganaro kept the piano but I acquired the art glass front. The alternate “donor” art glass panel now sitsjust above the restored piano as a metaphor for the donor process that brought the piano back to life.

The style “Link A” music rolls this piano plays are identical to the Link 2E rolls except for the orchestration. The pipes and percussion are used quite differently by arranger Deyo than one would be used to hearing on other types of rolls. Theviolin pipes are metal, while the flute pipes are wood. Here is the instrumentation and layout:

1. Soft expression off2. Soft expression on3. Blank4. Sustaining pedal

LINK STYLE A ORCHESTRION ACQUISITION By Glenn S. Thomas


5. Tambourine6. Left snare drum beater7. Center snare drum beater8. Right snare drum beater9. Triangle

10. Tom-tom11. Right wood block beater12. Left wood block beater13. Violin pipes on14. Violin and flute pipes off15. Flute pipes on16. Bass drum (or triangle)17. Lowest playing note65. Highest playing note66. Coin trip67. Mandolin on68. Mandolin off69. Blank70. Blank

Compared to the hundreds of great Style RX rolls produced by Link, only about 300 Style A rolls were made. About 60are known to survive, and about 47 have been recut by Ed Freyer and Don Rand. I am always searching for Link rolls ofany type!

Link pianos hold a special place in the hearts of collectors. The year was 1974, I was eighteen years old when I first visited Ted Spangenburg’s shop, Player Piano Headquarters in Boonton, New Jersey. There, in the corner of his showroom, was a cabinet model 2-E with reiterating xylophone. I had never heard a Link and I loved the sound. I thoughtthere was something magical about the Link reiterating xylophone. Not only was the music great, but I was mesmerizedwatching the continuous roll.

When the name Link is mentioned, most collectors think of the cabinet style 2-E with xylophone. Unfortunately, keyboardLinks exist in very few numbers. In the New York area, many keyboard Link orchestrions have been pieced back togetherafter having been gutted. It is very unusual to find a complete keyboard Link of any model in this part of the country.

One day, I received a call from collector Glenn Thomas asking if I would inspect his latest acquisition, a Link model A. Itwas an exciting opportunity to be able to work on such a rare orchestrion.

My first impression of Glenn’s Link was that it was a fine-looking piano. The cabinet had been refinished well and theimpressive stained glass front was in very good condition. The piano played somewhat but was out of tune. The playermechanism was complete and was all original to the piano. The piano had a recent restoration including restringing, hammers and dampers and rebuilding of the player mechanism. Glenn explained that the piano was out of tune due to a crack in the plate (harp). At this time we believed the plate had fractured as a result of a flood some decades ago that caused major damage to the sounding board, bowing the structure of posts comprising the piano back. The plate had been poorly repaired by bolting a metal plate in place over the crack in one spot. A second area looked as thoughsomeone tried to weld the plate in place.

Since the plate was broken, initial tuning was C=B minus 30 rather than A=440. In other words, the tuning was one stepflat. In order to tune the pipes to the flat piano, they had to be moved up a note, dropping a pipe at the treble end andintroducing a pipe from another source at the bass end.

I refused to tune the piano due to the broken plate. I felt it would be dangerous to do so.

After looking the work over I judged the recent restoration of both the piano and player mechanism to be of very poorquality. For example, the newly rebuilt player needed an auxiliary suction box to power the mechanism. The newly

LINK STYLE A ORCHESTRION RESTORATIONBy Paul Manganaro


installed hammers were very crooked. And, the playermechanism had silicon sealer coating many joints, just tomention a few defects.

I explained that I was not willing to work with the crackedplate. It is my belief that a welded plate could crack afternew strings are brought up to pitch. After consulting withGlenn, we agreed on an approach. The best solution wasto find another, identical plate as a substitute, rather thantrying to repair the present broken plate. (Photo 1)

(See Glenn’s companion article on the acquisition of a“donor” piano). After inspecting the gutted Link I foundthat the back structure was solid and the sounding boardwas also in good condition. So I decided it was best touse not only the plate, but the entire back as well.

I’ve split the sides from dozens of upright players. In myearly years as a restorer I removed many upright playerpianos from basements. Typically, an old player would berelegated to the basement in the 1950s or ‘60s. Sometimelater the homeowner would remodel the basement by finishing the ceiling or narrowing the doorway. The only way toremove pianos in this situation was to dismantle the entire piano and split the sides off. The backs with the plate andstrings intact could be fit through a doorway or up a staircase diagonally. Once in the shop, the sides were glued back onand the pianos reassembled.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, oak player pianos were in great demand. Oak players represented about one percent of the players in existence and were very hard to buy. At that time I ended up with twin player pianos in my shop. One was oakwith a cracked harp; the other was mahogany with a good harp. I removed both backs and installed the back with thegood harp into the oak cabinet. This was the only experience I had switching backs from one piano to another.

So the process began. Splitting the sides from the donor Link was easy. Putty knives were hammered in between theback structure and the sides. Working from the bottom, where moisture typically affects the glue joints on many olduprights, wedges were inserted from bottom to top until the sides were forced from the structure

Removing the back structure from the complete Link was not as carefree. The complete Link had been refinished, and soextra care had to be taken to prevent damage to the finish. Sometimes, splitting the sides off is not a neat and cleanprocess. If the old glue joints have not deteriorated, the sides can break during removal and destroy the veneer on thecabinet’s exterior. But all went well. In a short time I had removed the backs from both pianos.

I reused as much of the donor piano as possible. It was like processing a whale. Local collector Bart Off from Mertztown,Pennsylvania planed down the quartered oak sides and used them to make replacement doors for a Seeburg KT Special.I used the piano action and kick board in a different Link piano I was restoring. The coin slot went to yet another collector.And Glenn hung the art-glass panel just above the restored piano as a reminder of the process that brought his Link Apiano back to life.

The original back with the broken plate was disassembled. The plate was sold to a scrapyard, the old board was saved for sounding-board shims and the structure was sawed apart for firewood. During this process I discovered the true reason for the broken plate. An inexperienced worker had replaced the pinblock without any knowledge of piano construction.

The average piano contains approximately 250 strings, with each string exerting about 100 pounds of force. This worksout to about twelve tons of force. The strings, which are hitched to the bottom edge of the plate, force the top edge of theplate up against the lower edge of the pinblock.

Let’s estimate the average weight of an upright player piano at 800 pounds. Now imagine stacking thirty-two pianos one on top of another and then balancing the entire stack on a single point on a piano plate. The concentrated force caneasily crack a plate in the same way as a diamond cutter would split a diamond with a chisel in the old days.

It is the responsibility of the restorer to fit the pinblock properly so its lower edge makes equal contact across the entirewidth of the upper plate in order to distribute the tons of force. In this case there was no consideration for fitting the pinblock and the twelve tons of force most likely rested on a single point somewhere along the top edge of the plate. Socarelessness had brought this rare piano close to destruction. (Photo 2)

Photo 1: With player mechanism, piano action, and strings removed, theupper section of the plate was totally broken away (not shown in photo)

from the main casting


After my shop was cleaned of all the spare parts and debris, the donor back was shipped off to a local piano rebuilder. The old pinblock was replaced and faced with bird’s-eye mapleveneer to match the original. The old sounding board wasrepaired and finished. The plate was repainted and finally theback was restrung.

After the restored back was returned to my shop I temporarilyclamped the sides of the finished cabinet in place. (Photo 3) Tomy surprise I was not able to perfectly line up the sides of thecomplete Link to the donor back. There were variations to thecontours in both the back and the piano sides. To my way ofthinking, the sides of the piano should be perfect rectangles and the back of the piano should be perfectly squared. A factoryjig for gluing would simply line these surfaces up. I’ve come tobelieve that most piano factories glued the sides in place andthen sanded the back of the piano, giving a unique contour toeach piano. If you run your hand along the back of any oldupright you’ll find a perfect alignment of the sides to the back inevery case. Also, you will never find excess glue along the joint.Perhaps some reader can shed light on this process.

If the sides of the piano are not aligned well, the cabinet parts such as the front doors and kickboard will not fit properly. Iused a laser leveler to line up the front edges of the sides with one another. I installed the keybed and the toeboard (or

pedal board) to prevent the sides from being glued in pigeontoed or skewed outward.

Mounting the leveler on a stable surface, I ran the red laserlight along the front edge of one of the sides, making slightadjustments of the position of the sides until the laser lightshone equally on the front edges of both sides, top to bottom. I drilled two index holes from the inside, through the outer back posts and into the sides to mark their exactpositions. One side at a time was glued in place. Pins weretemporarily inserted into the newly drilled index holes toposition each side.

There was some apprehension on my part as to whether thepiano action and keyboard would line up to the strings. Thedonor back was in fact an exact duplicate of the original so inthe end everything lined up perfectly.

Now it was time to begin the mechanical restoration. Thepiano action and keys needed extensive work. New key topswere installed. Front key bushings, which had been installedrecently, had to be replaced due to poor workmanship. Thecenter key bushings were in such terrible condition that Ireplaced the entire center wooden bushing button with a newone. That was a first for me. All the felt and action cloth onthe piano action was replaced, including some bushings.New hammers, shanks, butts, and dampers were alsoinstalled.

Link uprights have a pneumatic bass octave coupler locatedon the back of the piano action. Link stacks are locatedbelow the keybed. When a pneumatic closes, a poppetpushes up on the back of the key itself. A wooden blockattached to the back of a piano sticker lifts a pallet on thecoupler. The pallet opens a port that triggers a pneumatic for a bass note one octave lower. So instead of one note

Photo 2: Donor back being fitted for a new pinblock. The old pin-block has been sawed away. Birds-eye maple veneer shown strewn

across the plate will be glued to the new pinblock for show

Photo 3: Sides temporarily clamped in position after adjusting thealignment. The keyboard and toe board in place to keep

the sides parallel front to back.

Photo 4: Octave coupler (unrestored) showing twelve spring-loadedpallet valves. These pallets are activated by blocks screwed to the backs

of base stickers. Signal tubing connects to valves one octave lower.


playing, an octave sounds. The bass octave coupleris always in use.

This piano also has an octave coupler in the trebleas shown (photo 4). The treble octave coupler ishinged. A pneumatic tied to the flute pipe on/offpneumatic tilts the coupler out of the way when theflute pipes are called for. This allows the soft melodyof the flute pipes to be heard over the sound of thepiano for a solo effect - a very musical feature notfound on all Link model A’s.

The piano action was installed and regulated (photo5). The range of the two octave couplers located onthe back of the piano action have been identified.

The former restorer discarded the vacuum reservoirlocated on the back of the piano to use the space

to install an auxiliary suction box. The first step in the restoration of the pneumatic components was to remove the auxiliary suction box and construct a copy of the reservoir.

Link stacks use individual units for each playing note consisting of a pneumatic, pouch, and valve. This systemmade for easy servicing in the field when the pianos werenew. These units must be split apart in order to replace thepouches (photo 6). The pouches are located in the top surface of the upper pneumatic leaf. The previous restorerhad recovered the pneumatic units, replaced the pouches,and rebuilt the valves - all to very poor standards. Extraexpense went into this restoration to undo damage done bythe restorer (photo 7).

After the top valve section is split away from the lower pneumatic component the individual wood pieces are sanded and repaired. It was necessary to make a few unitsfrom scratch to replace ones that were too damaged torepair. Interior channels and ports were shellacked for airtightness. New pouches made from pneumatic cloth wereglued in place. A jig was used to give each new pouch exactly the same depth. The few Link pianos I’ve restored havealways used factory pneumatic cloth pouches rather than leather. There is a very long run of tracker tubing leading fromthe tracker bar, down along the right side of the piano, and then over to the stack. Link probably wanted the signal to be

as sure as possible without having to contend with variationof porosity in the pouches. The present quality of importedkey pneumatic cloth makes it possible to install pneumaticcloth pouches. After the pouches are installed, the top valveblock is glued to the upper pneumatic leaf containing thepouch (photo 8). The clamping must be done with positivepressure to achieve a wood-to-wood glue joint with the surface around the pouch (photo 9). A homemade jig is usedto hold the two leaves of the pneumatic at a consistent spanwhile recovering. Masking tape around the valve block keepsthe block free of glue during recovering.

The valve buttons (photo 9) are resurfaced on sandpapertaped to ¼” thick glass. These buttons appear to be simplebut require close attention when adjusting. Valve travel is setby screwing the lower valve button up and down on thethreaded rod (photo 10). This adjustment either increases ordecreases valve travel. However, when the valve travel isadjusted in this manner, the leather nut on the end of thethreaded rod also moves closer to or farther away from thepouch. So, after setting the valve travel, the leather nut on

Photo 5: Piano action installed showing range of bass and treble octave couplers

Photo 6: Top valve blocks split away from lower pneumatic boards

Photo 7: Old pneumatic boards have been cleaned and repaired. New pneumatic cloth pouches with lifter disks are in place. The valve

blocks are to be glued to the top of these pouch boards


Photo 8: Valve block clamped to top of pneumatic board for gluing,with pouch sandwiched in between. Pony clamps are double

clamps that exert positive pressure on the glue joint

Photo 9: Key pneumatics showing masking tape temporarily in place toprevent hot glue from getting on the valve block

Photo 10: Valve button size in relation to nickel. The valve button is resting on sandpaper taped to glass that is used for resurfacing

wooden valve disks Photo 11: Pump boards cleaned and ready for recovering. Index linesin pencil mark the relative position of the three boards. Grid lines mark

the position of the pump boards as they are to be glued to the leather covering. Stiffeners shown in top of photo. Two sets of these

boards make up the reciprocating pump

Photo 12: Lower action of orchestrion completed showing from left to right: pipe pressure distributor (left of electric motor, pipe

pressure reservoir, idler wheel for flat belt (in front of reservoir), reciprocating pump, roll speed control.

Photo 13: Underside of pipe chest showing pallets. Pallets are triggeredby wood blocks screwed to the front of the piano action stickers. Signal

tubes open ports underneath pouches in each side of the pipe chest.Notice there are two signal tubes per pallet, one for each rank


the end of the threaded rod must be adjusted to be in proper regulation with respect to the pouch.

Link pumps are reciprocating with a set of bellows on each side of the crankshaft. Although all the castings are identicalfrom one pump to another, I have found Link pumps to be of two different sizes. Link pumps, being relatively small arerequired to supply vacuum for the stack, controls and percussion while also providing pressure for two ranks of pipes.This design doesn’t allow any room for error. This pump was a little bigger than a couple of other pumps I compared it to.

Care must be taken to mark the pneumatic boards of the pump after stripping off the covering. It’s easy to mix up the fourouter movable leaves. Each set of boards must be marked to keep the correct boards oriented to one another (photo 11).The stiffeners and pump coverings are made from leather. I enlarged the footprint of each of the stiffeners to increase theefficiency of the pump. Also, I used two layers of leather to imitate the original thickness of leather covering used by Link.If the leather is too thin it will pulse between cycles, resulting in loss of power.

The end result was a pump with more than enough power to supply this large orchestrion (photo 12). The Link reservoirsare always at full capacity no matter how many notes are called for. To add to the authenticity, a flat belt pulley was madefor the motor and a flat belt of synthetic material was installed.

Notice the pressure supply tube from the bottom of the pump to the pressure reservoir. Pressure is then supplied to thepipe chest distributor and sent via two supply tubes above the keybed to each side of the pipe chest.

There are three vacuum supply tubes on top of the pump. The supply tube in the right in the back goes through a hole inthe sound board to the vacuum reservoir. The tube in the right front supplies the stack and the third tube goes left andthen up to the top half of the piano. This tube supplies a valve chest located on top of the pinblock as well as supplyingpercussive instruments.

The pipe chest is fairly simple. Pallets are triggered by blocks attached to thepiano action stickers (photo 13). Each pallet opens two ports: one for the flutepipe pouch and one for the violin pipe. A lock and cancel unit in the bottom ofthe piano sends pressure to each side of the pipe chest. No supply means nopipes play. Either side may be supplied to play either the flute pipes or violin,or both sides can be supplied to play both ranks at the same time. There are28 wooden flutes and 28 metal orchestral violins.

When pressure is introduced to the pipe chest and the pallet is closed (photo14), a spring holds a valve disc up against the chamber ceiling (valve notshown), and the threaded valve stem connected to the valve disc holds thepouch up. When the pallet is opened, atmospheric pressure is introduced tothe underside of the pouch. The pouch is then forced closed, pulling the valveaway from the ceiling and allowing pressure through the port and into the pipe.

A separate valve box housing nine valves is stationed on top of the pinblock.Two valves are used to activate the mandolin lock and cancel pneumatics andthe others operate percussive instruments. A woodblock with two beaters ismounted behind the tambourine. The use of two beaters is very musical andadds a distinct 1920s sound. The tambourine has two pneumatic components.A large pneumatic pulls the tambourine to one side and releases quickly tomake the metal shakers sound. A second smaller pneumatic operates a beaterthat thumps against the tambourine head for a tom-tom. The tom-tom is alsovery musical (photo 15). It’s fun to watch the beater operate while it’s movingalong with the shaking of the tambourine.

The snare drum is a fairly complex unit containing five valves (photo 16). Onevalve operates the triangle mounted on the right side of the snare drum unit.Three valves operate each of the three pneumatic snare beaters. Three separate holes in the tracker bar are used alter-nately to control the drum beaters for a reiterating sound. Each snare beater activates one of three pallets. When any oneof the pallets is lifted, a signal triggers the fifth valve. This fifth valve activates a rectangular pneumatic that lifts a mutestrip away from the snare so the drum can sound.

The Link model A is a very musical orchestrion. The musical arrangements along with the programing of the percussionmake this one of the best-sounding American coin pianos. I’m glad I was given the opportunity to restore it. The projectcertainly was well worth all the effort. I consider it a treat to hear every time I visit Glenn’s collection.

You may see/hear a video of this instrument playing “Crazy Words, Crazy Tune” at: http://youtu.be/j1r11Vn7VO8

Photo 14: Pipe chest interior showing divisionbetween the two sets of pouches and bleeds. The center divider separates the two ranks of pipes. Top of photo shows two ports that

supply pressure to each rank


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: In June, 2013, Paul Manganaro celebrated his fortieth year as a full time restorer. He hasrestored more than five hundred automatic pianos, as well as sixty Paces Races pneumatic horse-race machines andmany other mechanical collectables. Although Paul is not taking on many restorations at this time, he hopes to spendmany years restoring pieces in his own collection. He continues to buy antique music and coin-operated machines as anactive dealer and collector.

You may visit Paul’s website http://antiquemechanicalrestorations.com to see more of his restoration work.

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Photo 15: Woodblock and tambourine

Photo 16: Snare drum, triangle, and a few violin pipes

Repairing original rolls is a task that many of us have to do. Occasionally, a usable repair to the leader is aestheticallyunpleasing. I concocted the following approach and wrote a terse description of it for the Mechanical Music Digest(MMD). I have made my files available for others’ use.

Ideally, a repaired or replaced leader should look ‘original’: it should match in color and in the printed information. Itshould not ruin the roll for subsequent repair. And, even without ready access to matching materials and stenciled printing, it should be reasonably easy to do.

Any solution involves the following basic steps: create a ‘master’ from which to createreplacement leaders with the manufacturer’sdecorative ‘frame’, add the roll-specific text,print the replacement leader, and splice it to theroll. Before access to computers, one couldmake a wood block or silk screen to print thedecorative frame and set up lines of type to print the text. Life is obviously too short andhere is a way to use your computer, scannerand printer. Ideally, you have easy access to acolor scanner which will accommodate the 11¼” width of most rolls; if not, services like Staples can scan for you in a useful format.You will need photo handling software which will allow you to scale images accurately andadd text in appropriate size, font and color.Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk’s AutoCAD

REPAIRING / REPLACING PIANO ROLL LEADERS By Douglas Heckrotte

Figure 1: Raw scan


will do it; Microsoft Word ought to but there are limitations that I was not able to overcome. And, ideally, you will needeasy access to a color printer which will handle 11 1/4 “wide images; again, Staples or similar service would do.

Preparing the master. I scanned a clean roll whose decorative frame was the same as the damaged roll - Ampico had at least three frames – on my 11x17 printer, copier, scanner, and fax. The image was saved in .jpg format and included a piece of the roll and the frame with excess width but very little length. This is usable but of course any defects in the edges, a slightly unsquared image versus the potential print, and the limitation of size make a final print less usable and less perfect. Figure 1 is ascreenshot of the ‘raw scan’. Such a scan willopen in Microsoft Office Picture Manager,Microsoft Paint and of course in Photoshop. Itcan also be ‘inserted’ into an AutoCAD.dwg anda Microsoft Word .docx. The raw scan will opento full scale in Photoshop and can be verifiedusing Photoshop’s ruler and grid features. Thescan can be scaled to size in AutoCAD but it’s not possible to do so accurately in Word.Figure 2 is the finished master in Photoshop asseen with the ruler and grid.

To clean up the scan to make your master, save a copy (in case you goof!) and open it inPhotoshop. Rotate the image by whateverdegree needed unti l i t ’s square with Photoshop’s idea of square. Resize the ‘canvas’ Figure 2: Master with grid and ruler

so that there’s room to work around the image; don’t change the image size. Now, it’s time to erase the clean roll’s roll-specific text and any defects. Using Photoshop’s rectangle or random shape tool, enclose a piece of clean background paper and ‘copy’ it; then ‘paste’ a number of pieces. The edge of the shape can be made ‘fuzzy’ so that sharp edges are better concealed. Each time you paste something in Photoshop, it goes on a separate, new ‘layer’.These layers can be thought of as clear pieces of plastic with the piece of paper on it that you copied Figure 3 is the master with a couple pieces of paper copied onto the canvas to one side of the image. You can move the piece of paper wherever you wish if the layer it is on is active. The piece in Figure 3 with the bounding box is ready to be moved. Figure 4 shows the master with the layer control window open. Move your pieces of paper until all defects in the original scan are covered, the edges of the roll widened past the scanned edges and the roll-specific text covered. What you’ll have now is the original base layer, the scanned image, and a stack of layers each with a piece of paper on them. Use the ‘flatten’ command and all these layers can be collapsed down onto the scanned image.

Now, spend some frustrating time learning to draw aiming points so that you can cut your finished print to the correct size and with its pointed tab end. Use the line drawing tool and set the line widths so that they will show on the print; use the rulers and grid to be accurate. Set the aiming points outside the intended roll edges so that they will be cut off and not show. You can see my aiming points on Figure 5 as well as several of the others; there are four corners, the centerline of the roll at the top, and the point at the tab end. Collapse all these lines, which will be on separate new layers, onto one layer separate from the base layer.

Figure 3: Master with patches Figure 4: Prepared master layers shown


You now have a clean image with defects removed, roll edges defined and the decorative frame; it’s time to add roll-specific text. My version of Photoshop does not allow easy identification of fonts, however the same fonts are to be found in Microsoft Word and you can also find fonts online. Open a new Word .doc and find some fonts. For myAmpico master I felt that ‘Castellar’ is pretty close for “AMPICO” and fonts for the other original texts; I felt that Arial is suitable for the roll number and Times New Roman for other information. Figure 7 shows a Word document that

I used for sampling fonts. Go back into Photoshop and use the ‘text’ command to addtext in the desired font and at the desired size.

Each piece of text will be on its own layer andcan be moved appropriately. You cannot set the‘character spacing’ or the kerning in my versionof Photoshop. The color of the text shouldmatch the frame. Highlight your first piece oftext and set its color; subsequent pieces of textwill default to the same color. I found that R: 15, G: 92, and B: 86 is a pretty close match.Keep the master, the aiming point, and all theseparate pieces of text on their own layers.‘Save as’ a roll-specific named file, if you wish.The roll-specific text can be updated for the next roll.

Ready to print a repair leader. Figure 6 showsmy printer control window; it’s set to scale to100%, landscape, and narrow margin tabloid.

Print it, cut to the aiming points, cut the roll square, and use archival document tape on both faces of the roll. Add the tab and you’re ready to go.

Clearly, the same effort will work for other brands of roll.

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About the author: Douglas Heckrotte is a retired architect in Philadelphia, PA. His interest in player pianos dates fromwhen he was about 12 when he repaired a pumper player to operation. Roll collecting grew to several hundred rolls. College, other hobbies, and a working life intervened until he acquired a 1920 6’4 Knabe Ampico grand. The Ampico collection is now over 800 recordings.

Heckrotte spends a great deal of time restoring his and his wife’s 1857 house, several Flying Dutchman sailing dinghies,and their 1970 North East 38 cruising sailboat. He can be described as a foolishly fearless and intrepid do-it-yourselferand woodchuck; there is nothing that he’s smart enough not to do (except, perhaps, rebuild the Ampico himself!). He canbe reached at [email protected].

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Figure 5: Prepared master

Figure 6: The print window Figure 7: Word document


My 1997 Pell Harmonette Monkey Organ (Fig. 1) has been a great performer for nearly 16 years. For some time I’vewished I could enhance its boxy persona with a slightly wider and painted wood facade. Some owners of small monkeyorgans paint and/or ornament the front of their instruments but I did not want to paint or cut up my instrument’s lovelyhand-veneered case.

Another constraint was that the circular path of my hand on the side-mounted crank would extend beyond the plane of“wings” of any wider facade affixed to the front of the organ. One solution - reducing the crank length by about 2” – wasunwise since the present size crank feels ergonomically correct and shouldn’t be tinkered with.

This article presents the results of a design concept I explored to solve my dilemma. Application to similar small monkeyorgans should be possible. In short, I designed and built an easily removable “porch” for the front of the organ, the face(facade) of which extends out 2” from the Harmonette’s front surface. This provides cranking clearance and wings whichextend laterally for a wider facade. Fig. 2 shows the result with a typical painted wood facade design I used to establishthe shape and size of the addition to my instrument. More about this later.

Figure 4 shows the organ’s cranking side, the depth of the porch addition – which provides the needed clearance for cranking - and the side panel which I designed to embrace the side of the organ and support the new facade’s 2” extension beyond the Harmonette’s front surface. A similar panel is against the other side of the organ.

Figure 3 shows the detached porch. A 16” length of 1” x 2” wood laterally holds the new facade away from the Harmonette – also serves as a 2” stage in front of the pipes. The base of the porch structure (front and side panels, andstage back panel) fits snugly between the organ chest’s base and the red molding which surrounds the top of the wheeledplatform. All parts painted blue are of a 1/8th inch composite material like masonite, which I had handy. I used a copingsaw and SkilSaw for cutting and shaping since I lack a jig-saw.

Only two fasteners are needed to secure this conglomeration against the Harmonette case: note the bolt head near top ofthe side panel in Figure 4. The fasteners are small bolts engaged to anchor nuts within the organ case. One nut existedfor a bolt securing one end of the organ’s unused carry strap, another hole was drilled on the other side and a similaranchor nut installed.

I needed a sample design for the porch front which had a rectangular opening sized to expose my front rank of 16 pipes,and wings which extended somewhat beyond the organ box to broaden the facade. The Alan Pell website features aMini-20 organ with an artist-painted wooden facade with outlines that appealed to me. I downloaded and printed the smallillustration, then had it enlarged 7.7 times and printed on bond paper at an Office Depot store. Why enlarged 7.7 times?This provided the image in Fig. 2 with a central opening the right size to expose my front pipes. The Harmonette’smitered bass pipes are behind the front 16, whereas the Mini-20’s pipes are all in a front row. The printed bass pipes areretained and look fine. The white “bib” under the stage with words Alan Pell Organs is to conceal the base of the organcase.

The printed pattern was rubber-cemented to a cardboard backing for protection and ease of handling, and later attachedto the blue front porch panel with 4 small bolts (Fig.2). The enlargement resulted in slight color fading and blurred thepainted pastoral scenes. I used a felt ink pen to accent some borders. Please remember this is prototyping.

So there you have it...how I made a platform for a removable and expanded facade for my small hand-cranked Pell Monkey Organ. Now for a painted design of my own. Why don’t you give your instrument a new look?

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About the author: Kenneth E. Hodge, a retired aeronautical engineer and 38-year AMICA Member, has written occasionally for the “Bulletin.” Although his old radio collection outnumbers his mechanical music instruments, Ken andfriend Pat Moore are happiest when giving public performances with the Pell “Harmonette” and its 36-key big brother Verbeeck Street Organ. He can be reached at [email protected].

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FACADE a la MODE By Kenneth E. Hodge


Figure 1: Pell Harmonette Monkey Organ Figure 2: New facade on Harmonette

Figure 3: Porch backstage view Figure 4: Side panel, anchor bolt, crank clearance


Music Trades was a weekly periodicalserving the musical instrument industryin the period 1885 to about 1935. It competed with Music Trade Review,another weekly periodical serving thesame industry. As Music Trades had amuch smaller audience, it is exceedinglyrare today. As a consequence of an eBay offering, we have been successfulin acquiring about 400+ issues. There is about 20-25% equal crossover, soMusic Trades is proving to be a usefulresearch resource.

As I gradually work my way through digitizing these issues of Music Tradesfor our On-Line Research Library, some interesting news items appear as if by magic. I thought it might be useful to publish a few of these newsitems in our AMICA Bulletin, in hopesthat current whereabouts of these fineinstruments might be known. If bychance, a member currently owns one of these instruments as reported some88 years ago, these news items may add a nice bit of provenance.

The first in this series are a couple ofnews items from the:

* 10 September 1926 issue of MusicTrades illustrates what appears to be an Ampico cabinet piano, sold to theArmour family, already owning eightother Ampico pianos.. Is the attachedpicture correct? Is it perhaps a roll cabinet? If so, it speaks volumes for the elegance of its companion piano.However, in a number of subsequenceissues of Music Trades, there is no correction, suggesting that the instru-ment illustrated is indeed a ChickeringAmpico, albeit in a cabinet style case,the only one to come to my attention in some 45+ years in this delightful avocation.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?By Terry Smythe


* 16 October 1926 issue of Music Trades illustrates an elegant Sohmer Welte-Mignon grand in a fine Spanish Renaissance case. It was sold to movie star Tom Mix, who placed it in his Los Angeles home.

Where Are They Now?


CHICAGO AREA CHAPTERReporter: Carol Veome

President: Jerry BiasellaThis year we had a holiday meeting combined with the LakeMichigan Chapter of MBSI. A total of 184 people were hosted at the estate of Marian and Jasper Sanfilippo in Barrington Hills, IL. The doors to their spectacular 44,000square foot home in full Christmas décor opened at 4:00 pmwith lively and joyful holiday music.

The Sanfilippo collection is never static. In the theater thereis a newly arrived set of stunning backlit art glass panelsdepicting Mucha’s “Four Seasons” and a monumental Mermod Frères interchangeable cylinder music box ensemble. In the salon is a Wurlitzer Tonophone that plays the piano pneumatically from a pinned barrel. Flankingthe salon entry to the penny arcade are life-sized perfume vendor ladies modeled after two of the wives of the Mills Novelty Co. brothers. The penny arcade has expanded with rows of Cailoscope and Quartoscope coin operated stereoslide viewers, an impressive lung tester raising a balloon to the moon and a bigger than life Dr. Vibrator.

At 5:15 PM we assembled in the theater which now has a newly remodeled balcony affording better sight lines for thestage below. Sanfilippo Foundation director Greg Leifel welcomed both organizations and mentioned events at the estatehave raised over one and a half million dollars for various charitable organizations this year alone. As this was a holiday

party, no formal business meetings were held. James Hufferannounced the availability of surplus convention favors fromthe recent MBSI annual meeting. After acknowledging distanttravelers from as far away as Oregon and thanking our hostsMarian and Jasper Sanfilippo, Marty Persky introduced thehighlight of the evening - Jay Warren, Chicago’s foremostphotoplay organist accompanying three holiday themed shortfilms on the 5 manual 80 rank Wurlitzer. The moviesspanned over two decades of the silent film era. First we saw the 1905 “The Night before Christmas” by the EdisonManufacturing Company, then the 1910 “A Christmas Carol,”followed by the 1926 Hal Roach directed Our Gang holidayproduction of “Good Cheer”.

At 6:30 festivities continued with a social hour of wine andsoft drinks in the carousel pavilion, home of the 1890 EdenPalais salon carousel and 24 fairground, dance and streetorgans. A new grouping of giant format magic and circusposters were displayed above the entry. The steam enginegallery, filled with beauties of the industrial revolution and

related items, were hissing with several engines running on compressed air. At the end of the steam engine gallery thereis now a “must see” thirteen foot wide Carter magic poster.The buffet dinner opened at 7:00 PM and as always wasdelicious.

Following dinner and desert we enjoyed a concert performedby the Wurlitzer 180 military band organ and the 110 keyGavioliphone. It was a special surprise for Jasper with thedebut of four holiday pieces on the Wurlitzer 180.

As the finale, Jasper fired up the Eden Palais carousel and89 key Gavioli. Copies of the Sanfilippo Collection booklet“Place de la Musique” and instrument CD’s were made available for purchase at the end of the evening with all proceeds going to the Sanfilippo Foundation.

The pictures show scenes of the Sanfilipo collection.


FOUNDING CHAPTERReporter: Bob Gonzalez

Photographs: Jack EdwardsPresident: John Ulrich

The Founding Chapter held its February, 2014, meeting atthe lovely home of Bob and Bonnie Gonzalez. The weatherwas clear and warm for a winter day and several membersenjoyed their lunch outside on the deck. A highlight wasintroducing the just restored Coinola Solo Flute piano. Theinstrument was saved from disposal by John MottoRos whofound a home for it with Bob and Bonnie. Bobby Skinner, ofNew Orleans, performed a complete restoration includingnew hammers, action restoration and all player components.He also added additional capacity so that another soloinstrument and percussion can be installed later. Using an ORoll, the instrument is capable of much more than just pianoand pipes.

Chapter President, John Ulrich, has teamed up with ragtimepianist Tom Brier to produce a series of new 88-note rolls onthe Olivewood label. John played five of the new rolls on the

Weber Duo-Art grand piano. Everyone enjoyed hearingthem and several rolls were purchased. Interested partiescan contact John Ulrich for information.

In addition to the Weber and Coinola, members played theEdgerton KT Special and Yamaha C-6 Disklavier piano. Bobhas a large collection of midi files for the Yamaha and manyrare roll scans were played throughout the afternoon. Manyrecorded live performances were heard as well.

During the business meeting portion of the afternoon, President Ulrich urged everyone planning to attend the Fresno convention to register right away. Convention Chairman, Frank Nix, is at the point where actual headcounts are needed to reserve busses and ticket blocks.Other business items were a wrap-up of the San Francisco

convention. All table favors and shirts are gone. Just a fewTom Brier souvenir rolls were left, but John purchased themand will offer them with Tom’s new rolls.

Another topic is whether to adopt another instrument forrestoration and public exposure. The Chapter has in thepast helped restore one for a museum in Virginia City. Thatexperience went very well and the public enjoyed listening toit. We will likely place another restoration there.

A good time was had by all and the official meeting ended atfive o’clock. But some folks stayed on to play more music.The next meeting will be announced soon.

Bobby Skinner discussing the Coinola restoration

L to R: Richard Reutlinger, Greg McKenna, Edith and Jim Porter, Darryl Coe, and Bobby Skinner listening to the Coinola story

Out on the deck with John MottoRos, Joan Sprankle, and Chuck Schoppe


HEART OF AMERICA CHAPTERReporter: Don DavisPresident: Bob Stout

On November 30th, the Heart Of America Chapter held its Christmas meeting at the home and theatre of Ken and Virginia Filardo near Eudora, Kansas. Ken hasassembled an outstanding movie theatre with vintage seating, screen and soundequipment, paired with a digital video projection system. This provided a great venuefor viewing two movies. The first was “The Thief of Baghdad” accompanied by GregFilardo on a Wurlitzer Style “O” photo player. The second movie enjoyed later in theevening was a pristine digital version of “White Christmas.” Members also enjoyed apot luck dinner and Christmas gift exchange.

The following day, members attended a Christmas concert at the Kansas City, Missouri 1933 Art Deco Music Hall. The 4-28 Robert Morton theatre organ concertand sing along was followed by an on-stage banquet. Several members brought their street organs and enjoyed playing them in the reverberant sounds of the beautiful Music Hall lobby areas.

Gary Craig shares insights Street organs in Music Hall lobby

Wurlitzer Style O Photoplayer, Seeburg E, Coinola X Photoplayer artist Greg Filardo visits with Charles Tyler

Our hosts: Ken and Virginia Filardo


ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTERReporter: Larry Emmons

President: Jere DeBackerEditor’s note: The regular Chapter meeting report includes a special tribute by Art Reblitz. The report is followedby a special “sing-along” meeting report from last Summer.

AMICA members were treated to some fine music and hospitality at the home of Bill and Marilyn Decker in Longmont, Colorado. The Decker’s have a nice variety ofwonderful instruments and Bill is a wealth of knowledgeabout mechanical, pneumatic and also the electronics of digital music reproduction and pipe organs as well as reproducing pianos. It is always a good time at the Decker ’s Home, and we had a good turnout, too. Additionally, we were treated to a documentary movie that Bill and some friends had made about Scott Harrisonand Ellen Moore’s Carousel of Happiness in Nederland, Colorado. Unfortunately the photos didn’t work in the hometheater.

While in Longmont, Colorado we also visited the home ofJud Murphy and his great and varied collection. We hadlunch and listened to every machine multiple times. Jud shared his recently acquired pinball machine with us, too. This actual machine has been in his family for 51 years.

The two manual instrument is an Operator ’s PianoCo ’’Reproduco”..... roll playing combination piano/pipeorgan. The Reproduco piano/organ was manufactured from1916 through 1928, with this example made circa the mid-1920s. This is an older restoration by Max Maxwell andJoseph Cossolini, with guidance by Art Reblitz of ColoradoSprings, Colorado.

The fancy walnut case instrument is a 1901Aeolian “Orchestrelle”, a roll playing reed organ. This is apressure instrument (not vacuum), and contains the Vocalion reed system. Restored by Jim Bratton of Denver,Colorado.

The quarter operated piano is a built-up “Orchestrion” from a 1922 Hobart M. Cable 88 note player. It was built in the

1980’s by Art Reblitz, his friend Max Maxwell and an employee of Art’s, Joseph Cossolini. Before it came to JudMurphy, this orchestrion was earning lots of quarters whileout in public venues around the Colorado Springs area....including the Cave of the Winds gift shop. Occasionally thisinstrument still travels out in the Longmont, Colorado area to perform for the public.... and still play beautifully.

The pinball machine is a 1949 Williams wood-rail “Maryland”.Flippers had only been introduced on these machines 2 years earlier.

Bill and Marilyn Decker, our hosts

The "O" roll orchestrion built by Oren Maxwell and modified by BillDecker. The upright piano on the right is a Wurlitzer Recordo. L to R,Steve McCormick, Don Hein, Ben Haass, Bill Decker and Don Wick

MIDI controlled pipe organ with Ryan Kroll and Ben Haass


Attending members of the Rocky Mountain Chapter, left to right, back to front: Jere DeBacker, Bill Decker, Ryan Kroll, Ben Haass, Barry Weiss, Don Hein, Don Wick, David Charles, Steve McCormick, Scott Harrison, Dick Kroeckel

Dick Kroeckel made the Steinway XR sound great Built up "O" roll orchestrion. L to R: Ben Haass, Dick Kroeckel, Marilyn Decker, Ryan Kroll, Steve McCormick, Scott Harrison,

Ellen Moore, Don Wick, Peter Olejar, Harry Weiss

Max MaxwellThe Rocky Mountain Chapter meeting report in this issue mentions three instruments in current members’ collections thatcame from the collection of Max Maxwell. I thought a few words about Max would be appropriate here.

Col. Oren Maxwell (1922-2007), or “Max” as he liked to be called, was a retired USAF pilot who became interested inautomatic instruments in 1980. His background included a Master’s Degree in geology, an interest in a small gold mine inPanama where he did assaying for a friend, a homebuilder’s license, and a large solar water heating system that hedesigned and built for his household and swimming pool. He successfully applied his mechanical ability and skills inwoodworking, electrical work, plumbing, and welding to just about anything that interested him. He also expressed hisartistic talent in his fully-equipped rock shop where he created beautiful art style lamp shades and other works from thin-sliced gemstones and translucent colored rocks and minerals.

Max worked with me during the 1980s, helping to finish the wiring and interior of the Reblitz Restorations shop, household remodeling, installation of a sprinkler system, etc. in exchange for our help with rebuilding his player piano,


Reproduco piano/organ, and constructing two O-roll orchestrions. The first was “Janet’s Loadanickelin”, a tall orchestrionwhich he made for his wife who played numerous instruments. This had a backlit sliced colored rock front depicting awestern scene, which was segmented to roll up like a curtain on a hexagonal drum the full width of the piano. It includedan accordion, a set of flute pipes, orchestra bells, a xylophone mounted on the wall next to the piano, and the usual percussion. The second was fit into a player piano cabinet, with the instrumentation resembling a simplified Coinola X.We co-owned it and placed it on location in the Chapel Hills Mall and then the Cave of the Winds gift shop in ColoradoSprings, and finally the lounge in Bob Young’s Cabaret in Cascade, Colorado.

Always congenial, Max and Janet were members of AMICA and opened their home and collection to interested guestsand at least one large AMICA meeting in Colorado Springs during the 1980s. After Janet’s passing in 2011, the familysold the Reproduco and smaller orchestrion to Jud Murphy, and the large orchestrion to Bill and Marilyn Decker. All threeinstruments have now been cleaned, refurbished, and brought back into excellent playing condition by their new owners.

Thank you, Max and Janet, for your endless generosity. Here’s to our many fine memories of the good times we had!

Art Reblitz

Sing Along with Barry Weiss and the Conway PlayerOver the years, some of our most fun parties have been the Sing-Along at the home of Barry Weiss in Boulder, Colorado.Barry has been the Rocky Mt. Chapter Treasurer for some years now and he does a fine job. He has a large collection ofrolls that makes singing along with the player piano lots of fun and it really seems like it could be 1920 again – except lotsof the songs are newer. Besides old standards, there are musicals, and ballads and novelty songs from decades past.Many folks know the old tunes, but there is always something to learn from Barry’s collection.

Barry just recently had Jere DeBacker rebuild the Simplex player action, so that it is now easy and fun to pump as well asbeing able to be played electrically. Everyone wanted to take a turn at the pedals this time. Barry also invites some of hisother friends to join us – so we are guaranteed some good voices and the music sounds great!

It was especially fun this time, celebrating Jere’s 60th Birthday and hearing about the 50th anniversary AMICA conventionin San Francisco. Thanks, Barry!

Brad Uecker and Dick Kroeckel Brad Uecker at the pedals with Dick Kroeckel

Brad Uecker, Dick Kroeckel, and Jere DeBacker The group enjoying singing and playing


SOWNY Chapter MeetingReporters: Glenn & Shirley Roat

President: Glenn RoatThe December 2013 meeting (aka “The Christmas Party”) of the SOWNY Chapter was hosted by Glenn and Shirley Roat this year, a tradition now in its third year.

The meeting was well attended with twenty-one guests, including members, non-members and prospective members. As an added treat, for the second year in a row, the upstate New York weather cooperated with no icy or snowyroads although it was just starting to snow when the festivities started to break up around 9:00pm. We would like to welcome new members Greg and Linda, and Dave, Sabrina and Camden (at 3 years old our youngest member).

In addition to some great conversation, guests selected and enjoyed music on the AMPICO, Duo-Art, and the Pumper. The newest instrument in our collection was also ondisplay, although not functional: an AMPICO Spinet from the 1930’s; that we’ve beentold at one time had been in the office of Elmer Brooks Jr., a former American PianoCompany Executive. Before we acquired the piano, it was used as part of the Pianos for Peace project in Rochester, NY. For the Pianos for Peace project, this piano hadbeen very creatively painted by the artists at Little Flower Community. Pianos for Peace was an innovative community project spearheaded by a University of Rochesterstudent. For three weeks in August 2013, donated pianos were placed around the City of Rochester in inner-city neighborhoods for free and public use.

After the appetizers were enjoyed, everyone lined up to partake of the pot luck dinnerfeaturing ham, potatoes and salads. Dessert, of course, was the highlight with cookies,pies and cakes.

A short business meeting was held which included election of Chapter officers and discussion of future meetings. The only change from the previous year is that Larry Weingartner will be taking over as Chapter Vice President.

The traditional Chapter gift exchange rounded out the evening. The hit of the giftexchange seemed to be Camden’s Mickey Mouse playing a sax, which is part of the Hallmark Disney Musical Band set.

Paula looks on as Dave pumps out atune on the player piano

John and Alan enjoying some good conversation Greg, Craig, Donna, Jane, Carl, and Sabrina in the buffet linewhile host Shirley talks to Camden and Dave

Ampico spinet from Pianos for Peace project in Rochester, NY Host Glenn involved in a deep discussion with John, Greg, and Gil


TEXAS CHAPTERReporter: Ken Long

President: Rich ClaytonThe Texas Chapter of AMICA met on November 2, 2013 at the Dallashome of Ken Long. There were sixty-six attendees which includedtwenty-seven guests. This meeting offered a full meal, instrument tour,and an incredibly special piano performance by Frederick Hodges.There was so much to see, hear, and experience that members andguests were still exploring the collection up to six hours after the beginning of the gathering.

Fortunately, North Texas was experiencing the most beautiful Indiansummer this autumn season and the temperature was seventy-twodegrees and sunny which provided a very nice full-lunch arrangementin the motor court. The afternoon began with a fantastic catered mealwhich was most welcome due to the tightly scheduled sequence ofevents. Everyone enjoyed the dining experience while listening to themusic of reproducing grand pianos.

The primary instrument of the show and tell event was a 1922 Hamburg Steinway Red Welte T-100 Model O grand which had justbeen returned from a full restoration. The instrument was originallydelivered from Freiburg to Mexico City to a wealthy perfume/cosmetic/soap consortium proprietor for his wife’s first

wedding anniversary in 1922. The piano was maintainedin mint condition with a full length cover in the originalfamily until she died at 98 years of age. A demonstrationwas given of the instrument played by the red Welte piano roll using the original remote pump which is housedin a matching ebony cabinet. In addition to the piano andthe pump, the piano has the original Welte designedebony roll cabinet with a smaller upper door with glasspanels matching the design of the Welte cabinet piano.This accompanying roll cabinet is a rare example and itsinterior is made of Carpathian and bird’s eye maple withstandardized roll shelving for the T-100 Red Welte rolls.

Another demonstration was given of the piano using the Bob Hunt VirtualRoll MIDI system which was installedduring the restoration process. This system was designedto operate from another newer remote pump, 1928 versusthe 1922 original, and it is housed in a padded cabinet for

a no noise operation. The Welte system and pump wererestored by master craftsman, Kirk Russell. The piano, theMIDI system, fine adjustments were restored by BrianGrindrod, Bob Hunt, and Tom Ahearn. The dead silence ofthe vacuum supply to the piano plus the quietness of a finely rebuilt Welte and the superb sound of a preciselyadjusted and tuned Steinway, provided reproducing roll performances rarely heard by this listening audience. Moreinformation about the precision and skill in installing the MIDI in a grand Welte will be the subject of a future “Lostand Found” article.

Next the AMICAN’s were able to view the 1915/1916 Hamburg Steinway Red Welte T-100 Model O grand adornedin a full Louis XV Rosewood case. The piano, delivered originally to Canada, is in good unrestored condition but isscheduled for full piano and Welte player restoration in 2014.

Texas Chapter President Rich Clayton, Maurine Hilding,and host Ken Long

Several instruments in the main music room

1922 Hamburg Steinway Welte T-100


This is going to be another fine example of the Red Welte T-100 system in the Steinway grand piano. And nearby, thegroup was able to view the unrestored but beautiful 1908 Welte T-100 vorsetzer in a red mahogany cabinet. It will be scheduled for restoration after the rosewood Steinway Welte in 2014-2015.

Next scheduled was the piano performance by the world-renowned 1920s and ragtime pianist FrederickHodges. Frederick had just performed at the National AMICA Convention in San Francisco in July, 2013. So theTexas Chapter decided that the meeting would not be complete without his wonderful music played in person forthe entire chapter to hear. We experienced beautifullyarranged pieces in a surprise format! Frederick moved fromvintage piano to vintage piano: Knabe Ampico concert grand, Steinway Welte model O, and Steinway Duo-Artmodel AR. His repertoire included Lover, Swanee, Parade of the Sandwich Board Men, Piano Puzzle, Rambling in

Rhythm, Railroad Rhythm, Delirium, Grand Fantasy on Themes from Show Boat, Frederick’s own Grand Fantasy on Themes from the Wizard of Oz, Mansell Concerto, and Rhapsody in Blue. The audience was spellbound and amazed at his superior artistry and technique. It was a magical day. He is an extremely rare and talented musiciansuo jure.

After the splendid performance, the group toured all of theother instruments in the collection including a large collectionof Aeolian Organ 176 note rolls, Apollo/Art-Echo rolls, Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte Licensee and T-100, and 65 noterolls. There are 15 grand pianos, an Apollophone upright, aWelte Licensee radio/phonograph cabinet piano, and theWelte T-100 vorsetzer in the home to view. There is also a large radio and phonograph collection filling three floors of the home as well. To both members and guests, this collection emphasizes what AMICA is all about.

It is said that if you can’t maintain the instruments that one is not doing their part in the conservation of these rare and fine pieces of history for our next generation. However, a large collection requires a dedicated effort torestore, maintain, tune, and enjoy. Fortunately, this collectionreceives continued maintenance and has been, or will be, restored on a rolling schedule. But more importantly, the collection is being played, demonstrated, enjoyed not only by the owner/curator, but by local musicians, music

teachers, and students from The University of North Texas, Denton, Texas; Southern Methodist University, Dallas,Texas; and Texas Christian College, Ft. Worth, Texas. Andseveral hosted contestants from the 2009 and 2013 VanCliburn International Piano Competitions have witnessed anew world musical renaissance from the unacknowledgedand unattested piano roll.

Additionally, the instruments continue to receive extremeadmiration at a broader level from the members of the Classic Car Club of America, the Music Box Society International, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra artists, andthe Dallas Symphony Orchestra Guild whose members were given a dedicated performance of artists playing their own compositions at a large meeting held in the Longresidence. The program included the composer playedworks by Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Ravel, Faure, Bartok,Granados, Paderewski, Scriabin, Kreisler, Horowitz, Grieg,Mahler, Carreno, and Mana-Zucca.

Frederick Hodges

Apollophone

Larry Williams studies two Welte T-100s: 1916 Steinway Red WelteLouis XV Rosewood case; 1908 Red Welte Vorsetzer


After six hours began to fade into the sunset and the musically submerged AMICANs began to reluctantly file away from amost enjoyable and relaxing day, another successful AMICA meeting was concluded with a very positive result of severalnew members joining our fine organization. The chapter thanked Mr. Hodges for his afternoon of piano mastery andentertaining, Mr. Long for opening his home and sharing his collection, as well as all the AMICAN’s who helped make thisevent such a success.

Additional pictures of the instruments and the happy attendees follow:


Richard Tonnesen

As an old-timer with AMICA, I've had the privilegeand pleasure of getting to know Richard and Janet from acouple of viewpoints, all memorable.

It was some 35 years ago, that Richard conceived ofbuilding a precision roll scanner and companion precisionroll perforator, at a time when quality recuts were the holy grail. His engineering/electronics background servedhim very well in the design and construction of not only the hardware, but also the software to drive it all. He and his wife Janet, gradually built a modest hobbyendeavour into a very high quality service to the whole ofthis delightful avocation.

In 1981, Richard and I collaborated on a couple of projects over about 4 years where he recut a number ofRed-Welte and Green-Welte rolls, and in the process, converted their content into the Welte-Licensee format. By chance, at the time, I owned a Red-Welte Vorsetzer,from which I extracted and loaned its tracker bar toRichard. He did all the roll scanning, format conversion,roll perforating, packaging and mailing, while I did thepromotion and administration. Both projects were notablesuccesses.

In 1982, Richard conducted a workshop at the AMICAConvention that year in Chicago. It was well attended andappreciated. It was great to see Richard gaining recognitionfor a remarkable achievement.

Over the years, Richard and Janet continued to providesuperior recut rolls in several formats. When Richardbecame ill, Janet gradually took over ever more of their initiative. She is to be commended for her amazing supportand dedication.

In 2004, Eleanor and I took a vacation that took us through Dallas. In advance, I had contacted Bill Flyntand arranged a visit. When we arrived, a delightful surprise awaited us. Learning we were passing through,Janet spontaneously arranged a mini Texas Chapter meeting in their home. For the first time for me, I got to see Richard's scanner and perforator, which I found to be a quite exceptional treat, built like a pair of fine watches.

Richard was a class act, always quiet, unassuming,seemingly always somewhat surprised at his stunningachievements. He will be sorely missed.

Terry SmytheWinnipeg, Canada

Janet and Richard (1982)

In Memoriam


I am very sorry to hear of Richard's passing. During mytime in the Texas Chapter of AMICA, Richard and JanetTonnesen were remarkably generous to me with their time,energy, and knowledge, as well as with their influence.Janet had served on the AMICA Board of Directors, ifmemory serves, and was instrumental in opening doors tome in the mechanical music field that few others couldhave.

Richard will always be in my memory the modestgenius he always was -- a kind, unassumingly quiet manwhose very nature belied his almost incomprehensible brilliance. With the passing of Richard Tonnesen our community has lost a quiet and gentle giant, one that I, andI am sure many others, will sorely miss.

Bryan CatherSaint Louis, Missouri

Tonnesen, Richard N.June 9, 1940 - February 4, 2014

Richard Niles Tonnesen of Richardson, Texas was born in Dubuque, Iowa, June 9, 1940 and passed awaypeacefully February 4, 2014 at the age of 73. A memorialservice [was] held at the First United Methodist Church of Coppell on Friday, Feb 7, 2014 at 10:00 AM with areception immediately following.

Richard was preceded in death by his father, WilliamAndrew Tonnesen and his mother, Rose Marie (Riedi) Tonnesen. He is survived by his loving wife of 53 years,Janet Ann (Fischer) Tonnesen, two children, son Steven(Cindee) Tonnesen and daughter Diane (Greg) Walter andtwo granddaughters, Lauren and Katie Walter.

Richard joined the Naval Reserve Training Center as he began his senior year in high school in 1957. Richardgraduated from the University of Dubuque in 1962 with a Bachelor Degree in Physics. He attended US Naval Officer Candidate School and received his commission as a United States Naval Officer in August, 1962. Heserved 3 years active duty in the Navy, serving on the island of Adak, Alaska and at a Naval Facility Base inFerndale, California. After resigning his commission in1965 he came to Dallas, Texas and worked for several years at Texas Instruments. While in the Navy he becamevery interested in computers and learned he had a specialknack for programming computers. He subsequentlyworked for Raldon Home Developer, writing programs for their accounting and construction scheduling and development. Later he worked for Harris Communications,Harris Adacom, and retired from Open Connect in 2001.

Richard was a gentle, quiet, softly spoken man with a keen sense of humor and an unquenchable interest in science and history. Richard’s interest in electronics andmechanics and his desire to own his own computer in the early 70’s led him to design and build a piano roll reader and piano roll perforator and write the programs torun the equipment. What started out as a hobby became apart-time business (mostly a labor of love) of punchingpaper piano rolls for collectors of various types of playerand reproducing pianos.

Richard was diagnosed in 1998 with Parkinson’s Disease and the progression of the disease made it difficultto maintain the equipment and 30 years after punching itsfirst piano rolls, the Custom Music Rolls perforator ceasedproduction in Richardson. The machinery now resides inSan Antonio and is still producing paper piano rolls.

The family would like to thank the staff at PresbyterianVillage North for the loving care they gave him during thepast 15 months. He was loved. He will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made tohttp://www.parkinsonvoiceproject.org

Janet operating their roll reader (2004)

Richard and his precision perforator. (2004)

As appearing in MMD, 6 Feb 2014,reprinted with permission.


Frances (Fran) Willyard

Fran was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin and was proud totell people that both her father and her brother wereinvolved in building Nash automobiles. Her late husbandMaury was from the Dakotas and both decided early on thatthey hoped to live their lives in climates away from theupper Midwest. Maury was a career Navy man and withthat, they lived in a variety of coastal locations and came toadopt the Pacific Northwest as their preferred home. WithMaury often out to sea, Fran’s independent spirit and skillswere put to good advantage and they raised a daughter,Kathy, who followed Maury into a military career. Theyshared many interests including collecting antiques andvintage music and joined AMICA in 1973 while they livedin San Jose, California. Maury taught himself to restoreplayer pianos and they acquired a Chickering Ampicogrand from its original owner. Fran enjoyed telling the storyof how they answered the ad for the piano and that the

untrusting seller demanded cash payment, forcing them toscramble to the bank on a Friday afternoon to get themoney for their new treasure. Fran still had this piano atthe time of her passing.

Maury fixed the pianos and Fran supervised the acquisition of rolls for the many pianos they came to own.She was a determined collector and worked to get as many unique roll brands as possible. Their collectionincluded Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte Licensee, Recordo,Hupfeld, 65 and 88 note players, Tel-Electric, andOrchestrelle. Her favorite tunes were “Barney Google” and the various songs about Charles Lindbergh’s famousflight. Maury was elected chair of the Founding Chapter,but was transferred to the Bremerton Naval base shortly thereafter, so his term there was short. In the northwest, there was not an AMICA chapter at that time, but their interest in automatic music was strong and they became active in the Northwest International Chapter of MBSI and co-chaired the 1997annual meeting in Silverdale, Washington. Roll-operated instruments were their primary interest and they werefounding members of the Pacific Can-Am chapter ofAMICA as it formed the year before the chapter hosted the 1994 convention in Seattle. They amassed a great variety of instruments and enjoyed sharing their collectionwith others. They attended many AMICA conventions over the years.

Fran had many interests outside automatic musicincluding collecting Frankoma pottery, Hummel figurines,and cats and she and Maury were active members of theLincoln car club. They particularly enjoyed convertibles.She was active in the Catholic Church and is survived byher daughter Kathy and son-in-law Garth. We will all missher good- natured humor and persistent optimism.

Dan Brown


Trebor Tichenor

St. Louis Public RadioSt. Louis, MO7 March 2014

Remembering Ragtime Pianist And Scholar Trebor Tichenor

By Camille Phillips

Ragtime pianist and scholar Trebor Tichenor passed awaylast month after a stroke. He was 74. Longtime St. Louis PublicRadio listeners may remember his weekly program “Ragophile”that aired on the station in the 1970s and ‘80s.

We dedicated the entire hour of Cityscape today to remembering Tichenor with his son Andy Tichenor and fellowband members Don Franz and Al Stricker.

In the fall of 1961 Trebor Tichenor (piano), Don Franz(tuba), Al Stricker (banjo) and Bill Mason (cornet) formed the St.Louis Ragtimers and began a regular gig at the Natchez Queen onGaslight Square.

“We interviewed on Labor Day. The owner [of the NatchezQueen] said ‘Well, there won’t be much there [but] we can hearyou guys.’ Well we fooled them. We called everybody we knewin town and the place was packed. We played one set and the guy said ‘You’re hired. We’ll start with Wednesdays, Fridays andSaturdays.’” Stricker said.

The band stayed together for more than 50 years, playingtheir last show just a few months ago at the Sheldon. In 1965 theband began playing regularly at the Goldenrod Showboat, hostingannual ragtime festivals there for years.

Ragtime, said Andy Tichenor, was his dad’s life work.“He started in the business probably in the early ‘50s,

listening to early rag records,” Andy Tichenor said. “And thenback in those early days, he started collecting this stuff, thesheets, piano rolls, and it literally became his life’s body ofwork.”

Trebor Tichenor’s ragtime collection included a player piano,piano rolls to play on the piano, records, and sheet music. Alongwith the objects, he began collecting information and storiesabout the history of ragtime.

Even before he began collecting ragtime paraphernalia, ragtime music made Tichenor fall in love with playing the piano.

“He started at age 5 and his parents kept him taking lessonsand he really didn’t take to it,” Franz said. “Finally his pianoteacher said I’m going to let you pick a song, and he picked"Maple Leaf Rag" and that was it.”

When the St. Louis Ragtimers performed, they played a mixof original works and ragtime classics. During the show, weplayed the band’s recordings of original pieces “Chestnut Valley”and “Bucksnort Stomp” as well as old favorite “Up Jumped theDevil.”

“Chestnut Valley” was inspired by the Mill Creek Valley section of downtown St. Louis, home of ragtime composer TomTurpin’s Rosebud Bar.

Bucksnort Stomp is named after the hometown of TreborTichenor’s wife, Jeanette. According to legend, the town owes itsname to the vast amounts of moonshine made there.

“The animals would stomp and snort at the smell of themoonshine,” Stricker said.

“Up Jumped the Devil” was an old fiddle tune that they started playing on Gaslight Square, Stricker said.

“Trebor always liked it, and the people on Gaslight Squareliked it too,” he said. “It’s a snappy little tune.”

To wind up the hour, we played a recording of AndyTichenor playing a duet with his father of Jelly Roll Morton’s“King Porter Stomp” with Andy on trumpet and Trebor on piano.

Both Andy and his sister Virginia continue their father’smusical tradition, with Andy playing trumpet and Virginia pianolike her dad.

“He created an environment for my brother and myself thatwas just really fun. We saw all of his great friends and music andwe just naturally wanted to be a part of it,” Virginia said.

Dennis Owsley, jazz historian and host of the weekly St.Louis Public Radio program “Jazz Unlimited,” interviewedTichenor in 1986 for his book on the history of jazz in St. Louis.

“One of the things that impressed me about Trebor was that not only was he a performer and a musician, but he was ascholar,” Owsley said.

On Sunday March 23, Owsley will dedicate the first hour of“Jazz Unlimited” to remembering Trebor Tichenor.

Story and audio extracts may be seen and heard at:http://tinyurl.com/l6lolvx

Trebor and his band were featured at AMICA’s 1996 conventionin St. Louis. (See Sep-Oct 1996 AMICA Bulletin) His daughter,Virginia and her husband Marty Eggers, are members of AMICA,and continue with her father’s legacy.

Don Franz ontrumpet, TreborTichenor on pianoand Al Stricker onbanjo in the earlydays of the St.Louis Ragtimers.

Credit: Courtesy St.Louis Ragtimers


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ADVERTISING GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT

ALL ADVERTISING IN THE AMICA BULLETINAll advertising should be directed to:

Glenn Thomas165 Kildee Rd.Belle Mead, NJ 08502Phone: 908-431-0490e-mail: [email protected]

Ad copy must contain text directly related to the product/servicebeing offered. Extraneous text will be deleted at the Editor’s dis-cretion. Advertisers will be invoiced, with payment to AMICATreasurer. Telephone ads will not be accepted due to high risk oferrors. AMICA reserves the right to edit or to reject any addeemed inappropriate or not in keeping with AMICA’s goals andobjectives.The BULLETIN accepts advertising without endorsement,implied or otherwise, of the products or services being offered.Publication of business advertising in no way implies AMICA’sendorsement of any commercial operation.

AMICA PUBLICATIONS RESERVES THE RIGHT TOACCEPT, REJECT, OR EDIT ANY AND ALL SUBMITTED ARTICLES AND ADVERTISING.

All items for publication must be submitted directly to theEditor for consideration.CLASSIFIED AD RATES FOR AMICA MEMBERS:

1-100 Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00Non-member rates are double for all advertising.

DISPLAY ADVERTISINGDouble Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200.00Full Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $150.00Half Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 75.00Quarter Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 50.00Business Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 30.00

Non-member rates are double for all advertising.

Special 6 for 5 Ad Offer - Place any ad, with no changes, for afull year (6 issues), and pay for only 5 issues. Payable in advance.Photographs or halftones $15.00 eachLoose Sheet or Insert Advertising: InquireDisplay advertisers supply camera-ready copy. Copy that is over-sized or undersized will be changed to correct size. We ordinarilydo not prepare advertisements from raw content.PAYMENT: Advertisers will be invoiced. Make check payableto AMICA INTERNATIONAL. Typesetting and layout sizealterations will be billed if required by professional service.DEADLINES: Submissions must be received no later than thefirst of the odd months (January, March, May, July, September,November). The Bulletin will be mailed no later than the firstweek of the even months.

THE GOLDEN AGE of AUTOMATICMUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. by ArtReblitz. Award-winning classic thatbrings historical, musical, and technicalinformation to life with hundreds oflarge, vivid color photos. We guaranteeyou'll find it to be one of the most interesting, inspiring, informative booksyou have in your library-or your moneyback. Everyone has been delighted, andsome readers have ordered several

copies. Get your copy today for $99 plus S/H. Mechanical MusicPress - A, 70 Wild Ammonoosuc Rd., Woodsville, NH 03785603-747-2636 http://www.mechanicalmusicpress.com (2-14)

Paid Apprenticeship: Antique Keyboard Instrument Restoration: Player Pianos, Pump Organs, Harpsichords, Clavichords, and Pianos. You should play keyboard or be willing to learn. Position is half time with shop space for half time supervised projects, e.g. building a harpsichord. Skills include woodworking, tuning, regulation, voicing, diagnostics, vacuum technology, conservation. Business purchase possible on completion. Competitive wages.www.osbornej.com/apprentice.html for details and contact information. Joseph Osborne, Carlisle, PA (F-2-14)

For Sale: George Steck Duo-Art Reproducing Grand Piano. Restored about 20 years ago. Plays well. No rolls. Walnut finish with Victorian style legs. Size: 5:8”. Make offer.Buyer to pick up or make arrangements. Victor Wolf, Columbus, OH. 614 279-1266 or 614 208-2208 (cell). (F-2-14)

Wanted: Ampico Model B Grand needing restoration in apiano of 6 feet long or bigger. Must be complete and basicallysound. Also wanted APP spool frame or tracker bar. Detailsplease to S Powers, [email protected] Tel 00357 99224377.Selina Powers, Cyprus. (3-14)

Weber Duo-Art 6’ Grand. Partially restored in 1970. I am moving to smaller quarters and can’t take it. I will include 100 rolls. Also have some Ampico and Welte rolls. Asking $2,000 or best offer. It has to go. Phillip Soyring, 5090 Curry Rd., Trumansburg, NY, 14886. 607 387-6308 or 607592-4215. (F-2-14)

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

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503-741-0960 (cell)email: [email protected]

John Motto-Ros“Nickelodeon Rolls”

“A” “G” “O” Rolls & Boxes110 Allen Ranch Road, Sutter Creek, CA 95685

209-267-9252www.johnnysmusicrolls.com

e-mail: [email protected]

Keystone Music RollsP.O. Box 650, Bethlehem, PA 18016

[email protected]://www.keystonemusicroll.com

Gnaw-Vol-ty RollsStephen Kent Goodmanwww.gnaw-vol-ty.com

E-mail: [email protected]: 866-828-2165

D.C. Ramey Piano Company, LLC.A, G(and 4X), H, M, and O rolls

17768 Woodview DriveMarysville OH 43040

708-602-3961www.dcramey.com


"Pipes of Pan Music Rolls"Rolls for organettes and other devices

207 S. McCrary St.Woodbury, TN 37190

615-563-5814http://www.popmusicrolls.com


AmpicoRolls.comRay Smith, Proprietor

630 Broad StreetShrewsbury, NJ 07702

[email protected]

Lewki Musicold 88note, Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte

PO Box 1945 Westminster, MD 21158443-487-1810

www.Lewki.comemail: [email protected]

Lew & Kiki Marshall

Please visit these suppliers of rolls

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