the amica - stacksvj888ts2266/sep... · 2015. 6. 15. · 216 amica bulletin - sept/oct 2009...

AMICAAutomatic Musical Instrument

Collectors’ Association

The

B U L L E T I N

http://www.amica.orgVolume 46, Number 4

September/October 2009

Development of the

Banjo Playing Orchestrionby David Ramey Jr.

213

ISSN #1533-9726

The AMICA BulletinAUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS’ ASSOCIATION

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Volume 46, Number 4 September/October 2009

DEADLINES

MEMBERSHIP

Ads and articles must be received on thefirst of the odd months:

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Bulletins will ordinarily be mailed in thefirst week of the even months, for ex-pected delivery mid-month.

Terry Smythe55 Rowand AvenueWinnipeg, MB, Canada [email protected]

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Renewals - Additional $5.00 due if re-newed past the 31 January deadline.

Additional copies of the AMICA Mem-bership Directory - ....................$25.00

Single copies of back issues.......$10.00based upon availability.

William Chapman (Bill)53685 Avenida BermudasLa Quinta, CA 92253-3586Phone & Fax: [email protected]

To ensure timely delivery of your Bulletin, please allow 6 weeks advancenotice 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

Entire contents © 2009 AMICA International Printed by Engler Printing Co., Fremont, OH • [email protected]

Features

In Memoriam......................................................................... 217

Banjo Playing Orchestrion .................David Ramey Jr..........231Grand Piano Tilter.........................................Bob Hunt..........238Piano Roll Restoration.........................Tom Hutcinson..........2392009 Board Meeting Minutes & Reports................................243About AMICA Conventions.......................Shirley Nix..........2582009 Convention in Pictures...................................................259

Columns

President’s Message................................................................216

Editorial Observations............................................................216Of Interest...............................................................................224In Print....................................................................................226Chapter News.........................................................................278Advertising.............................................................................294

Front Cover: submitted by David Ramey Jr.Inside Front: contributed by Jere DeBackerInside Back: contributed by John Motto-RosBack Cover: Ad for Tim Trager

Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association,a non-profit, tax exempt group devoted to the restoration, distributionand enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated paper music rolls and perforated music books. AMICA was founded in SanFrancisco, California in 1963.

214 AMICA Bulletin - Sept/Oct 2009

- International Officers -

PRESIDENTJohn Motto-Ros110 Allen Ranch RoadSutter Creek, CA [email protected]

PAST PRESIDENTMike Walter65 Running Brook DriveLancaster, NY [email protected]

EDITOR/PUBLISHERTerry Smythe55 Rowand AvenueWinnipeg, MB, Canada [email protected]

VICE-PRESIDENTTim Baxter939 Briarcliff Rd NEAtlanta, GA [email protected]

TREASURER

Robbie Tubbs

7405 WillowRaytown, MO [email protected]

SECRETARY

Marlene Beckman

4046 SE 53rd StreetBerryton, KS [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP SCRETARYWilliam Chapman (Bill)53685 Avenida BermudasLa Quinta, CA 92253-3586Phone & Fax: [email protected]

- Committees -

AMICA ARCHIVESTom Hutchinson15361 Hopper RoadSturgeon, MO [email protected]

CONVENTION COORDINATORFrank Nix6030 Oakdale AvenueWoodland Hills, CA 91367818-884-6849

[email protected]

AMICA MEMORIAL FUNDRay Dietz1250 Lanier RoadMartinsville, VA 24112-5212276-638-8563

[email protected]

HALL OF FAME Thomas & Donna Stengel46 Court St.Lancaster NY [email protected]

AUDIO-VISUAL & TECHNICALHarold Malakinian2345 Porest Trail DriveTroy, MI [email protected]

WEBSITE MANAGERKarl Ellison6 Lions LaneSalem, MA [email protected]

AMICA INTERNATIONAL

215AMICA Bulletin - Sept/Oct 2009

AMICA INTERNATIONALChapter Officers

BOSTON AREA}Pres: Philip Konop Vice Pres: Robert Hunt Sec: Kirk Russell Treas: Dorothy Bromage Reporter: Don Brown Board Rep: Bob Hunt - [email protected]

CHICAGO AREAPres: Jerry BiasellaVice Pres: Richard Van MetreSec: Carol Veome - 773-338-1042

[email protected] Treas: Joe Pekarek Reporter: Curt Clifford Board Rep:

FOUNDING CHAPTERPres: John Ulrich - 510-223-9587

[email protected] Vice Pres: Karen Simons Sec: Jack Edwards Treas/Bd Rep: Richard Reutlinger Reporter: Bonnie and Bob Gonzalez

HEART OF AMERICAPres: Robbie Tubbs -

[email protected] Vice Pres: Dan Davis Sec: T. Moffett Treas: Brian Graham Reporter: H.C. and Marlene Beckman Board Rep: Gary Craig

LADY LIBERTYPres: Vincent Morgan -

[email protected] Vice Pres: Bill Maguire Sec: Richard Karlsson

Treas: Maryam MorganReporter: Martin "Buzz" Rosa Board Reps: Marvin & Dianne Polan

[email protected] (Marv)[email protected] (Dianne)

Newsletter Editor: Bill Maguire

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

[email protected] Vice Pres: Liz Barnhart Sec: Hilda Merchant Treas: Alvin Wulfekuhl Reporter: Christy Counterman Board Rep: Liz Barnhart

NORTHERN LIGHTSPres: Paul Watkins -

[email protected] Vice Pres: Ron Olsen Sec: Michael LuBrant Treas: Barbara Watkins Reporter: Jerrilynn Boehland Board Rep: Alan Turner & Paul Watkins

PACIFIC CAN-AMPres: Bill Mote

[email protected] Pres: David GoodwinSecretary: Judy MoteTreas: Mark SmithbergReporter:Bd. Rep: Dan Brown

ROCKY MOUNTAINPres: Jere DeBacker -

[email protected] Vice Pres: Ken Hodge

Sec: Louise Lucero Treas: Fred Wilson Reporter: Larry Emmons

SOWNY (Southern Ontario,Western New York)Pres: Mike Walter

[email protected]

Vice Pres: Tom CardinalTCARDINAL1©rochester.rr.com

Sec: Garry Lemon [email protected]

Treas: Holly Walter [email protected]

Reporter: Garry & Anne Lemon Board Rep: Audrey Cannizzaro -

[email protected] Photographer: Nancy Group & Anne Lemon

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAPres: Richard Ingram Vice Pres: Mike Choate Sec ./Reporter: Shirley Nix Treas: Diane Reidy Board Rep: Frank Nix

TEXASPres: Rich Clayton

972-369-0470richclayton®sbcglobal.net

Vice Pres: Bill [email protected]

Treas: Janet Tonnesen [email protected]

Sec ./Bulletin Reporter: Maureen Barisonek [email protected]

Board Rep: John & Suzanne McCall -j-mccall @ sbcglobal .net

Affiliated Societies and OrganizationsAmerican Theatre Organ Society (ATOS)President - Ken Double1201 McDuffie St. #173Houston, TX 77019Phone:713-520-1911Email: [email protected] Organ Editor - Jeff Weiler1845 South Michigan Avenue #1905Chicago, IL 60616Phone: 312-842-7475Email: [email protected]

Associazione Italiana M usica MeccanicaVilla Silvia - Via Lizzano, 1241 47023 Cesena (FC), Italy Phone: 0039-547-323425 Fax: 0039-547-661264 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ammi-mm.it

Australian Collectors of Mechanical Musical Instru-mentsPeter Phillips - Editor 26 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]

Friends of Scott Joplin1217 St. Croix Ct.Kirkwood, MO 63122-2326website: http//stlouis.missouri.org/fsjoplinEmail: [email protected]

International 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]

International Vintage Phono & Mechanical Music SocietyC.G. Nijsen, Secretaire General19 Mackaylaan5631 NM Eindhoven, Netherlands

Musical Box Society of Great BritainAlan Pratt, EditorP. O. Box 299Waterbeach, Cambridge CB4 4PJEngland

Musical Box Society InternationalRosanna Harris, Editor5815 West 52nd AvenueDenver, CO 80212Phone: 303-431-9033 Fax: 303-431-6978Email: [email protected]

Netherlands 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 208003

Pianola InstituteClair Cavanagh, Secretary43 Great Percy St., London WC1X 9RAEngland

Player Piano GroupJulian Dyer, Bulletin Editor5 Richmond Rise, Wokingham,Berkshire RG41 3XH, United KingdomPhone: 0118 977 1057Email: [email protected]

Smithsonian InstitutionDivision of Musical History Washington, D.C. 20560

Society For Self-Playing Musical InstrumentsGesellschaft fur SelbstspielendeMusikinstrumente (GSM) E.V.Ralf SmolneEmmastr. 56D-45130 Essen, GermanyPhone: **49-201-784927Fax :**49-201-7266240Email: [email protected]


Presidents’s MessageHello Everyone

Wow! is all I can say about the Cincinnati AMICA Convention. The Midwest Chapter memberswere well organized and ready for the 150 AMICA members arriving at the Covington, Kentucky,Radisson Hotel. Nadine and I arrived Tuesday evening to a spectacular view of the Cincinnatiskyline. I would like to thank all of the members who worked very hard to make sure we had agood time, including those who opened their homes as part of the convention and later the OpenHouses. I will not go into more details as the convention will be covered separately in The Bul-letin.

A special highlight for me was visiting the recently restored 1900’s Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlorand Museum in Columbus, Indiana, after the convention. It was a little distance to travel, butwell worth it. Arriving early Monday morning, Nadine and I were greeted by owner and AMICAmember Tony Moravec. When you walk in, you are stepping back in time 100 years. The firstthing you see at the rear of the room is a large Welte organ. Tony is very excited about the Welteas it has been in Zaharakos for 100 years. It has been expertly restored and was playing ‘’TheEntertainer.” Tony also played another restored 1870’s roll-operated organ located in the well-appointed museum portion of Zaharakos. We also had a full tour starting with the hospital cleanfood storage in the basement and then to the large meeting room upstairs, which is currently beingremodeled. Tony also has plans for an automatic musical instrument or two in this area. What agreat place for people of all ages. If you have the opportunity, please visit Zaharakos and letthem know AMICA sent you.

John [email protected]

Editorial ObservationsFollowing in Dr. Kukral’s footsteps is a huge challenge. I have accepted it, and perhaps an opportunity to continue contributing toAMICA as I have in various capacities for nearly 30 years. I have a huge affection for AMICA going back nearly 40 years, and believeit is making a major contribution to the preservation and nourishment of a most unique sliceof our musical heritage. I believe it will continue to do so.

Throughout my 40+ years in this delightful avocation, I have had a broad array of instrumentspass through my hands, embracing player pianos (8 over time), reproducing grand pianos (11over time), nickelodeons (2 over time), orchestrion (1), cylinder music box (1), disc musicbox (2), horn phonographs (2), and even a band organ. At one time, I had 19 instruments,but reality set in and shrinkage emerged in recent years while we are able to do so in a rationalmanner. This experience has given me a great affection for all forms of automatic musicalinstruments.

I accept that I cannot please all our members all the time, but I do believe that over time, I ex-pect to have the opportunity to please most if not all. I cannot do it alone. This journal iswhat binds us together. It is a critical record of our activities, achievements, and contributionsto society. It is both a record of our members’ contributions, and an opportunity for othersto participate. It is very important that all members see our journal as an opportunity to shareexperiences, ideas, perceptions.

I’ve prepared a set of guidelines for those contributing articles, Chapter reports, submissions,and scanning of original literature. It may be downloaded off our AMICA web site. Go to<http://www.amica.org>, click on the “Members-Only” portal, login as directed on our mast-head page of this journal, then click on “Original literature. Here you will find my guidelines.

Terry [email protected]


In MemoriamMoyer noted that Roenigk believed that preservation was notcomplete until sustainability was attained."

Capital commitments

"He committed his assets and moved in to what at that timewas a tiring town," Moyer said, noting the improvements tothe New Moon Spa, the bountiful use of color, gas lamps, andrestoration of The Conservatory and the sky-light.

Moyer noted Roenigk's interest in variousprojects saying that Columbia GorgeHotel's gardens and waterfall, BrainstemGames, Ferraris, The Auditorium, BluesWeekend, Books in Bloom, The Writer'sColony at Dairy Hollow and Main StageCreative Community Center all "cameback to Marty."

Moyer emphasized that Roenigk was "afair and honest man."

Language lover

Business associate Geoff Feidelbergnoted Roenigk's "great joy in language,"saying he routinely ran to a dictionary, andreferencing the word "picadillo," meaning

a small sin or fault.

Feidelberg said Roenigk's picadillo was being ahead of time,such as in Portland, Ore., when he was to be at the airport at9:30 a.m., and arrived at 4:50 a.m.

He also recalled Roenigk arriving in Memphis and goingthrough security where he had to take his shoes off, revealingholey socks, and smiling sheepishly saying "You know, I justhate shopping."

Feidelberg said Roenigk was "an old world gentleman, politeand gentle," and that he loved to talk.

Roenigk's older brother, Henry, recalled Roenigk's years BA-- before Arkansas -- including his youth in Cleveland, Ohio,joining the Air Force, and his re-invention of the lemonadestand -- collecting "trash" and putting it on the stand and sell-ing it, or going door to door to sell it -- and his experience dur-ing the Vietnam War when he was in charge of payroll.

Returning from Vietnam, Roenigk was associated with Trav-elers in New England.

Enter Elise

While Roenigk was initially interested in coin collecting, when

The CitizenEureka Springs, Arkansas

Saturday, August 1, 2009

A farewell 'Celebration' of the life of Marty Roenigk

by E. Alan Long

EUREKA SPRINGS -- With only standingroom left in the gardens of the 1886 Cres-cent Hotel and Spa for the "Celebration ofLife" of Marty Roenigk last Sunday, Eu-reka Springs said goodbye to the multi-faceted man who reinvigorated both theCrescent and Basin Park hotels.

Roenigk, 66, was killed in a traffic acci-dent in Iowa 18 June 2009.

The two-hour plus celebration included 12speakers, recollecting various aspects ofRoenigk, and ranged from business as-sociates to family members.

Selena Parrish introduced the program, referencingRoenigk's analytical mind, international connec- tions, dryhumor and love of art and nature.

'Wow'

Eureka Springs Mayor Dani Joy's opening word was "Wow,"as she observed the crowd, which overflowed into the street.

Joy noted that both the Basin Park and Crescent were closed20 years ago, but that Marty and his widow, Elise, "came totown and put their heart and soul" into the landmark hotels,giving an "incredible gift" to the community.

Expressing her knowledge of the anguish which Mrs.Roenigk was going through, Joy then introduced Jack Moyer,general manager of the Crescent Hotel.

Moyer noted the irony of the turnout, saying that "Marty lovedany Eureka Springs celebration or get-together," and that henever went to a formal get together without his tweed blazer.

Moyer recalled the "555 Code" which workers used to com-municate that Roenigk was on his way, and noted thatRoenigk had "a bad case of the preservation bug," and wasnot easy to work with. He recalled how in his early associationwith Roenigk their first communications were via fax, whichevolved into emails, of which 2,496 were received by him in2008.

he met Elise in Wisconsin, he developed, like her, a lifetime interestin carnival toys, mechanical music and antiques.

Roenigk never had an unkind word, was not judgmental, and tookadvice, though sometimes when he would not agree with someone,he would ask the same question over and over, his brother said.

Henry Roenigk recalled Marty and Elise's 25th anniversary whenthey were moving to Scottsdale, Ariz., from Chicago, and all thesiblings repeating their wedding vows together.

One of the last family members to see Roenigk was Henry's son,Randy.

'Moving on'

At about 3:45 p.m., local min-strel Catherine Reed per-formed an original songnaming Roenigk, and refer-encing his luck and "movingon."

Following the music, CarlaWiemer, past president ofMusical Box Society Interna-tional, spoke, notingRoenigk's worldwide reputa-tion as an authority on antiqueand mechanical music, serv-ing as a society trustee, andediting its publication formore than nine years.

"His influence was enor-mous," Wiemer said.

She also noted that Roenigk became more relaxed and carefreeupon moving to Eureka Springs, and that his main loves were hiswife, historic preservation, mechanical music and their dog, Aine.

Also speaking was Roenigk's nephew, Brian Roenigk, who de-scribed his uncle as a philanthropist, and a lover of antiques andmechanical music, noting that some in his collection were as muchas 200 years old.

Closing with "I miss you Uncle Marty," Brian Roenigk introducedCollin Agee, another nephew, who recalled how Roenigk's fathershowed movies while in Cleveland, and Roenigk's stoicism.

Sometimes considered the "runt of the litter, Compudyne was keyto Roenigk's success. "He always did his homework," Agee said.

Roenigk's G's

He also recalled how, while serving in Baghdad in 2008, Roenigksent him emails, the last one received on June 18.

Agree described Roenigk's "three G's" which were actually five:

* Genius -- He had vision. Without a plan, he believed, it was hal-lucination;

* Generosity -- Of time, finances and emotions;

* Genuine -- Unassuming, buying a church to store an organ, andhaving a house full of music boxes;

* Grateful -- To Elise and their inspirational partnership throughoutlife; and

* Ghost -- "Please keep a lookout and tell him I said 'Hello,'" Ageesaid. "He'll be walking his dog."

With a Christian theme,Michael Jaschke, of theCrescent Hotel, spoke, refer-ring to the Pocket Angelsdistributed to those attend-ing the ceremony, and re-calling how, while he washosting a Sunday brunch,Roenigk came up to tell himto get a green bean in theparking lot, telling him theexact spot where it was.

Family friend Sandy Wrightthen spoke, describingRoenigk as a "big thinkerand a good friend," whocould sometimes be mad-dening.

Wright them introducedElise's brother, who described how the family would gang up oneach other and recalling how Elise was encouraged to get a tattoo,and Roenigk's response, saying with a screwed up look on his face,"Would you overpaint the Mona Lisa?"

Mrs. Roenigk remembers

With that, Wright introduced Elise Roenigk, who described thenecklace Roenigk gave her 44 years earlier, a heart-shaped diamondinside a gold covering revealing only a little of the diamond so itwould not be too pretentious.

Saying that she would try to continue to carry out her husband's vi-sion, she extended thanks to her extended family and staff, termingit "overwhelming."

Following a benediction by Selena Parrish, the service came to aconclusion with a mechanical music recessional as those attending

left or went to the Crystal Dining Room.


Remembering Marty RoenigkBy Dave Bowers

I do not know when I first met Marty and Elise Roenigk, but itwasdecades ago, when they first became active in the field ofautomatic musical instruments. In time, they acquired a lovelymansion near Hartford, Connecticut, and decorated it with Vic-torian furniture, music boxes, and other items of interest.

Far from focusing on musical items entirely, Marty and Elisehad wide-ranging enthusiasm. Leaving the East behind, theymoved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in the 1990s, bought twohotels, and soon became an important part of that community.

Within the hobby of mechanical music, most readers of MMDhave a special focus:

- Some enjoy the music that a restored player piano, coin-oper-ated orchestrion, or organ can play, or the lovely strains of aRegina or Mermod Frères music box.

- Others enjoy rebuilding and restoration, watching a long-silentpneumatic instrument come to life to entertain a new generationof listeners.

- Still others appreciate instruments for their place in history,and no doubt there are some who simply enjoy looking at themas one might admire a fine antique.

Of course, none of these specialties are mutually exclusive.Nearly everyone who rebuilds an instrument also enjoys listen-ing to it. Most who buy a music box are pleased if they can findout its history. Marty enjoyed dealing in musical items, perhapsfirst and foremost.

Seemingly, Marty was a born entrepreneur and trader. Ofcourse, he liked the melodies of the instruments and their beautyas well. He also enjoyed music box people and, with his wifeElise, became Very prominent in the Musical Box Society In-ternational, serving as president some years ago.

Marty would have been the first person to say that rebuilding aninstrument or studying its technical aspects was not his forte,nor was he deeply immersed in the history of these devices (al-though he appreciated history in general). Knowing the valueof a music box, orchestrion, band organ, organette, or other item,enjoying the chase, and tracking down a single music box or awhole collection furnished the excitement.

Although Marty and Elise had their fingers in many businesspies, ranging from the former Compudyne corporation to, in Eu-reka Springs, two hotels, the War Eagle Mill (grinding flour andcorn the old-fashioned way), and more, and were known fortheir philanthropies, Marty would drop everything to acquire aninteresting item for sale. If a Regina music box was coming upfor bid in a sale in some distant state, Marty would be on thetelephone. Poignantly, perhaps ironically, he passed away while

on a trip with Elise through Oklahoma on Thursday evening,June 18th, in the quest for a musical prize.

In the older days, these prizes would be arranged in their homein Hartford, later in premises in Eureka Springs. A deal did nothave to be big. Stray groups of piano rolls, odds and ends inbooks, and other items were offered along with instruments cost-ing into the tens of thousands of dollars. Items were offered forsale in different ways, most recently on the Internet through theMechantiques web site, http://www.mechantiques.com/

Over a period of time I have bought quite a few items fromMarty and Elise. I have sold even more to them, if you countcollections that were offered to me, but which I invited Martyand Elise to become partners as they had the distribution facili-ties.

Probably the highlight of our activities was in the 1990s whenDisney contacted me and asked me if I would like to purchasein its entirety their collection of automatic musical instruments,primarily coin-operated pianos and orchestrions. Many of thesehad been purchased by Walt Disney himself from A.C. Raneyof Whittier, California, some of which are shown in my 1966book, "Put Another Nickel In". Others were acquired elsewhere.

These saw service in the Crystal Arcade at Disneyland in Ana-heim, California, as well as in Walt Disney World in Florida.They were immensely successful as coin-operated units. In fact,they were too successful. Generally, they could not stand thewear and tear of constant use, morning to night. Extensivemaintenance was required, and there was always a technicalproblem of one sort or another.

Earlier I had spent some time with certain Disney officials, andalso had made an appraisal of the instruments. The offer to buythem came somewhat as a surprise, a very nice one. I tele-phoned Marty Roenigk. We both contributed the necessary cap-ital, and Marty did the selling.

As a special request he asked if he could take from the group aSeeburg Style H Solo Orchestrion. We agreed upon a price, andbefore long it was an attraction on the ground floor of the Cres-cent Hotel in Eureka Springs, where it can be seen and heardtoday. In another instance we partnered in a large estate collec-tion in Rockford, Illinois, that had many choice items.

Marty and I often talked about business, as we both have an en-trepreneurial streak. At one time I was an investor, rather minor,in Compudyne. We also did a few other things here and there.

As Marty was the antithesis of a controversial person, he hadmore friends than could be easily counted. His untimely passingcame as a shock to all who knew him. We all reached out, andcontinue to do so, to Elise, his wife and partner for many years,who shared in all of his activities. Elise was injured in thewreck, but was able to undergo successful surgery to her shoul-der and arm, and now is on the way to recovery.


The greatest loss is that of Marty himself. In another sense,Mechantiques was perhaps unique in the United States as a placethat could be visited and music boxes, coin-operated pianos andthe like could be seen, and interesting items could be bought andsold. While other fine dealers advertise items for sale, mosttransact quietly, and do not deal in a broad range of items. Itwas Marty who kept ordering and reordering copies of my book,"Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments," providingthe information to newcomers to the hobby.

I can close my eyes and think of many things about Marty.Those of you who read this and knew Marty will do the samething. He has left a great legacy, one for which anyone couldbe proud, a trail of friends, now mourners, who will rememberhow he touched their lives. And, from all of us, our best to Elise.

Dave BowersWolfeboro Falls, New Hampshire, USA

First published in 090625 MMDigest, reprinted in AMICA Bulletin with the kind

permission of the author and Mechanical Music Digest.


from American Profile, June 21-27, 2009

Crescent Hotel & SpaEureka Springs, Arkansas

From a fourth-floor verandah of the Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs, Ark. (pop. 2,278), owners Elise and MartyRoenigk admire miles of rolling Ozark Mountains and the Victorian-era village below. "It's the best view in town," says Elise, 68.

Since 1886, guests at the majestic limestone hotel atop Crescent Mountain have marveled at the view, though it was thetherapeutic waters flowing from the ground that first lured them. The mineral springs, heralded for their healing powers, attractedvisitors from across the nation who arrived by train to bathe in and drink the water. The hotel's horse-drawn coaches transportedthem up the steep and winding road to the Crescent.

Inside and out, the elegant hotel today looks much the same as it did 123 years ago and is designated a Historic Hotel ofAmerica by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, one of 223 such landmarks in 43 states, the District of Columbia, PuertoRico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Then and now, guests at the Crescent register at an ornate hotel lobby desk, relax around a massive marble fireplace andascend the original, four-story wooden staircase. The Roenigks, who bought the landmark hotel in 1997, rebuilt the fifth floor androoftop observation tower that was destroyed by fire in the 1960s. "We knew we wanted to restore the roof line," says Marty, 68,a longtime preservationist, noting that the couple spent $6 million on the refurbishing.

The hotel's colorful past includes stints as Crescent College, a women's boarding school from 1908 to 1932, and BakerHospital for cancer patients from 1937 to 1940. Before his arrest, "Dr." Norman Baker made a fortune selling supposed cancertreatments concocted from tea brewed with corn silk.

While the Roenigks have modernized the hotel's wiring and plumbing, the glamour of yesteryear permeates its 76 guestrooms with their tall ceilings, antique dressers and French doors that open onto verandas lined with rocking chairs.

"The view—it pulls me out of the modern world," says guest Ben Bullock, 76, of Houston, Texas, as he breathes in the

mountain air. "This is a grand hotel, the way it used to be."

http://www.crescent-hotel.com (take the virtual tour)For complete article see: http://www.americanprofile.com/article/34191.html

(contributed by John Motto-Ros)

Kelowna Capital News Kelowna, BC

PYE, Robert "Bob"

PYE - Robert “Bob” Pyeborn in Innisfail, Alberta onAugust 30th, 1935 died inWinfield, BC on July 16th,2009. His family latermoved to Penticton, BCwhere he graduated fromPen Hi in 1953. Followinggraduation Bob's workingcareer involved variousareas of broadcasting. Theseincluded Radio CKOK inPenticton, CHBC-TV andprograms such as “Play ItAgain Bob” nationally onCBC Radio, “Variety Tonight” also on CBC as well as “TimeCapsule” on CILK FM and vintage film presentations onCHBC. Bob had a lifetime passion for collecting vintage films,records, player pianos and early phonograph machines. Assuch, he is well known and respected by many people andclose friends across Canada and the U.S. He faced life's chal-lenges with determination, courage and his sense of humourin his later years while his health deteriorated.

Many thanks to all the caring people who assisted Bob to con-tinue living with dignity at his home along with his faithfulcat “Bailey”. There will be no service by request. Those wish-ing may make a contribution in Bob's memory to the Okana-gan Humane Society, c/o 14651 Oyama Road, Lake Country,BC V4V 2C7

Reminiscences of Bob Pye

By Jim Heyworth

On July 16, 2009 our world of mechanical music became a lotsmaller with the passing of my very good friend, Bob Pye. Hedied at the age of 73 in the small Okanagan town of Winfield,BC, Canada.

I met Bob in the early 1970s shortly after I first "restored" myAmpico reproducing piano. I had enthusiastically describedthis wonderful machine to a co-worker who mentioned thathe'd heard a classical piano roll played recently on the radio.I wrote to the station and in response got a telephone call fromthe program announcer that he knew a collector. It wasn'tlong before I got a call from Bob.

He was a delightful conversationalist with an encyclopaedicknowledge of film and recording artists. He was interested inboth classical and popular music with a particular liking forthe music and artists from the 1910s through the mid-thirties.His collection of 78-RPM recordings and Duo-Art piano rollswas massive to my eyes at the time and grew vastly since. Hismind was sharp with a seemingly endless knowledge of hiscollection and its associated artists and composers as well asthe media through which they performed.

He personally restored his collection of four reproducing pi-anos.

Bob often seemed to know from memory more of what I hadin my own collection of piano rolls than I did.

I could write volumes, but that should not be necessary forthose who knew Bob. Those who didn't missed a lot.

To put it briefly, Bob was still adding to his collection, whichby now included Duo-Art, Ampico and Welte rolls and the pi-anos on which to play them. He was a great guy and wonder-ful friend. There are many of us who will truly miss him.

In Memory of Bob Pye

by Terry Smythe

I first met Bob in late 60's, when he was living in an A-Framehome on the side of a slope overlooking Kelowna. Thatevening was quite memorable, as he played many rolls on hisStroud Duo-Art grand, entertaining the citizens of Kelownaspread out below him.

At the time, he was the author of many biographical sketchesof recording artists for the AMICA Bulletin. The older issues1971 to 1975 contain many of his contributions.

At the time, he had his own radio program on CBC called "ASlice of Pye", containing selections from out of his extensivecollection of 78's and Duo-Art rolls.

In later years, Eleanor and I visited him a couple times duringour trips out West. He was always gracious and a perfect host.I was pleased to help him find some missing parts for his Welteupright. His dedication to and love of reproducing pianomusic was total.

As an AMICA pioneer, he will be remembered and missed.

Below are both a newspaper article from 1980 and another ar-ticle about himself that he wrote for the August 1971 issue ofour AMICA Bulletin..

(News clip and photos by Jim Heyworth)



A last • sice

of Pye

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TH~ AMICA NEWS IULI.J!TIN Iwpt Iln1

IUIOlJi OUR I!!)ITOR5, AIOVTMIii

U!~"" <!<!it ~~1

(Letter to Dr. Michael Kukral)

4 July 2009

Dear Michael,

I have recently read of your sabbatical (I don't know if I,(we as Amican's) should be saddened, or send our appreciation fora job well done! I know we have enjoyed the fruits of your ef-forts!

The recent articles in the "Bulletin* have been most inter-esting, to me.

I enjoy researching the history of the Artists, Composers,Selections played, etc., along with the instruments. Your articleon the other Welte, was of great interest!

The article by Jeff Morgan, on "Hitler's Piano* was mostinteresting!

In the July-Aug 2009 issue of the MBS "MechanicalMusic Journal" is a most interesting type article: "The Or-chestrion, in 19th Century Newspapers", on page 8-11. I'M surewe all would be interested in the histories of OUR instruments.There is so much to be learned.

I still have not been able to find anything about theAMPICO rolls of Ernst von Dohanyi: See encl, from Larry Sitsky'sbooks-. Ampico roll Nos. 5676 & 5677, are not listed in theAmpico catalogs, as being Dohanyi's? Are there these rolls, ornot? Were these Stoddard Nos.?, or What?

Now that Terry Smythe has the Ampico catalogs com-pleted, it would be of great service to AMICA'ns, of the Duo-Art,as well as the WELTE, catalogs, etc, were "combined", as similarto the Sitsky listings- (With some sort of a Licensee indication-!

I have a computer & on line, but do not have the patience,or time to master it. It seems that if there is not much left in ourclub, if you are NOT-on-line! I can understand the costs of mail-ings to members & customers, but I do miss the auctions & newrolls that may be available! Not much left to be enthused about-.Why don't the auction people offer "subscriptions"-say a $5 mailingdeposit? Us non "Web" people would not just be left out-.Enough-

BEST WISHES(signed)Bill Dean

(email from Vincent Morgan to Editor)

8 July 2009

Fellow member of AMICA, Intl., Christiana Drapkin, aka Organ Grinder Lola, goes public. Check out her website at

www.OrganGrinderLola.com

While there read the bios and then go to the music page where youcan listen to her and Master Bob as they sing and crank Schar-manka, her wonderful street organ. In the Bios section note theAMICA Bulletin cover. That photo was taken in Prospect Park,Brooklyn right after all those teenagers had cranked my Castlewoodorgan seen in the center of the picture Also featured in the bios sec-

tion are AMICAns, Gary and the late Cynthia, Craig. Christiana'smother, Evelis Reichardt, in Waldkirch, Germany also sings alongwith her crank organ. Organ Grinder Lola and Master Bob arebased in Rockville, MD and are available for your events. Theyhave real busker licenses issued by the city of Rockville. Contactthem at <[email protected]>.

Vincent Morgan, NY City,

Pres.,Lady Liberty Chapter, AMICA, Intl.

(email from Joyce Brite to Editor)

10 August 2009

I am pleased to announce the release two new 88-notepiano rolls. The first is "Old Time Rag" composed and played bythe talented French pianist Benjamin Intartaglia. Fans of ragtimewill especially enjoy this roll.

My second release is a recut of the QRS Autograph roll,"Your Wife." This is a bouncy one-step composed by Al Piantadosiand played by Charley Straight. Lyric sheet included.

For more information about ordering these rolls, go to:

http://www.mmdigest.com/Exchange/rollpage.htm

or write to me at: <[email protected]>

Joyce BritePlayer Piano and Mechanical Music Exchangehttp://www.mmdigest.com/Exchange/

(email from Kelly Goodman to Editor)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

1928 Hines' Jazz Solo MakesRoll Debut 81 Years Later!

Earl "Fatha" Hines, whom many consider the father ofthe jazz piano style, recorded in 1928 his composition 57 vari-eties. Incredibly, it was never issued on a player piano roll- untilNOW!

Composer. arranger/restorer Stephen Kent Goodman hasmade a "by ear" transcription from this rare early recording tocreate the first and only paper roll debut of this remarkable Hinescomposition. It is virtually note for note the way Earl Hines per-formed it on the phonorecord- now available for 88-note playerpiano.

This is strictly a true limited edition offering- Don't missthe opportunity to acquire this historic and important roll for yourlibrary. You can listen to a sample of this roll on our web page.

http://Gnaw-Vol-ty.com

or email at: <[email protected]>


Of Interest

(email from John Del Carlo to MMD 1 September 2009)

Re: Stahnke LX System Plays Transcribed Ampico Rolls

Back in 2006, I took a leap of faith and pre-ordered thevery first production model of the "LX" playback system fromWayne Stahnke, http://www.live-performance.com/ At that time,it was not yet in production.

I was not disappointed in the least. It has surpassed myexpectations for the most accurate and musical playback in a retro-fit kit. For me, the LX represents the best of the modern technologyin solenoid playback today. It is so musical, and so accurate, it de-fies description, and it's now doing wonders with our Ampico rolls.The LX is now listed in the recent Larry Fine publication, "AcousticDigital Piano Buyer's Guide."

Over the last few years, there has been an improvementin scanning technology for player piano rolls. We are very fortunatethat there are several folks out there that own these improved scan-ners and that are able to scan and preserve our roll collections thatare fast disintegrating. The LX can now be a part of this preserva-tion.

Recently, I have been in contact with Anthony Robinsonover in England, who has one of the these new scanners. He alsojust bought an LX. Anthony is very well versed in the Ampico cod-ing etc, and is now scanning and converting these Ampico rolls intothe LX native language which can then be played on the LX.

It takes a lot of experience to scan these rolls, correct tim-ing errors, wrong notes, etc., and then produce a musical translationthat sounds good. Anthony has got it right! Sierra Music Rollsalso use his corrected scans for their re-cuts, and they sound great.Now we can have these wonderful scans for the LX.

Thanks goes out to Wayne Stahnke for allowing Anthonythe use of his Ampico/LX translator software! If only Dr. Hickmanand Mr. Stoddard could hear their music on the LX, what a pleasantsurprise it would be.

Here are the first two examples. This was recorded on my1925 Mason &Hamlin RBB that also contains a late A Ampico anda B drawer. These are so crisp and clean musically, they defy de-scription!

"Alabamy Bound" on the LX, played by Vincent Lopezhttp://www.box.net/shared/zs8756b7cz

"If You Knew Susie, (Like I Know Susie)", played by Victor Lane

http://www.box.net/shared/shkulmq4nc



(email from Joyce Brite to MMD on 1 September 2009)

Re:: Visiting Player Piano Parts, Inc., Wichita

In 1997, I wrote an article about visiting Player Piano Company(PPCo) in Wichita, Kansas. Over the years since then, I visitedPPCo many times and not much had changed from the visit that Idescribed earlier. The desks and other furniture remained in thesame locations and were never rearranged. The only noticeablechange for me was an increasing number of pianos which seemedto slowly fill up every available space.

As everyone knows, proprietor Durrell Armstrong passedaway in December, 2008, and the PPCo building, supplies, andbusiness were auctioned separately. Supplies for rebuilders are nowbeing sold through a new business named Player Piano Parts, Inc.I was in Wichita in early August and decided to drop by the newbusiness for a visit. My experience was quite different from all ofmy previous visits over the years.

The business address is a modest two-story, red brickbuilding, similar in style to most businesses in the Old Town areaof Wichita. There is no sign anywhere indicating the businessname. I entered the front door of the building and found myself ina vestibule not much bigger than a closet. There was anothercoded-lock door inside and a sign that said to ring bell for service.

I rang the bell and a young woman's voice answered. Inoticed that there was a security camera above me so she couldlook at me but I couldn't see her. I stated my business, saying thatI wanted to visit Player Piano Parts but I was unable to obtain entry.She finally said that Player Piano Parts was just a phone order busi-ness now.

Standing there in the vestibule talking to a hidden voicewas an Orwellian experience, to say the least. I left the buildingvery disappointed.

When Durrell Armstrong was running Player Piano Com-pany, customers were able to walk in the front door, purchase itemsin person, and chat with the people who worked there. If you hadquestions about a product, Durrell was willing to discuss it withyou. With the current set-up for Player Piano Parts, Inc., customersorder parts and supplies by telephone -- the people answering thephones are order-takers only. Callers must know exactly what theywant to order.

If you are uncertain about what you need, or have a "spe-cial case," no help is available.

It is good that the supplies are still available throughPlayer Piano Parts, Inc. But, the heart and soul of the business ismissing.




Listen top a 1965 radio interview by James Joyce of CBS

of Hi Babit at the Industrial Imperial Company, NYC.

This interview, along with historic video, literature, and all past BulletinsAre available to current members at “www.amica.org”

Please visit the “Members-Only” section for these and other features.

A new addition To Our website

The Daily SentinelPomeroy, Ohio 21 June 2009

Story and Photo by Kevin Kelly

Liz and Mike Barnhart of Dayton stand next to Mike’s design,the Treveris Stinson Band Organ, during the Band Organ Rally inthe Gallipolis City Park on Saturday. Band organ enthusiasts andvisitors from around the area, as well as Massachusetts, New York,Maryland and Tennessee, were in attendance for the rally’s returnto Gallipolis. The rally will offer a Father’s Day treat on Sundayfrom noon until 5 p.m.

(contributed by John Motto-Ros)

Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewPittsburg, PA

8 August 2009

VOLUNTEERS TAKE ON HARTWOOD

AEOLIAN ORGAN RESTORATION PROJECT

By Mary Ann Thomas

It wouldn't have been unusual for Mary Lawrence to sitin her Great Hall in the Hartwood Acres mansion 70 years ago andpluck a player-piano scroll of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony froman elegant closet filled with a few hundred scrolls for the Aeolianorgan.

A musician, Lawrence could have as easily played the fa-mous movement on the organ manually or on her mahogany Stein-way grand piano, residing in the mansion's Great Room, which isnow part of the 629-acre Allegheny County park straddling Indianaand Hampton townships.

But if anyone would have tried to play the organ, whichstill sits in the Great Room of the late Mary Lawrence, a few yearsago, he or she would have been disappointed to catch only the drone

of a single bagpipe-sounding note at best, or nothing at all.

After years of silence, the Aeolian organ is expected toplay again in June for the national meeting of the Organ HistoricalSociety in Pittsburgh.

Jim Stark of Shadyside, a member of the historical group,is heading up the preservation and reconstruction of the 100-plus-year-old organ along with help from other volunteers.

Stark and his group are charging about $50,000, donatingmuch of their labor -- and such a restoration is a labor-intensive un-dertaking -- to complete the painstaking task of restoring a histor-ical musical artifact.

Earlier estimates came in around $200,000 for the job, ac-cording to Linda Joy, Hartwood office manager.

When completed next summer, the Hartwood Aeolianorgan will be one of only two such functional organs in WesternPennsylvania. The other Aeolian can be found in the Mansion atLinden Hall in Dawson and operates only partially, according toStark.

A rarity now, the "home" organ was popular for entertain-ment among aristocrats.

Richard Mellon had one in his Shadyside estate, as didAndrew Mellon at what is now Chatham University. The respectiveNew York residences of Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegiewere furnished with Aeolian organs.

"At the turn of the 20th century, if you were wealthy, youhad a player organ in your house," said Stark.

But very few survived.Musical instruments such as organs deteriorate over time

and people moved on or moved out, with the organs left behind ortorn out from many majestic homes.

John and Mary Lawrence's Tudor mansion and equestrianestate was built in 1929, sold to the county in 1969 and establishedas a park in 1974. According to Stark and Joy, the Great Room wasdesigned to accommodate the Aeolian -- the smallest part of whichwas the console that sat in the Great Room.

Much like a church organ, the pipes and other parts of theinstrument took up much more space. At the Lawrence mansion,the organ's guts and eight-foot long pipes made of metal and woodwere installed in the basement.

So when Mary Lawrence wanted to play the organ, severalinsets of the room's hand-carved, 16th century oak paneling fromEngland would miraculously open to amplify the sound from theorgan pipes sprouting below in the basement.

"People who come for our tours love to see that," said Joyof the regular and the special "Seldom Seen" tours revealing lesser-known details of the 31-room mansion.

The organ was bought for the William Flinn home inHighland Park in 1909. Stark believes that the organ was a giftfrom Flinn to his daughter, Mary Lawrence, and when she andJohn Lawrence built Hartwood, they brought the organ withthem.

Long after the Lawrence family sold Hartwood Acres tothe county, docents at the mansion could play the organ a bit, buteventually the instrument stopped working.

Stark and his group became interested in the project as anice complement to their national convention in Pittsburgh nextyear. They were also intrigued by the project and its challenges.Stark said the restoration was a wise choice for his group becausepeople will enjoy the organ in the future.


In Print

"It is rare that such an organ is in a location to use itgoing forward," Stark said. "Our intention is for it to be played,"he said.

Restoration work began in earnest in April, with volun-teers carefully dismantling the organ and sending out some piecesfor repairs.

Reconstruction is expected to take more than a year forseveral reasons. As a restoration project, the goal is to stay true tothe original integrity of the organ as much as possible.

"We're dealing with 100-year old technology, and wehave to feel our way along," said Stark. "Everything here has tobe documented."

Hartwood Acres officials look forward to a functioningorgan for special events and visits from the public.

"The organ will perk up our tours greatly," Joy said.

The Times-PicayuneNew orleans, LA

1 August 2009

COLLECTIBLE PLAYER PIANO

STRIKES THE RIGHT NOTE

by Jill Anding,

Contributing writer

THE PIECE: A vintage player piano, J.P. Seeburg Co., from 1913

THE OWNER: Carmen Farmer of Picayune, Miss., says she pur-chased this piano for $100 more than 30 years ago in Pearl River."I bought it as a practice piano for my children," she said, addingthat she did not know that it was a player piano until she had ittuned.

The tuner "said a coin could be dropped in a slot on thetop right side of the piano, and it would play a tune. I asked him ifhe could repair it, and he said he could, if I could find the parts,"she said. Farmer contacted the Seeburg Music Co., but found thatthe parts she needed were no longer available. She would like tohave the piano refinished and repaired, but is wondering if it's worththe time, money and trouble. While the player mechanism no longeroperates, the piano still functions manually and her grandchildrenuse it to practice.

PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM: In the late 19th century, the piano was acenterpiece of life, as it brought families together to play and listen.Realizing that learning to play the piano well took many years ofpractice, as well as some natural ability, musical instrument manu-facturers attempted to create a piano that would play itself andtherefore bring music into every home. The first electromechanicalpiano, the Telharmonium, appeared around 1896, built on the samebasic principles used in the development of pneumatic organs andmusic boxes, which had been perfected during the mid-1800s.Other versions of automated pianos followed, including the Pianolaand the Apollo, and a decade later nearly every major piano man-ufacturer -- including Steinway and Chickerings -- was making self-playing models. It is estimated that by 1918 there were 800,000player pianos in operation in America east of the Mississippi Riveralone, with 75,000 piano rolls sold every month in Philadelphia,according to encyclopedia.com. At the same time, more than

100,000 coin-operated pianos by Wurlitzer and J.P. Seeburg weredistributed to movie houses and places such as hotels, restaurantsand taverns. Reproducing pianos, which played complete perform-ances recorded by famous artists such as Gershwin and Rubenstein,were also developed during this period. The player-piano craze,which lasted roughly from 1900 to 1930, started to decline with theadvent of the phonograph and radio, and sales of automatic playersfell off sharply following the stock market crash of 1929. Betterquality vintage models, such as Farmer's, are now considered col-lectibles.

COMPANY HISTORY: Justus P. Seeburg, a Swedish immigrant,began working in the piano industry in Chicago in 1887, and iscredited, along with several of his associates, with having built thefirst coin-operated pianos for the Marquette Piano Co. in 1905. Twoyears later, he founded the J.P. Seeburg Piano Co. to distribute Mar-quette Co. products, but by 1909 he began selling pianos under hisown name, according to mechanicalmusicpress.com. Seeburgbought manually operated pianos from makers such as Seybold,Haddorff and Marshall, and built and installed the player mecha-nisms at his own factory. In 1910, the company introduced the See-burg "Orchestrion," an automatic, mechanically played pianoequipped with other instruments including violins, mandolin, flute,snare drum, cymbal and triangle, according to clockguy.com.

WHAT THEY'RE WORTH: With more than 50 kinds of playersystems having been made and placed in hundreds of differentbrands of pianos, the design of player pianos varies widely, withsome being of better quality than others. In general, J.P. Seeburgpianos are known as being among the better quality self-players,but over the years, many of them, such as Farmer's, have fallen intodisrepair and would need extensive work to make them fully func-tioning. Repair and restoration of player pianos is costly and time-consuming, with most estimates totaling at least a few thousanddollars. Once completely restored, however, the piano could easilybe valued at $8,000 to $15,000

Other restored instruments add sweet soundsZahakos Souvenir Book

June 2009

Hayes McClaran used 53 years of experience in historicinstrument restoration when he worked on an 1870s' organ boundfor Zaharakos museum. "There was a tremendous amount of work,"he said. "Everything around the pipes was redone."


McClaran, owner of H.B. McClaran Restorations, and hisassistant, James Huff, spent about 40 hours a week for 20 monthsputting the organ together.

They cut a 4-by-10-foot section of African mahogany ve-neer to repair a wooden casing that was shipped toCalifornia to berefinished by Alex Barrara. McClaran and Huff also made newhardware and pumps and tuned the instrument.

The organ features about 130 brass pipes, including thesounds of a trumpet and clarinet. Bass, snare and timpani drumsand a triangle serve as percussion.

"You can't help but smile when you hear it," Huff said."It's interesting to watch how it works."

Huff, of Os-good, also restored a1900 wall clock and a1910 popcorn ma-chine to be displayedin the Zaharakos mu-seum.

McClaranhas restored 28 otherlarge orchestrions, in-cluding several otherautomated musicalinstruments, such as

those in the Nethercutt collection, one of the world's largest assort-ments of historical pieces.

With each project, McClaran works hard to keep the his-toric pieces authentic, and he said the Zaharakos antiques were noexception.

"Everything in Zaharakos is being done right," he said."It's going to be magnificent."

Welte organ was well-known to

artisan who restored itZahakos Souvenir Book

June 2009After 18 months of fine-tuning, restorer Durward Center re-

turned the 101-year-old Welte organ to its familiar home of Zaharakos."I've known that organ since I was a senior in high school," he said. "Toactually get to restore it and bring it back to life was a real pleasure."

A Kentucky native, Center took a trip to Columbus as ateenager just to see the organ in Zaharakos. From that moment on, hewas in awe of the instrument's look and sound. So naturally, he was de-lighted to be involved in the project for the old-fashioned ice cream par-lor's reopening.

The instrument was purchased by the Zaharako family from a German manufacturer in 1907 and installed in1908.

Center dismantled the organ and worked on it in his Baltimorestudio, then delivered it to Columbus and oversaw its installation over athree-day period in late March.

Welte orchestrions are Center's specialty within the field of au-tomatic musical instrument restoration. For this organ, he replaced dete-riorated wood, metal and leather components and brought the organ backto its original factory appearance and sound.

"It had been played to death through the years," Center said.Automatic musical instrument restoration was his hobby in

high school. He had a job in college with a company installing organs inchurches. Later, he did restoration work for the Smithsonian Institutionuntil 1973.

For 32 years, Center has lived in Baltimore, completingrestorations for museums and private collectors through his business,Historical Instrument Restorations. But he said the Welte will always be a special project.


Ed. Note: The presence of this magnificent Welte orchestrion became known shortlybefore the recent AMICA Convention in Cincinnati, OH. While attending the convention,many AMICAns drove up to Columbus, IN, (1 hour drive) to attend this fine attraction.Anybody travelling through the midwest should take the time to visit Zaharako's IceCream Parlor in Columbus, Indiana. See also: http://www.zaharakos.com/

Playback (ASCAP)Spring 2009

Commemorating Cohan

"Yankee Doodle Boy" writer and ASCAP co-

founder to get statue in Providence, RI

If there is one city thatis associated with ASCAP char-ter member George M. Cohan

(1878 - 1942) - the multi-tal-ented songwriter, song anddance man and musical theaterproducer who gave the world"You're a Grand Old Flag,""Over There" and "Give My Re-gards to Broadway" - it's NewYork City. In 2009, however, acommittee of citizens of Provi-dence, Rhode Island - the actualcity of Cohan's birth - is seekingto unveil a new bronze statue ofProvidence's most famous musi-cal native son that will stand onWickenden Street, where Cohanwas born over 130 years ago.

George M. Cohan's im-pact on both the American musi-cal theater and the popular songis immeasurable. He grew uponstage as a part of the popularIrish-American family vaude-ville group, the Four Cohans andby 1904, began to take Broad-way by storm as the singing anddancing star, as well as principalsongwriter and co-producer ofnumerous innovative hit musi-cals, beginning with LittleJohnny Jones. That show fea-tured both "Give My Regards to Broadway" and the "The YankeeDoodle Boy," which contains the memorable phrase, "a real livenephew of my Uncle Sam's, born on the Fourth of July." Manymore hit shows followed, including Forty-five Minutes from Broad-way (1905), George Washington, Jr. (1906), The Talk of New Yorkand many more. Among the timeless standards these shows featuredwere "Harrigan," "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Mary's a GrandOld Name." His country's involvement in World War I spurredCohan to write his anthemic patriotic classic, "Over There."

Sy and Judi Dill, a transplanted New York couple whohead the effort to build the statue in Providence, view all Americansas "real live nephews" and nieces of their Uncle Sam and believeCohan to be a major unifying cultural figure. For more informationon the Cohan statue or to offer assistance to the Dills, email [email protected].

(contributed by Kelly andStephen Goodman)

Times Beacon RecordShoreham, NY20 August 2009

Strike up the bandShoreham couple's collection

of player pianos includes

one-of-a-kind Wurlitzer

Joseph and Judy Hanulec

have been collecting auto-matic and electrical musicalinstruments for 42 years.The Hanutecs began theircollection while looking fora player piano for theirhome in Shoreham. Aftermuch consideration they in-vested in a Steinway DouArt Player Piano. After pur-chasing the piano they real-ized the piano was notfunctioning properly.Joseph rebuilt the player inthe piano, correcting theproblem. Since then, theHanutecs have acquiredseveral types of instrumentsthat Joseph Hanulec has restored. Today their collection rangesfrom player pianos to music boxes.

The Wurlitzer Mandolin Pianorchestra model 33A is theshowpiece of that collection. That model is the only one in exis-tence today. Built in 1910 in Frankfurt, Germany, it was used inBrooklyn between 1910 and 1930. The Hanutecs own this piecejointly with an acquaintance in Woodbury. The instrument neededcomplete restoration when they were first introduced to it. It took14 years to completely repair; Joseph worked every weekend. TheWurlitzer Mandolin Pianorchestra plays instruments including thexylophone, organ pipes, snare drum, triangle, glockenspiel, as wellas the piano.

In addition to the Steinway Dou Art Player Piano, theShoreham couple also has a Techola Piano from 1910 that JosephHanulec completely restored. That particular piano is considered a"pumper piano" because to play it the operator must pump a footpedal. Besides functioning as a regular player piano, it also plays amandolin reel. Altogether the Hanutecs own some 2,500 reels ofmusic for their player pianos. Their collection also boasts a Vi-olano-Virtuoso, a unique electrical instrument built in 1916 by MillsNovelty Co. The Violano-Virtuoso plays both violin and piano. Toplay, one puts a nickel into a slot and the machine plucks the violinstrings.

As well as being members in AMCA, Automatic MusicCollectors Association, the Hanulecs are also members of TheMusic Box Society. They own several styles of music boxes rang-ing from small to large and including music boxes that play discsor cylinders. As part of their collection, they have an AutomaticDisc Music Box along with a Large Interchangeable CylinderMusic Box, from the late 1800s

Joseph Hanulec is currently restoring a Reed Organ from


The statue of George M. Cohan wasunveiled on July 3, 2009 in the newly

named George M. Cohan Plaza on Wick-enden Street in Providence, Rhode Island.

1907 as well as a Mason and Hamlin Co. Piano. The Hanulecs havesold some of their restored instruments to buyers as far-flung asJapan, but nowadays they say they mostly just collect for the loveof it. Judy Hanulec describes collecting as "life altering."

"We have a tremendous number of friends that we metfrom collecting. We get calls from friends who find pieces we needfor our instruments all the time. It's a phenomenal way to meet peo-ple. I can't imagine my life without [the instruments]." Judy Han-ulec said she loves sharing the music with her children andgrandchildren who, she said, "have all grown up with music. It'spart of their lives. It's a wonderful thing to share with them." Asmembers of the Automatic Music Collectors Association, the Han-ulecs hold an open house once or twice a year to display their in-struments to the public

Cincinnati InquirerCincinnati, OH

25 August 2009

Restored Wurlitzer sounds mighty fineAlbee Theater organ finds a new home in Music Hall

By Janelle Gelfand

Cincinnati's Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ has a Chinese gong

that once belonged to WLW Radio, sirens, tweets and whooshes for silentmovies and classical pipes to accompany a bride down the aisle.

Now finally, after a 10-year wait, it has a new home.A massive restoration of the organ, which once graced Fifth Street's AlbeeTheater (1927-77), is nearing completion. It's not finished yet - the instru-ment still awaits a final "tweaking" of its tones by a master organist. TheMighty Wurlitzer will have its dedication concert on Nov. 28, when thepublic can again thrill to pipe organ showstoppers such as "ChattanoogaChoo Choo" at full throttle.

For two years, organ rebuilder Ronald F. Wehmeier has laboredquietly, many days from dawn until dusk, in Music Hall's Ballroom, in-stalling the organ in its grand new surroundings.

When the installation is complete, it could be one of the country'sfive biggest and best theater organs playing today, says Joe Hollmann, pres-ident of the Ohio Valley Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society.

"It won't take long for the organ to catch on," says Hollmann,who expects the instrument to become a catalyst for more events at thehall. "It will benefit Music Hall and the people who come here."

A preview of nostaligic tunes such as "Polka Dots and Moon-beams" and Gershwin's "Embraceable You" caused the floors of its newhome to vibrate as its majestic sounds resonated through the ballroom.

Getting to this point has involved a long list of stakeholders, in-cluding the organ's owners, the Ohio Valley Chapter of the American The-atre Organ Society, the city - which owns Music Hall - and the hall'svolunteer arm, the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall.

The rare 1927 organ might not have been saved at all were it not for a $1.41million gift from an anonymous donor.

At the west end of the ballroom, an ornamental wrought ironscreen covers a specially-built chamber that houses the organ's 2,000 pipesin 31 ranks (sets). Its custom design blends with other grillwork in the roomthat was also rescued from the Albee. As the organ plays, expression shadesbehind the screen open and close, puffing and wheezing in time to themusic.

The bellows that send air to the pipes are powered by a 1,700-pound blower on the third floor, which was dropped by crane through atrap door in the roof.

Behind glass doors in a climate-controlled chamber nearby, the

magnificent Albee organ rests alongside its companion, a 1925-era Stein-way Duo-Art grand piano, which can be played by electronic signals fromthe organ. The two are on platforms that can slide into the ballroom forconcerts or parties.

A sophisticated, new computer system allows the organ to storeand reproduce performances by virtuosos of the instrument.

The Mighty Wurlitzer, which had languished for eight years inmany pieces in a Camp Washington warehouse, now boasts a burnishedmahogany console enhanced by 24K gold leaf décor.

"When it was in the Albee, it was painted a kitchen white withan ugly red trim, like a circus wagon," Wehmeier says. "That was done be-cause Wurlitzer shipped the case unfinished. I guess they were in a hurryto get it in, because it was to be played on Christmas Eve."

The Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., founded in Cincinnati, was theworld's most famous manufacturer of theater organs. In the '20s, the heydayof silent movies, the company was churning out one per day at its NewYork factory, before the advent of "talkies" silenced the instruments in the-aters.

Of more than 2,200 theater organs, only about 100 have sur-vived. Just 25 major instruments such as the Mighty Wurlitzer still gracepublic venues.

This organ's odyssey has been remarkable. Before the Albee The-ater, a Depression-era downtown movie palace, was torn down in 1977,RKO donated the Wurlitzer to the Ohio Mechanics Institute, which ownedthe Emery Auditorium in Over-the-Rhine.

When the Institute wasn't interested, RKO sold it to the OhioValley Chapter of ATOS for $1, Hollmann says.

From 1977 to 1999, the chapter of theater organ aficionados pre-sented silent movies to the sounds of the Mighty Wurlitzer, which was thenpainted ebony black. When the Emery's owners, the University of Cincin-nati, began renovations, the organ was dismantled, and its owners beganto hunt for a new home.

"We had two problems: no funding and no suitable buildings,"Hollmann says. "Cincinnati had demolished most buildings that were suit-able in size to house a theater organ. Local universities and high schoolswere not interested."

But then, a chance meeting with a lover of theater organs resultedin a major gift. After two years of negotiations, eight contracts were signedto install the organ in Music Hall.

In 2007, Wehmeier began his work. "My hopes are that the peo-ple of Cincinnati will accept it and be glad to hear it again," says Wehmeier,who has worked tirelessly to finish it in time for its debut. "I think we'llhave a gem here in Cincinnati."

For more information about the Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ,visit www.soc-pres-music-hall.com


Two years ago, Ron Wehmeier began rebuilding the 1927 Mighty Wurl-itzer organ salvaged from the old Albee Theater. A few tweaks fromnow, it will be concert-ready in its new home, Music Hall's ballroom. Itsdedication concert will be Nov. 28.

In 1881, an early patent foran automatic piano playerwas issued to John McTam-many, Jr., of Cambridge,Massachusetts. McTam-many described his inven-tion as a "mechanicalmusical instrument." Hehas been credited as beingthe inventor of the playerpiano, having patented sev-eral devices that were im-portant to the developmentof the automatic piano. Inthe mid 1890's, some of hisideas were put to use in de-veloping an automaticbanjo. After purchasingsome patent rights fromMcTammany, Charles B.Kendall and W. Scott O'-Connor established twocompanies to manufactureand lease the automaticbanjo. Kendall headed theNew England AutomaticBanjo Company in Bostonwhile O'Connor headed the

American Automatic Banjo Company of New Jersey, locatedin New York. Predating the Wurlitzer Tonophone by a coupleof years in 1897, the Encore Automatic Banjo was the firstpneumatic coin-operated automatic stringed musical instru-ment here in the United States.

All the patents were assigned to O'Connor's company. It wasthe sole producer of music rolls for the machine as well asmaker of rolls for many other companies' products. The per-forating division was so successful that in 1899, the AmericanAutomatic Banjo Company split into two companies; theAmerican Automusic Company, and the Automusic Perforat-ing Company with James O'Connor as president and treas-urer. The American Automusic Company, with W. ScottO'Connor remaining as president, continued to manufacturethe Encore while sharing the factory with the perforatingcompany.

Farny Wurlitzer, who was in charge of the Wurlitzer factoryfrom 1909 until his death in 1972, claimed that Wurlitzer wasthe first to come out with a music roll playing coin-operatedpiano with the introduction of the Pianino in 1903. Many

other coin pianos from Wurlitzer andother manufacturers soon followed. TheStyle 44 "Peerless Automatic Piano"made by the Peerless Piano Player Com-pany of St. Johnsville, New York, F. En-gelhardt & Sons, Proprietors, made its debut in 1903. This isthe first coin-operated piano advertised or mentioned inMusic Trade Review since the Tonophone, four years earlier.Later that same year, Peerless introduced the Style D.

By the end of 1903, the Encore Banjo business is pretty muchover. The novelty of the automatic banjo gave way to thecoin piano, which was much more musical. It is estimatedthat between the two companies, about 2400 Encore unitswere built. Fewer than two dozen original Encores areknown to exist. The Automusic Perforating Company withJames O'Connor as president and treasurer continued to pro-duce rolls for other manufacturers in the factory where theEncore was built. The roll manufacturing business keptgrowing so, in May of 1906, the Automusic Perforating Com-pany changed its name to the Connorized Music Companyand moved to a new larger factory where it continued tothrive.

In 1913, Frederick Engelhardt and Sons looked to get afoothold in the expanding Chicago market and absorbed theSeybold Piano & Organ Co., of Elgin, Ill. The new corpora-tion was named the Engelhardt-Seybold Company. This newfirm took over the Peerless line of instruments from the oldPeerless Piano Player Co. Their factories both operated thesame as before. Player mechanisms and perforated musicrolls were manufactured at St. Johnsville, while piano and or-


The Development of the

Banjo Playing Orchestrionby David Ramey Jr.

Encore Automatic Banjo Ad from Music Trade Review

gans were made at Elgin. Trouble soon followed as the En-gelhardt family overextended itself financially, failing to re-alize that Seybold was in worse shape than Peerless.

In November of 1914, Connorized Music Company intro-duced its first and only automatic musical instrument, theBanjorchestra. Said to be invented by James O'Connor, theinstrument features a "banjo, bass and snare drums, tam-bourine, castanets, triangle and piano electrically operated."The new instrument was in an oak "Arts and Crafts" or "Mis-sion Style" case, but could be ordered in "any other wood." Five months later, in April 1915, Connorized announced,

"New style Banjorchestra" which was the same instrumentin a neo-classical cabinet in oak. [see centerfold] Only amonth later, they announced that the Banjorchestra will bemade in "mahogany henceforth, instead of oak as earlier."

Interior views,front and back,show an EncoreBanjo style pumpand banjo mecha-nism. One imagein the ad showsthat the swing-outpiano has 44notes, identical toa Pianova pianothat was also fea-tured in early adsfor the first MillsViolano-Virtuoso(no examples areknown of a Vi-olano-Vir tuosowith this stylepiano).


Connorized Banjorchestra advertised as Englehardt from

The Music Trades Review, August 25, 1917

Connorized Banjorchestra from The Music Trades Review,November 7, 1914

Early ad for Mills Violano-Virtuoso

About the same time, mid-1915, the Engelhardts, Frederickand sons, Alfred and Walter, sold their interests in the strug-gling Engelhardt-Seybold Company. Fredrick and Walter re-turned to St. Johnsville, NY to make another attempt inautomatic music with the Engelhardt Piano Company.

About two years later, in July 1917, Engelhardt Piano Com-pany advertised the Banjorchestra as their own. The imagein the advertisement is the same image as featured the earlierConnorized ads, but the nameplate has been blacked out.About a year after that, Engelhardt touted that "their latestinstrument, the Banjorchestra is meeting with tremendous de-mand and is now being brought out in several sizes andstyles." [This is the first indication that Engelhardt had de-veloped their own style Banjorchestra.] In an undated bul-letin put out by the Engelhardt Piano Company, theBanjorchestra appears to have a cabinet identical to the En-gelhardt Style F. This is also identical to a piano marketedunder the Electrova name by Jacob Doll and Sons of NewYork city.

It is unknown just how many Banjorchestras were made byeither Connorized or Engelhardt. No other instrument isknown to have been marketed by Connorized Music Com-pany. Connorized was very successful with the manufactur-ing and marketing of perforated music rolls. TheBanjorchestra must have met with some success. It is possi-ble that Connorized was not the only company making Ban-jorchestra rolls. Clark Orchestra Roll Company advertisedthey supplied Engelhardt Piano Company with "Banjo-Or-chestra" rolls (notice the altered spelling) in the September4th, 1920 issue of Presto. In trade directories of the late1920's, Engelhardt was listed as makers of "coin operated pi-anos, orchestrions, banjorchestras and midget orchestrions."In a mid-1980's interview, one elderly ex-factory worker re-called building a run of twelve Banjorchestras. No completeexamples of the instrument or any of the rolls have beenfound to date. Perhaps one reason is the fact that the pitch ofthe banjo strings would always be in flux with an animal skinbanjo head, which by itself wouldn't be very noticeable, butwhen paired with a stable piano, would rarely sound in tune.Perhaps all Banjorchestras were stripped of their banjos andmodified into coin pianos and banjo-less orchestrions.

In January of 1981, Art Reblitz wrote a column for Bill andRosanna Harris' magazine "The Coin Slot" entitled "Art Re-blitz' Most Wanted," describing produced instruments thatexamples were yet to be found. His first article was aboutthe Banjorchestra. The article mentioned that two companiesmade Banjorchestras, Engelhardt Piano Company and Con-norized Music Company, the successor to one of the compa-nies that made the Encore Automatic Banjo. The article soexcited Encore Banjo collector and enthusiast Rick Crandall,

he decided that if one couldn't be found, he would have onemade! Rick contacted his friend Dave Ramey, a restorer whonot only restored a few original Encore Banjos but also wasnow building new models. A project was started that wouldlead to the rebirth of the banjo-playing orchestrion.

The article mentioned that there was "an empty case for oneturned up a few years ago, and the stained glass front for an-

other is in a California collec-tion." It went on to mentionthat the Banjorchestra "casestyle with the stained glassfront was apparently identicalto an Engelhardt model F cab-inet." Don Rand was the col-lector who acquired thestained glass collection of thelate Doby Doc. The collec-tion was soon sold to BobGilson, who promised hisfriend Rick Crandall, that ifthe glass was part of the col-lection, he would sell it toRick for his project, as long asBob could have a copy madeso he could use it in his ownmade-up Banjorchestra.

Now having the art glass,Dave and Rick made plans tofind an Engelhardt F and

make it into a Banjorchestra. This was no easy task, as thereare only about ten or so known to exist, and they reallyneeded two, since BobGilson was now part ofthe project as well. In thesummer of 1983, BradReinhardt, was workingfor Hayes McClaran dur-ing the restoration of RickCrandall's Popper Felixorchestrion. During aconversation, Brad toldRick about an F he hadseen in storage at Knott'sBerry Farm amusementpark. The piano had beenmodified to feature ablack minstrel puppet thatwould dance along to themusic, but no longerworked, not to mentionwas not politically cor-rect. The park planned on


Image of Banjorchestraused in an undated

pamphlet published byEngelhardt Piano Company

(courtesy of Rick Crandall).

Engelhardt Banjorchestra atKnott’s Berry Farm with minstrel scene

(courtesy of Rick Crandall).

removing the puppet and making the instrument into a cabi-net piano. Rick sent Brad to purchase the instrument to noavail. He was told that it is not the policy of the amusementpark to sell part of their collection. Rick convinced the parkto trade for a working coin piano, one with keys that movedwhile playing, which would be far more interesting to watchthan a plain cabinet piano! Brad located an Empress Electriccoin piano and made the trade.

When the deal was finalized, an accountant had looked in therecords to find out what exactly they had just traded. Hetyped, "Antique Piano, Engelhardt Banjorchestra" on the re-ceipt. Upon leaving, Brad stopped at the first phone boothhe came to and called Rick to tell him "I'm thinking this maybe a real Banjorchestra!" After taking a closer look, Brad de-scribed to Rick what he saw. Rick told him to get it toMcClaran's shop to assess what's there and what was miss-ing.

Brad brought the instru-ment to HayesMcClaran's shop inFresno California. Macconfirmed that it was in-deed a Banjorchestra.You could see the shad-ows left by age of thebanjo and the decorativecovers of the fret pneu-matics along with othermechanisms. The pianoand banjo valve stackswere there as well as thepump and roll mecha-nism, but no roll ortracker bar were to befound. Mac wanted thejob of restoring this his-toric piece, as any re-storer would want thechance to bring back aninstrument thought to be lost to history. Rick had to refuseas he had already started the project with his friend Dave.

Rick located an Engelhardt F in the Art Sanders Museum andarranged it's purchase for Bob Gilson to use in the project.Dave started the restoration of the Banjorchestra alongsidethe conversion of the Engelhardt F. The Banjorchestra banjowas identical to the one used in the Encore Automatic Banjo,except there was no scripted "Encore" name on the neck.Two banjos were purchased that had been separated fromtheir Encore mechanisms; one actually was probably from anoriginal Banjorchestra, since it had no evidence of the name"Encore" on the neck and was said to have passed through

the hands of someone who claimed to have gutted an originalBanjorchestra in California many years earlier. The banjoand piano were together again for the first time in manyyears.

Art Reblitz was brought into the project to help devise atracker scale and develop new music rolls. Rick Crandall hadtaken an image from a Connorized Banjorchestra ad thatshowed the instrument with its doors opened revealing themusic roll and photographically blew-up the roll to nearlylife size. We couldn't make out the exact number of holes inthe tracker bar, but were able to see that the banjo controlswere off to the right side of the roll. Art surmised that theroll was about the size of a player-piano roll, with about thesame spacing of holes.

The Engelhardt Banjorchestra had a 58-note piano, unlike the44-note piano as in the Connorized ads. But we know thatthe instrument was only capable of playing 42 notes. We hadthe original piano and banjo valve stacks. Most likely be-cause it was operated from the Connorized roll arranged fora 44-note piano. The banjo was capable of playing all thenotes an Encore banjo played using a total of 86 holes (44for the banjo and 42 for the piano). The 88 holes in a player-piano roll would not be enough to play the traps and controlexpression. The instrument must have used octave couplingor some sort of multiplexing device that would allow thesame tracker bar hole to control more than one function. Itwas evident with the existing piano and banjo stacks that thepiano would play accompaniment to the melody played bythe banjo.

In 1985, Art arrangeda trial roll of one tune,Waiting for the RobertE Lee. At the time, itwas necessary tohand-punch a masterroll. Upon hearing itfor the first time, Artdecided the timingwas unsatisfactory dueto the inaccuracy ofthe sub-contractor'shand-punching. Rickwas concerned aboutthe cost of having aquantity of musicmade without severalpeople to split thecost, as well as thetime and money that itwas taking to just getthe piano and banjo


Engelhardt Banjorchestra at Hayes McClaran’s shop (courtesy of RickCrandall)

Engelhardt Banjorchestra with fullbanjo backboard circa 1986

playing. Much work was still needed to develop the missingmechanisms. In 1986, the project came to a standstill. Davemoved on to other restoration work.

The project languished for years until Bob Gilson told Artabout Carl Lambie's new MIDI-controlled perforator and theavailability of a computer program called "Cakewalk", whichwould allow Art to create precise music files to drive the per-forator. Mike Ames provided Art with information on whereto acquire the software, a synthesizer to hear the arrange-ments in progress, and a MIDI card for his computer. CarlLambie guided Art through the basics of using Cakewalk.

Dave Ramey had wanted a Banjorchestra for himself, andwith the possibility of having precise rolls machine punched,he began to consider building more for customers. Dave firsthad the idea to cut down the width of upright pianos, platesand all, to create new piano backs that would fit into newcases. Luckily, Art persuaded Dave to go another route. Artsuggested using new pianos. Bill Edgerton had recentlymade fifty new Seeburg KT Specials using new pianos. Thenew pianos werecopied from an orig-inal Seeburg piano.The original pianoplate was used inmany models fromdifferent manufac-turers. Link, See-burg, Operator's(makers ofCoinola), WesternElectric, and Nel-son-Wiggen all usedsimilar plate designsfor certain modelsof their cabinet pi-anos. It was a 61-note full perimeterplate, strong enoughto stand alone with-out support of a cab-inet or back posts,and it featured long "overstrung" bass strings for a rich deepsound. But, it would not fit into the Banjorchestra cabinet,at least not into the style cabinet that we had.

It was known from ads and articles found in the Music Tradesand Music Trade Review that the Connorized Banjorchestrawas made in a couple of different cabinet designs. The laterdesign, from 1915, had a larger cabinet, large enough to ac-commodate a style K piano. It was this style cabinet that En-gelhardt first advertised as their Banjorchestra. Dave had acabinet built from scaling the images featured in the ads. The

cabinet was constructed using traditional methods and mate-rials in quarter-sawn white oak.

A new tracker scale was designed. We optimized the roll forthe new 61-note piano, deciding that the missing notes in theoriginal Engelhardt Banjorchestra piano wouldn't be signifi-cant if coupled in similar fashion as in a Seeburg L cabinetpiano. Art and Dave drew inspiration from several manufac-turers of automatic musical instruments when designing thenew scale: the bass octave-coupling scheme found in the See-burg H orchestrion; the piano and drum expression as in See-burg orchestrions; the piano loud (lock) combined with thesustaining pedal (chain perforation) as in the Weber Maesto;the piano/banjo switching device as in the multiplex couplersin the Hupfeld Pan orchestrion; and the snare drum mecha-nism with single stroke and reiterating beaters as in CoinolaO-roll orchestrions.

For the roll mechanism, Art and Dave discussed reproducingthe Western Electric roll frame because they require no cast-ings, rewind fast, the gears are always in mesh and don't dam-age rolls. This was very important because the new rollswould be punched nine-to-the-inch with 100 holes across thewidth making holes 1 and 100 very close to the edges of thepaper. Dave and son, David Jr. then designed and built theprototype instrument, while Art began to arrange rolls.

The new instrument was not really a reproduction of eithermakes of the original Banjorchestra; we knowingly madeseveral changes. The most visual change was the removal ofmuch of the banjo backboard. The piano and most of themechanisms of the traps were hidden in the original Ban-jorchestra. Realizing that people enjoy seeing the mecha-nisms, it was decided to remove as much of the banjobackboard as possible to allow viewing the piano action aswell as making room for the other instruments and theirmechanisms, especially the bass drum. This also helped toincrease the volume of the piano, which was subdued by thebanjo backboard. Musically, the biggest change was in theway the instrument would play. This instrument would becapable of playing all the notes of the larger 61-note piano.This enabled the piano to play melody as well as accompa-niment. This greater range of musical abilities allows formore sophisticated musical arrangements than the originalBanjorchestra was capable of playing.

The Connorized Banjorchestra was advertised with a littledifferent instrumentation than the Engelhardt. The Con-norized version had a piano, automatic banjo, tambourine,triangle, bass and kettle drums and castanets. It appeared thatwhat Engelhardt called snare and Chinese drums was thesame thing that Connorized called a kettle drum. It was ac-tually a banjo pot being used as a drum, possibly using a sin-gle-stroke beater for a Chinese drum using the kettle drum


New Ramey 61-note piano back

signal on the Connorized roll, and a reiterating beater for asnare using the castanets' signal. There was no bass drum ev-ident in the images in any of the ads. The Engelhardt Ban-jorchestra's "bass drum effect" was a beater striking the backof the soundboard, similar to other Engelhardt and Peerlessmodels.

In the Ramey version wealso used a banjo pot as adrum with both singleand reiterating beaters asa snare drum and addedthe castanets called for inthe Connorized version.Since opening the banjobackboard, we now hadroom for an actual bassdrum. We also added awoodblock and cymbal tocomplete the ensemble.All mechanisms were inview, not hidden as theoriginal versions. Wewanted to distinguish itfrom the earlier instru-ments, so the new instru-ment was named theRamey Banjo-Orchestra,hyphenating and adding acapitol "O" to the original name. Nameplates were madesimilar to ones featured on the Connorized and first Engel-hardt cabinet.

The restoration of the Engelhardt Banjorchestra and the con-version of the model F were taken up again. The instrumentswere modified to utilize the new rolls and all their instrumen-tation. When the original art glass was installed in the re-stored cabinet, the old nail holes around the wood framematched perfectly to the scratches on the lead frame of the

glass! The first restoration of an original Banjorchestra wascomplete!

The new prototype Ramey Banjo-Orchestra was unveiled atthe 1994 MBSI annual meeting where orders were taken fornew instruments. Construction began on the new productionmodels. Bill Edgerton, who initially gave his permission forDave to use his pattern from the Seeburg KT Special project,sold the remains of the project to Ed Openshaw. Ed also gavehis permission, but the foundry O.S. Kelly, the only foundryin the United States still casting piano plates, had lost the pat-tern. A new pattern was made and new plates were cast. EdKeefer, of Story and Clark, was contracted to make the pianobacks and actions of the first few Banjo-Orchestras. All thecomponents of the new instrument are built using traditionalmethods and materials, as if it could have been built in 1915.

The Banjorchestra was advertised as featuring an automaticbanjo muting devise. The first attempt at re-creating the de-vise was kept crude and simple, but proved to be very effec-tive. The design was refined for the production models.Refining the design of other components continue as each in-strument is built individually. The lock and cancel mecha-nism was changed from a compact pouch design to a systemthat was more visual and could retain the settings if the in-strument was interrupted during play. The drive mechanismhas evolved from a direct single-belt system to a variablespeed friction drive system, first using ladder chain then adoubled leather belt.


Engelhardt “bass drum effect.”

The Ramey Banjo-Orchestra’s upper mechanisms

The restored Engelhardt Banjorchestra

To date, there have been 25 production models made afterthe prototype, three of which feature a mahogany cabinet,bringing the total number of banjo-playing orchestrions to 28instruments. Art Reblitz continues to arrange new ten-tunemusic rolls and is working on roll number 16, making a li-brary of 150 tunes! After 80 years, the Banjorchestra liveson, hopefully, never to disappear again. The name "Ramey"may be on the new Banjo-Orchestra, but it took the talentsof many people to realize the rebirth of this obscure Americanorchestrion.

Images and photos are from author's collection unless noted. Special thanksare given to the people who encouraged and/or helped with information andimages featured in this article: Dave Bowers, Rick Crandall, John Motto-Ros,Art Reblitz, and Terry Smythe. Certain information is from the work inprogress, the Reblitz-Bowers Guide to Coin-Operated American Pianos and

Orchestrions. (Copyright 2009, all rights reserved.)

Ed. Note: David Ramey Jr.Author may be 17768 Woodview Drivecontacted at: Marysville OH 43040-9711

Phone:(708) 602-3961Email: [email protected]

http://dcramey.com

Ramey Banjo-Orchestra valve chests, rear view

Roll Mechanism Shelf

David Ramey and his Banjorchestra at AMICA Convention 2009


Ramey Banjo-Orchestra early and late style muting devices

Dave Ramey, David, Jr., and Art Reblitz withRamey prototype circa 1994

In the early days of my restoration work, I could remove the pneu-matic components of a grand reproducing piano and re-install themwhile lying under the piano on my back. Installing the tubing some-times required hours of work with my arms stretched out to reachinto the depths of the piano belly to reconnect the various compo-nents. As time went on, this operation became increasingly difficult.

I learned of the technique of placing the piano on its side to provideeasy access to the parts mounted under the grand piano. I alsolearned that this operation required two or three strong people andwould easily damage the mechanisms under the piano if not donejust right. No problem if experienced helpers are available, but thatis not always the case.

Piano technicians have been using a "piano tilter" for years to layan upright over on its back. This device allows a difficult operationto be safely undertaken by one person. Eventually, the thought oc-curred to me that the same principle could be applied to "tilting" agrand piano from horizontal on its legs to vertical on its side.

The following pictures illustrate the "grand piano tilter" in opera-tion. The design worked well as conceived so that no changes werenecessary other than putting additional padding on the supportarms. In order to accommodate the variety of grand piano under-sides, the support boards are positionable and adjustable in height.It is usually possible to configure the tilter to support the piano atthe same height as the legs do. Only the leg on the straight sidemust be removed to use the tilter, although all the legs are typicallyremoved as well as the pedal lyre.

When the tilter is used with a piano for the first time, it is slid underthe piano and the adjustable supports are set to contact the respec-tive support surfaces on the bottom of the piano. The supports onthe treble side are positioned to contact a suitable surface such asthe bottom of the key bed or the bottom surface of the rim or abeam. The positionable supports may be held in position by a heavyC clamp. The tilter itself is held in place under the piano by a canvasstrap while it is in use.

The padded blocks that the piano sits on when it has been put onits side are made to be slightly higher than the portion of the tilterthat supports the straight side of the piano. This makes it easy toremove the tilter (or replace it) from the now vertical piano. Theseblocks are an important part of the piano tilter operation, and pro-vide a reasonably safe and stable surface for the piano to rest onwhile it is on its side. Of course, the piano should be secured in thevertical position for added safety.

The construction of the tilter makes it easily assembled for use, anddisassembled for compact storage. The plywood construction pro-vides a strong assembly that can support the weight of heavy grandpianos with ease. The author's Tilter has handled many Mason andHamlin and Steinway pianos as well as many other grands.

The construction technique is fairly obvious from the pictures andtechnical drawings. There may be some slight dimensional adjust-ments that need to be made to allow the cross supports to slide into

and out of the tracks on the tilter sides.After a "dry" assembly of all the parts,when everything is fitting togetherproperly, the parts should be dis-assem-bled, and then reassembled using a goodglue like Titebond. Make sure there isenough clearance in the side tracks toallow for disassembly when the wood swells up in humid times!

Note the "jack" in use to support the bass side of the piano whenthe leg on that side is removed to allow placement of the tilter underthe piano. Inside the box is a small 2 ton bottle jack. It is very ef-fective, and is easy to put together.

One-man grand piano tilter designed by Bob Hunt.

Ed. Note: Full array of photos and detailed construction drawings may beviewed and/or downloaded off our AMICA web site, Members-Only portal,“Original Literature/Miscellaneous” Scroll down to and click on “Hunt GrandPiano Tilter”. This PDF file contains all the drawings and measurementsneeded to help someone build their own grand piano tilter. For those withoutinternet access, contact Bob directly at:

Bob Hunt52 High StreetKennebunk, ME [email protected] http://www.virtualroll.com/


Grand Piano Tilterby Bob Hunt

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this paper is to present the most currentroll repair techniques known to me. Using these techniques willresult in a greater number of rolls returned to circulation for playingand scanning. My feeling about roll repair is that, if an individualcomposed the song, a company produced the roll and numerous re-tailers marketed the roll, then unless it is in shreds, who are we tocondemn it to the trash can? Once repaired, even if the roll doesn'tappeal to today's taste, it is now capable of being scanned for futuregenerations who just might see something of value in that particularpiece. I guess you can call me a bulk restorer.

LIST OF EQUIPMENT NEEDED

1) roll repair table2) electric clothes iron with asbestos pad3) artists spatula or paring knife4) tweezers5) #3 Bard Parker surgical knife handle and #10 or 15 blades orExacto-knife6) scissors7) two heavy desk type tape dispensers, one for ½” and one for¾” Scotch Brand Magic Tape8) small carpenter's square & leader making jig

SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR ROLL REPAIR

1) ½” and ¾” Scotch Magic Tape2) glue, preferably PVE plastic glue or extra thick super glue3) talcum powder

SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR BOX REPAIR

1) black ¾” masking tape2) sanding block3) 3' core type dispenser

OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT

1) computer with color printer2) label making program3) cutting pad

Let's now look at how each of the above pieces of equip-ment fits into the repair puzzle.

If you intend to repair more than a few rolls per year, aroll repair table is almost essential. If you are not able to acquireone, try to find a long flat surface for laying out the roll. It alsohelps to have a good light directly above the work surface. Thereare a couple choices for repair tables. The wooden model as de-scribed by Terry Smythe in his article (Amica Bulletin Vol. 46, #2,March/April 2009) is more than adequate even for the enthusiastrepairing many rolls per year. If you choose to use the woodenmodel you will need a self-healing cutting pad if you plan on cut-ting on the wooden surface. (Mine is an Alvin GM1218 12” x 18”.)

If you choose the professional metal modelas manufactured by the author, you will notneed the cutting pad as cutting is done di-rectly on the surface. Either type willallow you to increase the output of repairedrolls by a factor of several times.

The next tool is a painter's (artist's) spatula. This lookslike a standard kitchen paring knife but the blade is not sharpenedand it has a slight upward bend at the outer rounded end. Usingthis blade, you can flip up the scalloped edges of a damaged rollquite quickly. In some instances, these flip-ups can be straightenedup a foot or so at a time by running the spatula along underneaththe turned-up edge.

The next tool I consider an absolute necessity is a standardelectric clothes iron. A hot clothes iron will speed up your repairsa hundred fold. Long strokes with the iron from the center to theouter edge will result in the best results. Once flattened, the tapeof your choice can be applied. Do not iron on the cutting pad! Youwill ruin it! You may use the hot iron on a wood or metal surfacewith no damage to either.

There is, of course, the ongoing discussion as to whetherarchival tape or Scotch Magic Tape is better. It is my opinion thateach product has its place. If you are repairing only a few rolls peryear and have a lot of time, the archival tape will certainly do thejob. I have tried several brands of archival tape and found them tobe very user unfriendly and quite expensive. If you wish to maxi-mize the number of rolls you get back into circulation, Scotch tapeis the way to go.


PIANO ROLL RESTORATIONby Tom Hutchinson

I sent an inquiry to 3M for the pH value of Scotch MagicTape and they stated that it is 5.5. However, I tested the housebrand of Magic Tape from Office Depot and found it to be 6.5, veryclose to the pH neutral figure of 7. I have requested the pH valuesof two of the leading brands of archival tape and neither companyhas responded after several weeks. I have rolls that I have repairedwith Scotch Magic Tape over 25 years ago that still play well andshow no degeneration of the tape. However, one should makeevery effort to not use cheap cellophane tape as it quickly turns yel-low and occasionally falls off.

Tweezers are quite helpful in positioning small pieces oftape. Many repairs, for example chain bridges, would be difficultto repair without tweezers to hold the tape. I suggest a small setwith fine tips.

A Bard Parker #10 surgical knife handle and #10 or 15surgical blades or an Exacto knife is useful. I prefer the Bard Parkerhandle and blades as they are easier to hold and the blades will lastpractically forever, even when cutting on the steel top of a roll re-pair table.

Scissors will come in handy. You will need two heavydesk-top style type dispensers, one each for the ½” and ¾” ScotchMagic Tape. I stress the “heavy” because in many instances youmay be holding down what you want to tape with the left hand andthis enables you to reach over to your right and remove the desiredamount of tape with the right hand. This cannot be done with thosesmall plastic tape dispensers which require two hands.

CARPENTER'S SQUARE AND LEADER MAKING JIG

A small metal or plastic carpenter's square is quite usefulfor producing a perfect square end for applying a new leader. Manyold rolls have a leader that is beyond repair. I keep a pile of newreplacement leaders, made up in advance, with pull tabs and ringsin place. I make up 15-20 each time, thus the actual time per com-pleted leader is only a couple of minutes each.

To make your Leader Making Jig, find a small sheet of1/8” thick hard board or Masonite. Lay a good leader on the hard-board and trace along both sides to establish the triangle for thepointed end. Make the body 5-6” long. After you have cut out thejig sand the edges smooth. It is essential that you get the jig squareand that the point for pull tab attachment is centered.

For leader material I buy rolls of blank paper & pull tabsfrom Q.R.S. Using a paper cutter will give a square end. I make apile of pieces of roll paper approximately 15” long. These can bemade any length you wish your leaders to be. I then take 5-6 ofthe pieces and lay them carefully aligned on my cutting pad makingsure that all the ends and sides are even. I then lay the jig on thepile of pieces making sure the point is even with the bottom edgeof the pile. Using a sharp utility knife or an Exacto-knife, I cutalong both sides of the triangle portion of the jig. All that's left is

to attach the pull tabs. The corners that have been cut off can beused when you only need to repair just the area of the pull tabs.

SUPPLIES FOR ROLL REPAIR

1) ½” AND ¾” Scotch Magic Mending Tape A word on tapeof any kind. It is easy to overdo the tape. I can't count the rollsI've repaired where in the past someone has put old cellophane tapethe complete length of each side. This is totally unnecessary andserves no purpose. If this is the only way you can keep your rollsfrom tearing up, then something is wrong with your tracking or theroll. Never put tape of any kind on the back side of the roll, i.e.,the side next to the tracker bar. This can cause two problems. One,it may cause missed notes because it creates a raised area and itmay trigger the reroll pneumatic because it creates a raised area atthe edge of the paper. Secondly some tapes may leave a residue onthe tracker bar.

2) Glue, preferably PVE, plastic glue or extra thick super gluecomes in handy for several applications. Often a pull tab will bepealed back requiring a dab of glue. I like PVE plastic glue forthis; it will generally be dry by the time the roll repair is finished.If you are making up a new tube and flange assembly, PVE workswell but cyano-acrylate (extra thick super glue) is quite fast and al-lows you to proceed with the repairs quickly. When gluing thefixed right-side flange, put the glue in a ring on the inside of thecardboard tube and not on the portion of the flange to be inserted.Use a rotating motion when inserting the flange to distribute theglue evenly.

3) Talcum powder When repairing a roll there will be areas,sometimes fairly large, where a space must be spanned with Scotchtape. I keep a small bowl of talcum powder beside the roll repairtable. When needed, I simply place my finger in the talcum pow-der. Just enough adheres to apply to the adhesive side of the tapeon the back side of the repaired roll paper.

RUBBER BANDS

In defense of rubber bands, in total they do more goodthan harm. I have examined and repaired thousands of rolls; prob-ably in excess of 5000, from every conceivable brand of 88-noteroll, many Duo-Arts, and Ampico. Frankly, if a proper closure orconstricting device had been applied years ago and throughout theroll's life time, it would not have deteriorated as much.

Yes, rubber bands deteriorate, but if you find one that hascrumbled, simply replace it with a new one. If you find a roll inyour collection where the rubber band had melted on to the paperthis simply means you haven't played that roll in years! Rubberbands do not deteriorate in a couple of months. I don't think I haveever seen a roll that was destroyed or even seriously damaged by adisintegrating rubber band.

Proper roll care consists of tapping the paper while stillloose from playing against the right flange. This aligns the paperso that it will be properly aligned for the next time it is played. Nowit is important to realize that unless you take the next step that paperis not going to stay aligned against that right flange. Tighten thepaper on the roll down to the point where the paper begins tosqueak. This expresses excess air from between the layers of paper,thus preventing oxidation and the effects of variations in humidity.


Most importantly, with the paper properly aligned and held downin a proper position, it will assume a new set and will play bettereach time it is replayed.

It does not matter what type of holding mechanism youchoose, paper, string, rubber band, or Velcro. If you really under-stand roll physiology you will use some sort of mechanical deviceto keep that paper tight on the roll while it is in storage. For 88-note rolls, I use #14 rubber bands in one-pound boxes from OfficeDepot. They appear to be high quality and you sure get a lot ofrubber bands in a pound.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS

This is an observation gained from repairing thousands ofrolls over several years on the Piano Roll Repair Table.

PREVENTING ROLL TEARING ON REROLL

Many cardboard piano roll tubes are slightly shorter thanthe width of the paper. When the roll is completely played, i.e., allor most of the paper is on the take-up spool, the left idler flange isleft unsupported by the paper. If this flange is the least bit loose inthe tube, the spring on the left side of the spool box will tend topush the left flange inward to the point where it is supported by theleft end of the cardboard tube. This results in a condition wherethe distance between the two flanges is less than the width of thepaper. Thus upon rewind the paper tears on one side or the other,usually the left. This condition is easily remedied by simply placingone or two small rubber bands on the insert portion of the flange.These must be small rubber bands as they need to fit inside theoverhang of the paper. The addition of the rubber bands keeps theflange from being shoved in by the spring in the spool box. If thisstill does not solve the problem, place another rubber band on theflange post to hold the flange further out. It will also help to wrapsome tape around the post so that it is not so loose. I think that youwill find that this simple procedure will save a lot of rolls.

REPAIRING BRIDGES

Frequently, when bridges are broken throughout a longrun, the note will collapse inward to a point where the sides of thelong note touch. This in turn has pulled everything else inward andthe remainder of the notes no longer play. The first thing to do isto use a hot iron to flatten out the paper. Make every attempt to re-turn the paper along its full width, and in doing so the long noterun can usually be made to return to its correct width. Sometimesit takes a little digital manipulation to put things where they needto be.

To repair those bridges, first take a piece of your favoritetape and place it on a hard surface like counter top material;Formica, for example. Next cut across the width of the tape with aknife at 1/8 to 1/16” intervals. At this point the tape is still stuck tothe cutting surface. Slide the tip of the blade under one end of yourlittle bridge repair piece and peel it off the surface, letting it adhereto the knife. Using the knife blade transfer the piece to the area tobe repaired and press it into place. You need not repair everybridge; the tape has enough strength to maintain the integrity ofthat note run even if you only place a bridge repair every inch orso. I have also reinforced a collapsing long run by making a bridge

where there was none before. I've not been able to hear that thismakes any difference. Now on the back of the roll paper, whereyou have the bare sticky side of the tape exposed, raise the paperoff the table and apply some talcum powder with the tip of yourfinger.

WANDERING PAPER ON THE ROLL

Several years ago I bought a collection that contained sev-eral Electra rolls. Almost to a roll, the paper wandered back andforth while trying to play, making them almost impossible to play. Here is the solution I worked out that solved the problem. It is notan instant fix, and will take several days to a week.

While you are slowly rerolling, pay close attention andkeep the right border of the paper up tight against the right flange.Once the roll is completely rerolled, tap it strongly on the rightflange to further assure that all the paper is correctly aligned. Oncethis is done, tighten the paper down to the point where it begins tosqueak. Now put a rubber band around the roll to hold it in thatposition. Put the roll away for days and then try to play it. Whatyou have done is to force the roll into its proper set. You mighthave to do this several times before it is completely correct.

PIANO ROLL BOX REPAIR

The final step in my roll repair is the box and the boxlabel. The level of box repair is determined by the amount of dam-age to the box and the rarity of the box. Obviously one needs tospend more effort on an Ampico or a Duo Art box than on an ob-scure 88-note box. Years ago, I bought one complete run of 1000+fold-up boxes from John Miller, the developer of the Piano RollLabel Making Program. These boxes, at $1.00 each, were a quickand easy way to replace an unrepairable box. Before folding andstapling the box and top into the finished shape, I lay them flat andspray them an appropriate color: black for Ampico, brown for Duo-Art, etc. For the actual box repair I use a heavy black ¾” tape thatI buy from U-Line. I first take a sanding block and, where neces-sary, remove the fuzzy edge before applying the tape. On morevaluable boxes, I replace missing end panels with portions of oldsalvaged box parts. I affix these end panels with the black U-Linemasking tape.

For the final touch, I produce three new labels. If the boxhas one good original label, I don't put a new label on that end, butdo put a new label on the other end. On occasion, a label is requiredfor a new leader or where a label is missing on the old leader. Anyspare labels are put in the box in case one is ever lost.

I use the John Miller label making program extensively.The amount of work John has put into this program is impressive.There are labels for virtually every type and brand of roll made overthe last 100-plus years. You will need a computer and a colorprinter to use this program. I use 3M Adhesive Spray, availablefrom Wal-Mart, to affix the labels to the boxes.

Cosmetically, box appearance can be improved by the useof colored felt tipped markers. Little scuffles can be colored in toquickly and easily make a box look much better. For more exten-sive coverage, I use liquid shoe polish applicators that have asponge pad applicator. This product can be obtained from Wal Martand comes in black, blue, brown and white.


CONCLUSION

Contrary to general thinking, rolls that are in the worstshape are the ones most deserving of restoration. These rolls wereadmired and played repeatedly, thus accounting for their sad state.Restoring a piano roll to playing/scannable condition can be a re-warding experience. In the forgoing discussion I have tried to re-move as much as possible, the more tedious repetitious aspects ofroll repair. I have introduced several techniques which are appar-ently not known to most other restorers: the electric clothes iron,the hardboard template for making leaders and better techniquesfor repairing curled up edges of the roll. I have presented what are,in my opinion, cogent arguments for the use of Scotch Magic Tapeand the use of rubber bands. Several other techniques have beendiscussed which will improve your restored roll output. I've beencalled a bulk restorer; a label of which I'm proud.

1) Piano Roll Label Maker, software fromwww.PianoRollStuff.com . Copyright 2000-2006 by John W. Millerand Haas Musical Instrument Repair, Inc. $49.95 plus shipping.There is an incredible amount of information on this C.D. You getyour money's worth.

2) Roll Repair Supplies: QRS Music Technologies. Roll re-pair supplies; flanges, cardboard tubes, roll paper, and end-tabs.QRS tends to be higher-priced. On their internet sitehttp://www.qrsmusic.com , click on the middle picture(roll boxes),and it will show you their product line.

3) If you want larger quantities, try: Richard and Janet Ton-

nesen, 903 Sandalwood Avenue, Richardson, TX 79080-3039,phone 972-235-4497. E-mail: [email protected] . They alsohave excellent roll boxes.

4) Player Piano Parts Inc, 704 E. 2nd St., Wichita, KS 67202.Phone 317-263-3241. www.playerpianocompany.com .

5) ULINE for Box repair: heavy black masking tape. Internet:www.uline.com or phone: 1-800-295-5510. Mod. #S-2489, ¾ x 60yd. Minimum order 12 @ $2.65/roll (specify black). This is anexcellent product for box repair but because of the 12-roll minimumorder you might want to split the order with another person.

6) Roll repair table: Tom Hutchinson, 15361 Hopper Road,Sturgeon, MO 65284. Internet: [email protected] . Phone:573-442-6675. On future sales of The Roll Repair Table, I will beincluding a leader-making jig and an asbestos pad for your iron atno charge.

7) Bard-Parker surgical knife handle and blades. If you havea nurse/doctor friend, check with them. These knife handles comein a plastic disposable model. The blades will last almost indefi-nitely. Numerous sources on the internet.

Longitudinal splits before and after

Edge damage before and after

Damaged boxes before and after

Ed. Note: Author Tom Hutchinsonmay be contact at: 15361 Hopper Road

Sturgeon, MO 65284(573) 442-6675<[email protected]>


AMICA 2009 BOARD MEETING

ROLL CALL AND INTRODUCTIONS

The meeting was called to order on Wednesday, July 22,2009 by President, John Motto-Ros.

Board Members present: President-John Motto-Ros, PastPresident-Mike Walter, Vice President-Tim Baxter, Secretary-Mar-lene Beckman, Membership Secretary-Bill Chapman, ConventionCoordinator-Frank Nix, Memorial Fund Chairman-Ray Dietz, Web-site Manager-Karl Ellison, Boston Rep.- Robert Hunt, ChicagoRep.- Richard Van Metre, Founding Rep.-Lyle Merithew and SandySwirsky, Midwest Rep.-Don Johnson, Northern Lights Rep.-PaulWatkins, Southern California Rep.- Shirley Nix, SOWNY Rep.-Holly Walter, and Rocky Mountain Rep.-Jere DeBacker

Board Members absent: Treasurer- Robbie Tubbs,Archives-Tom Hutchinson, Audio Visual and Technical-HaroldMalakinian, Heart of America Rep.-Gary Craig, Lady Liberty Reps.Marvin and Dianne Polan. Pacific Can-Am Rep.-Dan Brown, andTexas Reps.-John and Suzanne McCall.

Mike Kukral has resigned as publisher of the Bulletin. AMOTION was made by Tim Baxter and seconded by Frank Nixthat Terry Smythe be installed as editor/publisher. The AMICABoard has authority to make this appointment as outlined in the By-Laws. Motion passed.

MINUTES FROM 2008 BOARD MEETING REPORTS

A motion was made by Tim Baxter and seconded by MikeWalter . Approve the minutes as published in the October/Novem-ber2008 Bulletin . Motion passed.

All reports are included in the Board Meeting agenda andwill be published in the September/October 2009 Bulletin so werenot individually read.

Additions to officer and chapter reports are as follows:Vice President: Tim Baxter encouraged members to send nomina-tions for awards.

Past President: Mike Walter will chair the nominatingcommittee for 2010.

Boston Chapter: Bob Hunt reported that their chapterproject of restoring a player piano is completed. Bob demonstratedthe piano at the Summerfest Festival in Windom, Maine.

Northern Lights: Paul Watkins commented on the im-portance of having all members notified of AMICA events.

Southern California: Frank Nix reviewed two futurerallies, October 10 and 11 will be in Sutter Creek and in Januarythe rally is in Hansford, CA.

SOWNY: Holly Walter reported that their chapter hasseveral new members and plans six meetings for this year.Memorial Fund: Terry Smythe will be given names of donors andthe persons being memorialized for publication in the Bulletin.

Membership Secretary: Bill Chapman will be availableto support the new membership secretary after the 2010 elections.Part of the job is recruiting new members.

Nominating Committee: We will need to elect a VicePresident, Secretary, Treasurer, and Membership Secretary to takeoffice after the 2010 Convention.

Convention Coordinator: Frank Nix gave an update onfuture conventions. Discussion centered on the need to not rely onlarge collections in host cities. We can rely on fellowship and local

activities when planning a convention. Web site Correspondence: President Motto-Ross com-

mented that Jack Edwards of San Jose answers questions for theweb site and is an invaluable resource and Ambassador for AMICA.

Honorary Members: This is now called Hall of Fame.Lee Munsick has requested that his name which was added in 1969be removed from the list. Karl Ellison has web site information ofall Hall of Fame members up to date.

NEW BUSINESS

A. Merger of Sierra-Nevada and Founding Chapter -

Because of a continuing problem in filling chapter officer vacan-cies, the Sierra Nevada chapter voted to merge with the Foundingchapter at the April 2, 2009 meeting. A MOTION was made byJohn Motto-Ros and seconded by Terry Smythe to merge the chap-ters and the money in the treasury. The motion passed.

B. What is our policy about placing address/directions of

AMICA private home “Events” on our web site? I would thinkthis is a security issue for the collection owner. Should we onlyshow events held at public venues? Should we include all eventsbut leave out the address/phone number and maybe include just anemail address for private home meetings?-Karl EllisonMOTION: Tim Baxter moved and Mike Walter seconded the mo-tion. When posting events on the public web site, the event andgeneral location with the date of the event along with a button list-ing a contact person at the local level be published on the publicpart of the web site. The motion passed.

C. Publisher Discussion: Terry Smythe explained his ideas asPublisher/Editor of the Bulletin. He will add new columns in theBulletin: “The Story Behind….” Will explain the provenance ofinstruments owned by members. “How It All Started” will relatehow members got involved in the hobby of automatic music. Terryexplained what is needed when sending articles to be published.Newspaper articles need to be original copies with documentationof the city, date, and name of newspaper. Photos of members needa caption with names of persons. Terry will offer a variety of ar-ticles on different subjects so there will be something of interest foreveryone in future Bulletins. MOTION: Tim Baxter moved andMike Walter seconded the motion. Reinstate a policy giving afree one inch classified ad of up to 100 words to members whorenew their AMICA membership. The motion passed. The newdirectory will include a map of states with chapter lines highlighted.

D. Convention exposure to general public: I would like to seefuture conventions promote AMICA in the local area. This couldbe a limited specific time to view machines in the Hospitality Suitewith some publicity ahead of time in the local media. John Motto-Ros. MOTION: Tim Baxter moved and Holly Walter secondedthe motion. We want to have a public event at each convention solocal media can attend. This will promote AMICA. The Conven-tion Committee will have discretion in planning the event. Themotion passed.

E. Nominating Committee MOTION: John Motto-Ros madethe motion which was seconded by Richard VanMetre. A nominat-ing committee of the following people will secure nominations forVice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Membership Secretary:


John Motto-Ros, Frank Nix, Mike Walter, Tim Baxter, Bill Chap-man, Terry Smythe, and Carl Dodrill. Motion passed.

Nominating Committee Report. The Nominating Committee ofAMICA International is responsible for the selection of individualsto fill positions on the AMICA International Board. We are cur-rently looking for an individual to fill the position of Vice President,which will lead to the position of President in the future. The VicePresident acts as a liaison between and among the chapters, coor-dinates the nominating and voting of the annual AMICA awards,and acts as presiding officer at meetings of AMICA Internationalin the absence or incapacity of the president. We are looking for anindividual who supports our organization, would be willing to at-tend annual conventions and shows an interest in all forms of au-tomatic musical instruments. Anyone interested in this position cancontact the following individuals for more information:

Timothy Baxter - [email protected] Chapman - [email protected] Dodrill - [email protected] Mottoros - [email protected] & Shirley Nix - [email protected] Smythe - [email protected] Walter - [email protected]

Respectfully submitted,

Mike WalterChairman, Nominating Committee

6. OTHER NEW BUSINESS:

F. Update By Laws for Publication in the 2009 AMICA Member-ship Directory. MOTION: Tim Baxter moved and Mike Walterseconded the motion. The President will provide a new copy ofAMICA By Laws to be kept by the secretary. Motion passed.

G. Hall of Fame: The Hall of Fame is now called the AMICAHONOR ROLL. Tom Stengel is the Chairman. Rules for theHonor Roll will be available in the new Membership Directory.

7. ADJOURNMENT: Since there was no additional business,the meeting was adjourned at 12:18 PM.

INFORMATION ITEM: Awards presented at the 2009 Banquet:President’s Award: “ I am presenting this year’s President’s Award

to Richard Tonnesen for the pioneering work he did in computer-ized roll copying. He started from zero over 30 years ago and cre-ated a roll copying system that is still producing quality rolls.”John Motto-Ros

International Award: The AMICA International Award will

be awarded to Jim and Sherrie Krughoff of Downers Grove, Illi-nois. Jim and Sherrie have been extremely gracious to AMICA formany years, opening their wonderful (and wonderfully maintained)collection, as well as providing excellent hospitality to both localand international meetings of AMICA. AMICA is deeply gratefulfor their continued generosity and is pleased to present them withthe 2009 AMICA International Award.

OrnsteinLiterary Award: The Leo Ornstein Literary Award

will be awarded to Brian Dolan in recognition of his excellentbook published in 2008: Inventing Entertainment-The Player Pianoand the Origins of an American Musical Industry. This importantwork traces the social and cultural history of the player piano anddemonstrates how the player piano industry shaped and trans-formed the American Musical Industry. As hobbyists some eightyyears removed from the player piano’s heyday, we sometimes losesite of the “bigger picture” in which instruments fit at the time oftheir creation.

AMICA 2009 REPORTS

PRESIDENTS REPORT

2008 was a good year for AMICA with a sustained mem-bership of 1200. Last year the Board voted for a dues increase of$8 per household. Despite our declining economy, we still havearound 1200 members in 2009. The introduction of PayPal for join-ing AMICA on line has worked very well. Our annual conventionin Woodland Hills, CA, was a huge success with nearly 200 in at-tendance and a good time for all.

The Board also decided to publish a new Membership Di-rectory in the summer of 2009, which will be issued in place of oneBulletin. This will be done as a cost/budget reduction for 2009.

The AMICA website is stellar. All AMICA Bulletins sinceinception are accessible to all members at the "Members Only" sec-tion of the site. Many interesting advertisements and related litera-ture are there for everyone to enjoy—thanks to Terry Smythe.

AMICA lost two prominent long-time members in 2008:Past President, Maury Willyard, and Durrell Armstrong, who fur-nished player piano supplies. Both promoted AMICA and definitelywill be missed.

I mention "You Tube" from time to time. It has given ourhobby exposure all around the world and continues to do so every-day—Free!

I am presenting this year's President's Award toRICHARD TONNESEN for the pioneering work he did in com-puterized roll copying. He started from zero over 30 years ago andcreated a roll copying system that is still producing quality rolls.Respectfully submitted,

JOHN A. MOTTO-ROS, President, AMICA International, SutterCreek, CA

VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT

It has been a privilege to serve as your Vice President for2008-2009. The office of the Vice President has two principal du-ties: (1) acting as a chapter liaison, and [2] chairing the awards com-mittee for the AMICA International Award and the Leo OrnsteinLiterary Award.

Chapter Liaison

This area continues to improve. Most Chapters now sendme invitations and notices about Chapter activities, whether by e-mail or snail mail. I would ask again that each Chapter place meon its mailing and/or e-mail list for Chapter functions. My ad-

AMICA Bulletin - Sept/Oct 2009244

dresses:

Tim Baxter 939 Briarcliff Rd., NE Atlanta, GA 30306-4664e-mail: baxdig(5)mindspring.com

Awards

An awards committee, consisting of Dave Saul, SpencerChase and I considered nominations for the AMICA InternationalAward and the Leo Ornstein Literary Award. The committee's rec-ommendations are as follows:

International Award

The AMICA International Award will be awarded toJim and Sherrie Krughoff of Downers Grove, Illinois. Jim andSherrie have been extremely gracious to AMICA for many years,opening their wonderful (and wonderfully maintained] collection,as well as providing excellent hospitality to both local and interna-tional meetings of AMICA. AMICA is deeply grateful for their con-tinued generosity and is pleased to present them with the 2009AMICA International Award.

Ornstein Literary Award

The Leo Ornstein Literary Award will be awarded toBrian Dolan in recognition of his excellent book published in2008: "Inventing Entertainment - The Player Piano And The Ori-gins Of An American Musical Industry". This important work tracesthe social and cultural history of the player piano and demonstrateshow the player piano industry shaped and transformed the Ameri-can Musical Industry. As hobbyists some eighty years removedfrom the player piano's heyday, we sometimes lose site of the "big-ger picture" in which instruments fit at the time of their creation.

AMICA is thus pleased to present Brian Dolan with the2008-2009 Leo Ornstein Literary Award.

Respectfully submitted, Timothy A. Baxter, Atlanta, GA

SECRETARY'S REPORT

Special thanks to Nadine Motto-Ros who acted as secre-tary in my absence at the convention in California last July. Duringthe past year I have monitored the AMICA Yahoo Group messages.I collected the officer, committee, and chapter reports and preparedthem for the 2008 Annual Board Meeting. Because the printing forthe Board Reports was donated, the only cost incurred was for thefolders and shipping. The reports were also included in the Octo-ber/November issue of the Bulletin. I am currently collecting in-formation to be included in the Report to the Board for theCincinnati convention in July.

Respectfully submitted, Marlene Beckman, Berryton, KS*


Past President Report

The duties of the Immediate Past President are to be amember of the Executive Committee and to supply to the Presidenthistory and opinions relating to current business matters, when re-quested by the President. The Immediate Past President also servesas Chairman of the Nominating Committee when appointed by thePresident.

So far, this year has not been full of momentous events. Ihave advised the President concerning a couple of matters. Nextyear should be busier with the election of some new officers.

Respectfully submitted,Mike Walter

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY'S REPORT

Membership Statistics:

July 31,1999 -1551 members June 1, 2000 -1494 membersJune 1, 2001 -1459 members June 1, 2002 -1375 members July 15,2003 -1354 members

June 1, 2004 - 1341 membersJune 1, 2005 - 1315 membersJune 1, 2006 - 1233 membersJune 1,2007- 1279 members*May 1,2008- 1176 members*May 29, 2009 - 1147 members* (paid memberships = 1121)* This total includes - Affiliates, Founding Members, Honorary;and 2 Utility records.New Members 2007 = 762008 = 41 projected 15 more by December 2008.2009 = 91

Discussion: The 91 figure above should not be taken asan uptrend. This figure is inflated by capturing a number of previ-ous year's dropouts, more than normal gift subscriptions, and a largenumber of applications that came in after the reporting date in 2008before the economic crisis. The President's emphasis on recruitingnew members has helped reduce the loss.

Efforts were made by the President and myself to encour-age activity related to new members. Local chapters were asked tomake a special effort to welcome and mentor new members at theirchapter meetings. A list of new members was sent to each chapter.It was sorted by zip code to make it easy to identify location of themembers. A letter was included requesting the chapter to invite thenew members to meetings and welcome them.

Dropouts (non renewals] 159 drop-out members for 2008.This is about the same as last year. Net loss of paid membershipsis 29, far less than previous years indicating AMICA may be downto hardcore, long term members who are committed to the organi-zation.

Renewal notices (320) were sent to the previous year'sdropouts (2007). This resulted in about 14 renewals from peoplewho dropped out for one year.

Postal Rates have increased again. Both First Class lettersare up 1 cent, but mailing costs for Bulletins, Membership Direc-tories, Information packets are significantly higher—in the rangeof $8 wherein $6 was a usual figure in the past year.

Note: For future reference, all members who used SurfaceMail are still coded in the computer as "S" but Queried to reflectAirmail. Retaining the "S" coding identifies those persons who maydrop out with increased rates, and should a lower rate be institutedby the Post Office in the future it would be easy to notify members.Advertising New applications are coming with the new, brighterbrochure. AMICA's web site promotes applications, but needs ahigher priority for the search engines. A search on "player piano"did not reveal AMICA until the 41st page. The applications fromthe web site tend to come in small bunches with long intervals be-tween applications. Several 'old time' members re-applied afterhaving found the site. Applications from the web site are increas-ing.

Submitted byBill Chapman, La Quinta, CA

ARCHIVES

It has been rather quiet on the Arnica Archive front. There havebeen no new contributions in several years. There were only threeto four requests for old bulletins and these were filled when avail-able. With the work by Terry Smyth in putting the Bulletins on line,the Archivists position is basically the storage of old, now ratheruseless old bulletins.

Respectfully submitted,Tom Hutchinson, Archivist, Sturgeon, MO

OUR PUBLISHED HERITAGE

Introduction

Some 4 years ago, in realization that we have an opportu-nity to make good use of the magic and power of the internet, Ibegan a program of digital archiving, making a beginning with ourAMICA Technicalities to establish proof of concept. That initialmodest beginning has gradually expanded to embrace our AMICABulletins, original Literature, and selected publications either inpublic domain or with permission.

AMICA Bulletins

Our AMICA Bulletins are now on-line to most current 18issues. These 18 issues, while in existence in digital PDF format,are withheld from our on-line website to protect their subscriptionvalue. The PDF files on-line are in compressed optimized format.All will be available from AMICA in high resolution format on aDVD disc. This should be an excellent research resource for ourmembers.

This project had its origin within a casual conversationwith new member Roger Stumfoll of Pittsburg, KS at the 2005 Con-vention in Minneapolis. He approached me about an article ofmine of many years previous. Knowing he was a new member, Iinquired how he managed to know about my old article. It seemsthat he was a guest during a Chapter meeting, and acquired a smallcollection of AMICA Bulletins about to be disposed. That Chaptermeeting and small bundle of old Bulletins inspired him to becomea member. That chance discussion made me realize that all ournew members had no way to research AMICA's history. Now it's


possible.

Index

As a companion to digital archiving of the Bulletins, ourfirst ever complete computerized master index of all articles everpublished is now available on-line. By the time this report appearsbefore the Board, this master index will be complete, and will beupdated with each passing issue of our AMICA Bulletin. The Mas-ter Index will betavailable on disc from AMICA, within the DVDdisc containing the whole of our AMICA Bulletins.

Obenchain Catalog

Thaddeus Kochanny, an AMICA member from Chicagoarea, perceived a need to republish the Obenchain Ampico Catalogin digital format. He first approached me with the idea and I urgedhim to first appeal for permission to do so from the holder of thecopyright, held by the Vestal Press. The current owners of theVestal Press granted permission, and following that, Thad contactedElaine Obenchain as a courtesy to advise her of our intentions.

Elaine happily concurred with Thad's initiative, condi-tional that a substantial improvement in visual appearance be im-plemented. That meant that the whole of the book needed to beOCR scanned and edited. Thad invited Brian Benson to assisthim with this initiative. My role in this was the easy part - OCRscanning. Brian and I experimented with various scanner settingsand I then scanned the whole of the book through OCR.

As the original type face was a conventional typewriterwith a fabric ribbon, it presented a most challenging OCR project.The OCR scan produced at best about a 90% accurate output.Brian and Thad then spent many, many months examining everysingle character and editing it into a whole new format. The orig-inal book's 197 pages expanded into 690 pages in electronic form.The resulting display on a computer screen is a dramatic improve-ment in appearance and legibility. Brian and Thad are to be com-mended.

Purple Welte Book

Dick Howe, of Houston Texas, co-authored "The Welte-Mignon, It's Music and Musicians, with Charles Davis Smith in1995. He persuaded AMICA to fund the initial print run in returnfor AMICA holding the copyright and retaining any modest profitsthat might emerge. The complete original run was sold out in acouple years and a modest profit to AMICA did emerge.

Dick perceived a need to re-issue the book in electronicformat and approached me with his initiative. The original printphotographic plates, while still available, could not be used for con-version to electronic format. The original typewritten manuscript,emerging from an MTST electronic typewritter, was no longeravailable, nor was its companion magnetic tapes. Therefore, theonly alternative was to OCR scan the book itself.

AMICA member Dave Kerr loaned me his copy, and IOCR scanned all 1,000 pages. As all pages were all printed in ex-cellent font and appearance, the OCR result was 99.999% accurate,requiring little or no editing. The book is now on a self-startingCD, and will be available from AMICA, in disc format only.

Original Literature

About 4-5 years ago, in realization that my heirs wouldone day most likely dispose of all my collection of original litera-ture without regard to the value of its contents, I started scanningmy own collection into electronic PDF format. These PDF filesare relatively large and I quickly ran out of website space. At thattime, Jody Kravitz kindly made available some disk space on MMDto help establish proof of concept. To date, about 100+ items frommy personal collection are now available off my personal web site,although stored on the MMD server.

A couple years ago, our Webmaster, Karl Ellison, negoti-ated with Yahoo an inexpensive contract providing for unlimiteddisk storage space and unlimited file transfer. That provided anopportunity to donate my collection of digital PDF files to AMICAto establish a beginning of an on-line library based upon my origi-nal proof of concept. There are now some 225+ items now avail-able on-line, and growing constantly as AMICA members loanpieces of their original literature.

This is really not new, as Robin Pratt, our Publisher ofmany years, negotiated with our Board and our printer, EnglerPrinting, to reproduce many items out of his personal collection oforiginal literature. They emerged from time to time as freebieswithin our AMICA Bulletin. What we are doing now is quite sim-ilar, only the method has changed.

Our quest for original literature is colliding with elderlymembers who dispose of their collection of original literature eitheron eBay or by institutional donation. Either way, access to themis effectively denied. One by worldwide dispersal, and the otherby unfriendly institutional policies forcing personal visits for ac-cess.

Best example is the mammoth Howe Collection donatedto the University of Maryland (UML] in 1996. UML will onlyallow access to the Howe Collection on their premises during theirhours of business. A few people have successfully done this withsatisfactory results. However, no attempt is being made to digitizethe Howe Collection, which effectively denies access to all AMICAmembers but a few living in the immediate vicinity of College Park,MA. Similar policies exist in other institutions that I encounter inmy quest for original literature.

That means that access to original literature, as Plan B, isby appealing to AMICA members to loan pieces from out of theirpersonal collections, BEFORE eBay disposal or institutional dona-tion. This is of critical importance because if not BEFORE, thenaccess after is basically impossible. An appeal is expressed to allmembers to consider loaning items of original literature from outof their collections in a timely manner while still possible to do so.All the original literature on our AMICA web site is in compressed,optimized format. A DVD containing all of the original literatureon our AMICA web site, in high resolution format, will be availablefrom AMICA, as an option to downloading, or for research wherehigh resolution may be needed.

Other Publications

In 1961, Harvey Roehl published the "Player Piano Treas-ury" through his newly built Vestal Press. The publication and hisVestal Press had the effect of provoking and nourishing an everwidening interest in this unique slice of our musical heritage. Hisever expanded offerings of reprints of original literature kept us


nourished in satisfaction of our hunger for new/old information.Then Vestal Press was sold, and not long after Harvey

passed away. Thereafter, in the absence of new/old information,AMICA membership began to shrink. Then Robin Pratt took upthe torch and carried on continuing to nourish this hunger fornew/old information. Our current Publisher, Dr. Mike Kukral, con-tinued and from time to time, a nifty reprint appears as if by magic.

There are a number of items in the Vestal Press catalogthat we would like to reissue in digital PDF format Permission todo so is being sought and we are optimistic.

It is interesting to note that 48 years after Harvey's initialbook, Player Piano Treasury, Brian Dolan has recently published"Inventing Entertainment, The Player Piano and the Origins of anAmerican Musical Industry". This is a commendable book, repre-senting extensive interviews with respected old-timers in our avo-cation, particularly referencing AMICA and its members, evenmanaging to do some research within the Howe Collection. Hisfootnotes and bibliography are an outstanding roadmap for furtherresearch by interested members.

I have just learned from Kevin Brown that "SellingSounds" by David Suisman, is about to be released. It containsmuch about the Commercial Revolution in American Music, andfocuses attention on the mechanical music machines industry.Advance copies ac be ordered off Amazon for $29.95. Hopefully,these 2 publications will mark a revival of interest in our publishedheritage, and just possibly lead to a kind of repeat of what HarveyRoehl provoked and nourished nearly 50 years ago.

Respectfully submittedTerry Smythe, Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada

CONVENTION CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

Our convention last year in Woodland Hills, Californiawas very successful, and many thanks to all who made it possible.2009 will find us in Cincinnati, hosted by the Midwest chapter.2010 - S.O.W.N.Y. will host us in Buffalo, New York.

I have had very little success convincing chapters to hostconventions, and hope we'll see some volunteers. If the chapterswon't host, then the convention will not be held. That will be ashame. Talk to your members and host a convention in your area.We'll help you all we can, and it isn't an impossible task.

Submitted by: Frank Nix, Convention Coordinator Woodland Hills,CA

AMICA HALL OF FAME REPORT 2009

The reins of the AMICA Hall of Fame are being turnedover to Tom Stengel, a relatively new member of the SOWNYChapter of AMICA. Tom's interest in the music of yesteryear goesback many decades. He has always been interested in music of theteens through the forties and has a fine collection of recordings oncylinder, disc and vinyl. More recently, though, he has been bittenby the piano roll bug, with the purchase of an Estey 88 note spinetplayer piano. Also, an upright Ampico has introduced him to manymore legends of the piano keyboard.

Tom is intrigued by the accomplishments of early artistsand enjoys researching their histories. Jay Albert, the previous Hallof Fame Chairman, has forwarded to Tom all of the relevant files

of the position and I'm certain that there will be a wealth of infor-mation that can be used to great advantage.

Respectfully submitted,Mike Walter, Past President, Lancaster, NY

MEMORIAL FUND REPORT

There were 29 donors to the Memorial Fund for 2009. Thetotal amount donated was $1725.00.

Bird, Linda & Galen in memory of Maury WillyardMiholovich, Aileen in memory of Maury WillyardChicago Chapter in memory of Maury WillyardBallard, Nancy & DavidCappel, Ron & DonnaChase, Tom & MarilynDiamond, Franklin & MarthaEltzroth, DeeFord, AllenGeasland, GordonIsogai, Norio & ChiekoMiller, CarlMotto-Ross, John & NadineParisella, RalphPolan, Marvin & DiannePolerstock, Robert & PamelaRathbun, Arnold & CarolReichert, Larry & MarilynStevens, Jack & NancyTracey, EdTurrin, Tom & AnnVanOpdrop, JohnWhitney, BillHechler, DuaineAndre, NormanClarke, Gail & DorthyMetcalf, Peter & JudithBarrett, AndrewKurt Morrison & Keith Hannah

Respectfully Submitted,Ray Dietz, Memorial Committee Chairman, Martinsville, VA

TEST ROLL PROJECT REPORT

Orders for the Test Roll Project have diminished in thepast year although there have been inquiries for test rolls frommembers of AMICA and outside of AMICA

There were two major orders for Test Rolls, both fromdealers who were members of AMICA. The main request was forthe Welte Test Roll.

A supply of Test Rolls will be available at the Mart.I am looking forward to other Test Roll releases in the fu-

ture.

Respectfully submitted, Mike Walter, Lancaster, NY


WEBSITE MANAGER’S REPORT

All of the new content that's been added in the last yearresides behind the "Members-Only" section of the website. To ac-cess this area, you will need the Username and Password that ispublished in the most current AMICA Bulletin. This space containsspecial features that should be kept private for AMICA members.This is not for the general public, but for you, the dues-payingMember. PLEASE preserve the value of this content - and that ofyour Subscription to AMICA by not sharing the password to thesepages.

This year has seen an epic collection of work done by AM-ICAn Terry Smythe -Completed! - the conversion of every AMICABulletin published is now available to Members on our "Members-Only" section of the website. This project, gifted to AMICA fromTerry, has spanned several years of laboriously scanning and cor-recting every page to be as true to the original as possible. Accom-panying this work is a fully searchable index to assist you in findingany author or title name in this vast collection. We hope that some-day there will be an easy tool to allow any member to search forarticles using 'keywords'.

Also notable additions have been in the LITERATUREsection of the Members-Only area. Terry has scanned documentsbelonging to him or otherwise are borrowed, providing high qualityreplications of various literature published by Manufacturers. Manynew additions have been installed on our website.

Placing the Bulletin's cover-page and table-of-contents onthe front of the website as a teaser has been valuable in attractingnew members. There are many videos posted on YouTube that men-tion AMICA and judging from the comments on one, these also areattracting new members. We've made it easy to join with a click ofthe mouse.

Looking forward, our present Membership Secretary willbe stepping down this coming year, and depending on the newMembership Secretary's technical skills, I may embark in the nextstep in automation - to allow members to log in to edit their sub-scription and Instrument collection data directly. The MBSI organ-ization has done this with some ongoing expenses that I feel wewouldn't have to incur if done in-house. We'll see if this can be afeasible project in 2010.

Karl EllisonAMICA Website Manager, Salem, MA

Report on Correspondence Generated by the AMICA Web Site

The AMICA web site has generated several inquiries thisyear. Not all of them were recorded, but the general tenor of mostof the requests remains, "I inherited this piano. What is it worth?How can I sell it?" To this, I have developed a piece of boilerplateinto which I introduce suggestions when possible that may be morehelpful if I know where the poster is. Some examples of the moreinteresting correspondence are below.

A gentleman from New Zealand was surprised when hewas trying to find the title of a particular song. He sent a midi file.Bill Chapman, Stephen Goodman, John Motto-Ros, Janet Tonnesonand Mike Walter each identified the song within less than a day ofreceiving the file.

Terry Smythe put the Founding Chapter in touch with aspecial education teacher in San Francisco. The teacher uses midi

files from rolls to help her with autistic students. Between Terry,who has been the most helpful, and Bob Gonzalez and SpencerChase, this teacher has been supplied with several hundred midifiles.

I had a few requests for information on music boxes. I re-ferred these people to the MBSI. One person was very upset be-cause MBSI would not help him unless he joined the organization.

The last two requests that generated any real interest in-volved a student at the University of Delaware who was lookingfor dated advertising materials on automatic musical instrumentsother than player/reproducing pianos. I suggested Q. David Bowers'book, but the advertising in the book is un-dated. I also put out theword what he needed and some AMICAns have contacted him in-dependently. Lastly, a person wanted to know of people in his areawho could work on two nickelodeons. Surprisingly, I found fivepeople in his local area who do such work.

Inquiries from the site come in spurts. I can go a monthand get nothing and then be working pretty hard for a week, andthen nothing again. I try to send the inquirer a reply the same day Iget it even if the answer is, "I don't know, but I'll try to find out." Ihave received several notes of surprise that replies have been soquick. I answered the Delaware student less than a minute after hesent his request. It was sheer luck, but he was happy.

Submitted by Jack Edwards, San Jose, CA

BOSTON AREA CHAPTER REPORT

President: Phil Konop, Harvard, MAVice President: Bob Hunt, Kennebunk, MESecretary: Kirk Russell, Wakefield, RITreasurer: Dorothy Bromage, Billerica, MAReporter: Don Brown, Spokane, WABoard Representative: Bob Hunt, Kennebunk, ME

The Boston Area Chapter continued to be active in 2008with four meetings at members' homes, plus a very interesting pub-lic performance of a Mason and Hamlin Welte Upright at the New-port Music Festival, thanks to the efforts of AMICA membersRobert Bowerman and Kirk Russell.

2008

Winter 2-24-08/Hopkinton, MA/JacksonSpring 6-22-08/Woburn, MA/LavacchiaSummer 7-17-08/Newport, RI/Bowerman (Newport Music Festi-val)Fall 9-28-08/Weston, MA/Goldman11-16-08/Wayland, MA/Wiegand

2009

Winter 2-22-09/Nashua, NH/ChristiansenSpring 5-17-09/Harvard, MA/Konop

The Chapter project of restoring an Aeolian upright "footpumper" has been completed with the final re-assembly, pianowork, tuning and regulation done in the shop of AMICA memberRobert Hunt. In June, 2009, this piano will be used for a publicdemonstration of fun of Mechanical Music at the annual "Summer-


fest" in Windham, Maine. The piano will be accompanied by LanceMcLean, a very talented Banjo player and Dixieland Band Leader.The piano is a joy to pump, and has the big warm sound typical ofAeolian uprights. This event should be a lot of fun.

This piano will then go to The Charles River Museum ofIndustry in Waltham, Massachusetts where it will be on permanentdisplay.

Submitted by Bob Hunt, Board RepresentativeKennebunk, ME

CHICAGO AREA CHAPTER REPORT

President: Jerry Biasella, Chicago Heights, IL Vice President: Richard Van Metre, Park Ridge, IL Secretary: Carol Veome, Chicago, IL Treasurer: Joe Pekarek, East Dundee, IL Reporter: Curt Clifford, Villa Park, IL Board Representative: vacant

In March about 27 people enjoyed a delightful dinner/the-ater evening in Chicago. After dinner at a local restaurant we wentto see "The Black Pirate," a silent movie which was loaded withswashbuckling adventure laced with humor, romance and suspense.It featured two full-scale ships and was one of the very first colormovies. Local pianist David Drazin accompanied the movie with aterrific original piano score drawn from many sources. In additionwe saw a Mexican short called "La Cucaracha" with lots of music,amour, and dancing. Our treasurer reported that at the start of 2008we had $7565 in the bank and a total of 89 memberships, many ofwhich represent couples or families.

In June Paul and Cynthia Mayer hosted the group in theirhome in Oswego, IL. Despite threatening weather, lunch was en-joyed outdoors in their beautiful and spacious back yard. Paul of-fered a presentation on the Recordo piano expression system, usinghis 1929 Wurlitzer baby grand to demonstrate the rolls. He ex-plained that the Recordo system has a 98 hole tracker bar, with fiveholes at either end used to control roll operation and provide theexpression. He also described the history of Recordo roll-makingas it moved from manufacturer to manufacturer.

In June a group of 25 people were hosted by Vice Presi-dent Richard Van Metre and his wife Margaret Bisberg on a Sundayafternoon in their home in Park Ridge, IL. They have a mediumsize collection of disk and cylinder musical boxes, plus a SteinwayDuo Art piano, and a Victor Credenza phonograph.

About 200 people attended our holiday meeting in De-cember at the estate of Marian and Jasper Sanfilippo in BarringtonHills, IL. They have a spectacular 44,000 square foot home. Holi-day music was loaded and awaiting our arrival. The Mason & Ham-lin RAA Ampico B and Steinway AR Duo-Art reproducing pianoswere featured and docents played other instruments upon request.We gathered in the theatre for a business meeting followed by alive concert of holiday tunes by world renowned theater organist,Jelani Eddington. This put us all in the holiday spirit. After the con-cert the festivities moved to the Carousel Pavilion where we dinedin a setting with the 1890 Eden Palais Salon Carousel and 24 fair-ground and dance organs. The latest addition, a 92 key Decap danceorgan, was formerly in Svoboda's Nickelodeon Tavern and Mu-seum. We were also able to view the progress of the facade restora-tion for the colossal 110 key Gavioliphone and enjoy hearing it playa wonderful program. A new observation deck offers a spectacular

view of the adjacent Steam Engine Gallery, but operation on livesteam is still a year away.

Jasper did "fire up" a few engines on compressed air. Atthe close of 2008 our Treasurer, Joe Pekarek, reported that we have73 memberships of which more than six are new and we have over$7000 in the bank.

In 2009 we already have a schedule of home meetingsplanned and field trip ideas are also being explored. We continueto be a viable chapter in middle America.

Respectfully submitted,Carol Veome, Secretary, Chicago, IL

FOUNDING CHAPTER REPORT

President: John Ulrich, El Sobrante, CAVice President: Karen Simon, San Francisco, CASecretary: Bob & Bonnie Gonzalez, Corte Madera, CATreasurer: Lyle Merithew & Sandy SwirskyReporter/Newsletter: Jack & Diane Edwards, San Jose, CABoard Representative: Lyle Merithew & Sandy Swirsky, San Jose,CA

We currently have 47 paid members in the FoundingChapter, including a number of members from the Sierra NevadaChapter. We have had a good year of meetings in several members'homes all around Northern California. The chapter has begun plan-ning for the 50th Anniversary Convention in 2013. Our total treas-ury is $5, 233.20

Respectfully submitted by Lyle Merithew and Sandy Swirsky,Board Representatives, San Jose, CA

HEART OF AMERICA CHAPTER

President: Robbie Tubbs, Raytown, MOVice President: Dan Davis, Warrensburg, MOSecretary: Trudy Moffett, Leawood, KSTreasurer: Brian Graham, Olathe, KSReporter: H. C. and Marlene Beckman, Berryton, KSBoard Representative: Gary Craig, St. Louis, MO

The Heart of America Chapter of AMICA held four meet-ing in 2008: a Spring meeting at Blaine Thomas's in Manhattan,Kansas, an organ rally at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a late Summermeeting in Hutchinson, Kansas, and the Christmas meeting inKansas City.

In 2009, we had our first meeting in May at John and Bar-baraWashburns. At the time of writing this report there are at leasttwo more meetings planned. We will have a monkey organ rally attheBotanical Garden in St. Louis in September and a Christmasmeeting at the home ofMike and Sandy Schoeppner the first weekof December.

We have 86 members as of this writing. At any givenmeeting we will average around 25 attendees. For an organ rallywe usually can get 40 to 50 people and the Christmas meeting usu-ally attracts 30 to 40 people. We have around 30 inactive memberswho attend 1 or no meetings in any given year. We have some mem-berswho have attended one or less meetings in three years.

Submitted by Gary Craig, Board Representative, St. Louis, MO


LADY LIBERTY CHAPTER REPORT

President: Vincent W. Morgan, Queens Village, NY Vice President: Bill Maguire, Greenlawn, NY Secretary: Richard Karlsson, Staten Island, NY Treasurer: Maryam Morgan, Queens Village, NY Reporter: Martin Rosa, Brentwood,NYBoard Representatives: Marvin and Dianne Polan, Melville, NY

The Lady Liberty Chapter has currently 47 families (64individuals] who have paid their dues for 2009. A few people de-cided not to renew due to health problems. Every year we have peo-ple who think that they have paid, even though they have receivednumerous notices, electronically, hard copies and by phone. Mostof these usually pay eventually.

The usual organ rally at Coney Island was not held due toa very early date and the very cold and rainy weather. Our firstmeeting of the year was on Jan. 5th at the home of Paul Cianciaand Dennis Westervelt in New Jersey. This was actually the Dec.2007 meeting, but was delayed due to weather and holidays. Weenjoyed a great meal, the Hupfeld Violina, Mills Violano, a discphonograph that used a violin as the speaker, various reproducingpianos and many other marvelous instruments, all of which havebeen restored to "new" condition.

On April 26th we met at the home of Joe and Judy Han-ulec on Long Island. As always there, the star of the show was theWurlitzer Pianorchestra model 3 3-A. Three videos of this instru-ment have now been placed on You Tube. Also, two CD's of musicfrom this instrument are available from Joe Hanulec, Walter Kehowor Bob Stuhmer. The instrument is also for sale. Other instrumentsthere are several reproducing pianos, a Mills Violano and assortedmusic boxes. The chapter also held our first pumper contest on thenewly restored 66/88 player piano. The winner according to thepanel of judges was Joe Hutter. Since we don't have a "Footsie" wesubstituted with a CD of Bob Berkman's Klezmerola CD. By theway, if anyone reading this has yet to purchase that CD, they aremissing out on some fantastic music.

On June 21st we met at Bob Stuhmer's house for lunchand were entertained by his Wurlitzer 103 band organ, which hekept in his dining room. (He has since sold it and is in the processof replacing it with a larger instrument.) Bob arranges rolls forWurlitzer 125 and larger band organs, many of which are nowfound in theme parks and on carousels across the country. His Hal-loween rolls are favorites in October. We then caravanned to close-by Chaminade High School and were entertained on their large pipeorgan by fellow chapter member, Keith Gramlich. The organ wasrescued from an old theater in Queens Village, which is now achurch and the console was rescued from another theater, whoseowners now wish that they had it back.

On Thursday evening, September 25th we had a specialmeeting at the home of Marvin and Dianne Polan with specialguest, Hi Babit. These meetings are always well-attended. IraMalek and Walter Kehoe sang nearly every song from the 1920-sand 1930's. I don't think Hi was able to stump them on even oneobscure number. We all sang some of the songs, laughed a lot andhad a great time.

In December we met at the wonderful home of GlennThomas and his wife Kim Kleason in Belle Meade, NJ where wesaw his new music room that contained an almost finished Wurl-itzer 165 band organ (waiting for the restored facade), and several

other instruments waiting in line to be fully restored. We enjoyedthe newly acquired Link and many other instruments. Among thosein attendance were 11 people who are now restoring, or have re-stored, mechanical musical instruments. We were overjoyed tolearn that our chapter has so many talented people in this field. Wealso have other restorers who were not able to make it to the meet-ing.

No officers were vacating their positions, so we did notneed to have elections this time.

Respectfully submitted,Marvin and Dianne Polan, Board Representatives Melville, NY

MIDWEST CHAPTER REPORT

President: Don Johnson, Rochester Hills, MI V.P.: Liz Barnhart, Dayton, OH Secretary: Hilda Merchant, Farmington Hills, MI Treasurer: Alvin Wulfekuhl, Cincinnati, OH Reporter: Christy Counterman, Tallmadge, OH Board Rep: Liz Barnhart, Dayton, OH

The Midwest Chapter has 62 memberships. Our SpringMeeting was held in the Cleveland area with Karl and Carol Theilas hosts. On Saturday, we carpooled to downtown Cleveland's Play-house Square which houses the Ohio and State Theaters. It alsocontains the Allen and Palace Theaters where we had an onstageand backstage tour. We then visited the Holtkamp Organ Companywhich was founded in 1855. It is one of America's oldest and mostrespected builders of pipe organs and they produce 4-6 new organsevery year. Our tour included the design and building of new organsand the restoration process of others. After dinner, we went to theTheil's to enjoy their beautiful home and collection of Duo-Art andAmpico pianos. For our chapter meeting on Sunday, we returnedto the Theil's where we also held a small mart.

The summer meeting was held in Los Angeles during theArnica Convention since we had so many chapter members in at-tendance. Our main business concerns our 2009 Convention.Christy Counterman had designed our logo which represents ourtheme of "Music, Bells, and Riverboats" so we wore our new futureconvention shirts to the Arnica Business Meeting. Bob Andersenalso did a PowerPoint presentation to promote our Convention inCincinnati in July of 2009.

Our Convention Committee has held several meetings thisyear in preparation for the convention. The meetings have been oneday and were held in Findlay at the home of Wes and Sherri Neffsince Findlay is about halfway between Detroit and Cincinnati.

Our Fall Meeting was Oktoberfest in Motown. We had aguided tour of the Motown History Museum in Detroit. The Temp-tations and the Supremes were two musical groups who got theirstart at Motown. After the tour, we went to the home of Don John-son and Bob Andersen where we held an Oktoberfest. The table-cloths used had been brought home from Arnica's Convention inGermany-Holland in 2007. After dinner, we had a player pianosing-a-long. Our Sunday business meeting was back at Don andBob's with a roll mart held in the garage.

Submitted by,Liz Barnhart, Board Representative, Dayton, OH


NORTHERN LIGHTS CHAPTER REPORT

Northern Lights Chapter, Mpls / St. Paul MN, Manitoba, N. On-tario, N&S Dakota

President: Paul R. Watkins, Champlin, MNVice President; Ronald S. Olsen, Robbinsdale, MNSecretary: Michael LuBrant, Hastings, MNTreasurer: Barb Watkins, Champlin, MNBoard Representative: Alan Turner, Winnipeg, ManitobaReporter; Jerrilynn Boehland, Blaine, MN

Our chapter dues are $15 and with money from hostingthe 2005 Convention we have a balance of $4600. Of this, we in-vested $4000 in a short term CD to help grow our balance. We con-tinue to discuss ideas for using some of our money on a project,but for now no decisions have been made. We currently have amembership of 38 that represents 24 households with a "maybe po-tential" of 40 households. Our meetings and events seem mostly tofall on Sunday afternoons with an attendance of from 12 to 20members. A bigger attendance, weather permitting, occurs atChristmas. Our yearly schedule usually involves four to five "get-togethers" and these range from a member hosting to an outsideconcert event.

Utilizing our preplanned activities calendar we started Jan-uary 2009 with a luncheon meeting in downtown Historic Hudson,Wisconsin followed by a theater organ concert at the Phipps Centerfor the Arts (Hudson is E of Mpls/StP on the St Croix R). A superbconcert was presented by organist Jelani Eddington and the January31 midwinter day was delightfully warm and sunny.

In March, member, Don Barton, of Barton Player Piano,hosted his Ninth Annual Piano Roll Flea Market and Movie Event.The Flea Market was at his shop and the movie portion was held atthe Historic Heights Theater, Columbia Heights, MN with a 1925Wurlitzer theater organ accompaniment provided by Carl Eilers.Many may remember Carl's silent screen interpretive abilities fromvisiting this theater and hearing Carl play during the 2005 NationalConvention. This has been an annual event that Don sponsors toraise funds for the restoration of the Heights' organ in cooperationwith the local ATOS chapter.

In May we had an Hawaiian theme party hosted by PierreGirard and Dennis Borrell at their Golden Valley, MN residence.We enjoyed their recently restored 1925 5'8 Mason & HamlinGrand Piano, a 1950's Conn Classic Church Organ and fun washad with a 1930's IY2 hp John Deere Model E gasoline enginethat was originally used for pumping water.

August brings us to the home of David and Barb Kearnsin Maplewood, MN. Dave has a work of musical modification inprogress. He is taking the "core" of a two manual, seven rank, Wurl-itzer organ (formerly from the MacPhall Center For Music in Min-neapolis) and combining it with a converted Devtronix electronicorgan. Dave built this house with the intention of accommodatinga pipe organ for his and Barb's enjoyment. He also has a 1910Shimmel piano with a pianocorder and a grand piano.

December 2009 we will be Christmas partying with Billand Diane Nunn at Skyrock Farms in Hamel, MN. Bill is complet-ing a big addition to their indoor facility which houses band andfairground organs and a rideable four horse carousel. You may re-member Bill and Diane's collection of organs and carousel horsesand his rideable outdoor carnival train from the 2005 Convention.

We've heard about the addition and now we'll get to see how theyhave constructed a "European Beer Garden" atmosphere in the newarea.

This is the second year that we have been successful inselecting meeting dates and establishing our activities in advanceof a new chapter year. Last year we also adopted an Email Notifi-cation System that our secretary Michael LuBrant constructed. Thisenables Michael and chapter officers to easily and inexpensivelystay in contact with 98% of our members via email with the re-mainder by snail mail. Utilizing these ideas we email current, pastand potential members at the beginning of the year with a descrip-tive chapter agenda and then follow up with additional informationand reminders throughout the year. We think 1. advance planning,2. easy email notification and 3. a descriptive chapter agenda helpsto maintain current attendance and helps potential new membersevaluate our chapter's activities and the type of events we partici-pate in throughout the year.

Submitted by Paul Watkins, Chapter President, Champlin, MN

PACIFIC CAN-AM CHAPTER REPORT

President: Bill Mote, Arlington, WAVice-President: David Goodwin, Federal Way, WATreasurer: Mark Smithberg, Seattle, WASecretary: Judy Mote, Arlington, WAReporter: Larry Sanchez, Federal Way, WABoard Representative: Dan Brown, Spokane, WA

Chapter membership currently stands at 54 individualsand a total of 72 family members. Membership numbers remainstable. Four meetings a year are held, usually consisting of an openhouse, a potluck dinner, a demonstration, workshop, or perform-ance, and a mart. Recent locations have been Blaine, WA (you cansee Canada from there), Federal Way, WA, Seattle and West Seattle,WA. Members reside in the Pacific Northwest, including BritishColumbia, Canada. A special event in August, 2008 was a joint au-tomatic music festival with the Carousel Organ Association ofAmerica held in Washington's Bavarian Village, Leavenworth. Thiswas a hands-on event, with demonstrations of a wide variety of au-tomatic instruments including a player piano which was pumpedby young and old members of the public. Participating membersdeserve endurance awards, as record-setting temperatures of over100 degrees greeted each day of the three day festival.

Chapter funds are stable and facilitate the projects andmeetings of the chapter. The current fund balance is approximately$6,000. Kurt Morrison continues to oversee the maintenance anddemonstration of the Knabe Ampico grand at the Paramount The-atre in Seattle, consisting of about 10 events a month. Mark Smith-berg and Ron Babb are facilitating the foot-pumper restorationproject for the Museum of The Radio and Electricity in Bellingham,WA. This project has been on hold for awhile as the museum pre-pares the site for the piano to be a permanent display/demonstrationitem. Dan Brown and Ron Babb completed work at the BuckleyHistorical Museum to make their Pianola and Edison phonographfunctional for demonstrations.

The chapter was saddened by the loss of one of our found-ing members, Maury Willyard. He had been able to attend somemeetings in 2008 despite his illness and had always been an activeand involved member.


Submitted by Dan Brown, Board Representative, Spokane, WA

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER REPORT

President: Jere DeBacker, Denver, COVice President: Ken Hodge, Parker, COSecretary: Louise Lucero, Aurora, COTreasurer: Barry Weiss, Boulder,COBoard Representative: Jere DeBacker, Denver, COReporters: Larry Emmons, Ten Sleep, WY; Art Reblitz, ColoradoSprings, CO (Rotating, dependent on meeting attendance).

The Rocky Mountain Chapter had a quiet year with onlytwo chapter meetings. Our April, 2008 meeting was at Chris FingerPianos in Niwot, CO. We were treated to a concert via the recentlyrestored 1895 Steinway model A-l, 6'2" grand piano fitted with theWayne Stahnke LX Live Performance player system. Chris treatedus to an in-depth tour of their facilities and shop. Following themeeting we had dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant followed byan evening of pedal pumping. (Larry Emmons reported the eventand it is published in the June/July 2008 Bulletin).

Unfortunately our planned August Band Organ Rally wascanceled due to the cancellation of the Englewood (CO) Daysevent. (But it looks now that it will be an event for us in August2009!)

We are quite proud of our chapter VP, Ken Hodge, whohosted a presentation at the Parker CO Library on "History of theBelgium Street Organ" on Nov. 1, 2008. Ken then gave a StreetOrgan concert for the Denver Rescue Mission Christmas Party. Hefollowed that with a presentation at the VINTAGE VOLTAGEEXPO in Denver titled "Monkeying Around with Microchips"where his microchip equipped Alan Pell Harmonette 20 pipe Mon-key Organ performed for the audience. Ken makes sure he hasAMICA brochures available at his presentations.

Our second meeting and Holiday party was on November15, 2008 in Denver at the facility housing the Bill and RosannaHarris collection of Orchestrions, Dance Organs, Fairground Or-gans etc. After a tasty meal the business meeting commenced.(Please see Art Reblitz report in the Jan/Feb 2009 Bulletin). Dis-cussion during the meeting led to a major change in how the chapteroperates. This is best summarized by quoting Art Reblitz' write uppublished in the Bulletin and repeated here:

"In our business meeting, our main discussion was a newleadership plan for our chapter. With a relatively small chapter, andwith our members spread over several states straddling the Conti-nental Divide, we have a difficult time finding enough volunteersto fill the officer positions each year. It is too much work for oneperson or even four officers to handle all the responsibility of plan-ning, orgnizing and orchestrating all the meetings several years ina row. So, we decided to have everyone get involved."

"Here's how it will work. Everyone can have the opportu-nity to organize and host a meeting from start to finish: put togetherthe idea, select a date, and plan the schedule (including any food,entertainment, etc.]. They can do it alone, or ask others to help.Then they will send the details to Jere, he will distribute it to themembers via e-mail, and the secretary will mail via regular post tothose who don't use a computer. We also decided that meetings doNOT have to be elaborate productions, but can be a simple playerpiano party, or anything that might be of interest to our members,friends, or affiliates in other related fields. We'll try to assemble a

schedule for the year and give as much advance notice as possible.However, when something comes up suddenly, like the completionof an instrument by one of our members who restores profession-ally, just before the instrument is to be picked up by a moving com-pany, there might be a last-minute notice for a meeting anddemonstration."

This new plan so far has worked very well. We have foursolid events planned for 2009: The first was April 24th at BarryWeiss' home in Boulder, CO for an "Old Fashioned Singing Party"with music provided by Barry's Conway pumper. The second willbe June 14th at Don and Owanah Wicks Residence in ColoradoSprings, CO where we have been promised a concert with DickKroeckel accompanying the Steinway on the Wurlitzer TheaterOrgan. The third will be a band organ rally at the 'reorganized' En-glewood Days Celebration near Denver on August 29th, and thefourth will be a get together in Longmont, CO hosted by BillDecker and Jud Murphy.

Bill Decker has been busy building a chapter website. Al-though the exact number of members and chapter treasury infor-mation is not available at this writing, we have approximately 40members and $1000 in funds.

Submitted by Larry Emmons, Chapter Reporter, Ten Sleep, WY

SIERRA-NEVADA CHAPTER REPORT

President: John Motto-Ros, Sutter Creek, CASecretary: Sonja Lemon, Sacramento, CATreasurer: Doug and Vickie Mahr, Orangevale, CAReporter: Nadine Motto-Ros, Sutter Creek, CABoard Representative: Chip Lusby, Sutter Creek, CA

Our paid membership is 26 family and 4 individual for atotal of 30. Our first meeting was April 19, 2008, at the home ofTom & Virginia Hawthorn in Roseville, CA. Tom and Virginia havea wonderful collection of antique phonographs, records, sheetmusic and an Ampico grand.

The June 21, 2008, meeting was held at the home of John& Nadine Motto-Ros in Sutter Creek, CA. In addition to the auto-matic music of the nickelodeons, banjo, orchestrions, and repro-ducing piano, we were entertained with live music by Tom Brieron piano accompanied by Julia Riley on flute.

On August 16, 2008, we met at the beautiful home ofBruce Grimes and Tockhwock in Santa Rosa, CA. If you are inter-ested in Duo-Arts, this is the place to see.The October 11 meeting was held in conjunction with the SutterCreek Organ Rally with organs brought from AMICA SouthernCalifornia. A BBQ was hosted by John & Nadine Motto-Ros at theirhome.

For Christmas, we held a joint meeting with the FoundingChapter on December 13 at the beautiful Victorian home of RichardReutlinger in San Francisco. Richard's home is filled with repro-ducing pianos, nickelodeons, a photo player, operating gaslightsand period furniture. Being there is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!I am sorry to report that at our April, 2009 meeting, because of acontinuing problem in filling chapter officer vacancies, the chaptervoted to merge with the Founding Chapter. Please see item underNew Business in the Board Meeting Agenda.Submitted by:Nadine Motto-Ros, Chapter Reporter, Sutter Creek, CA


SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER REPORT

President: Richard Ingram, Monrovia, CA Vice President: Mike Choate, Dana Point, CA Secretary: Shirley Nix, Woodland Hills, CA Treasurer: Diane Reidy, Santa Ana, CA Reporter: Shirley Nix,Woodland Hills, CA Board Representative: Frank Nix, Woodland Hills, CA

The Southern California Chapter hosted the AMICA Na-tional Convention last year which kept us busy for quite a while. Itwas a fine convention and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.Our meetings are held on the even-numbered months, and we hadmeetings at the homes of Mike and Kathy Choate, Jerry Pell,Richard Ingram, Frank and Shirley Nix, Fred and Deanna Roth,Jack Conway and the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round, and the"Rosen" Roxie, the home of Ken and Jenice Rosen.

We participated in the organ rally in Sutter Creek, whichis a lot of fun. We have two possible organ rallies planned for thisyear. Our chapter is alive and well.

Submitted by Shirley Nix, Board Reporter, Woodland Hills, CA

SOWNY CHAPTER REPORT

President: Mike Walter, Lancaster, NYVice President: Tom CardinalSecretary: Garry Lemon, Niagara Falls Ontario, CanadaTreasurer: Holly Walter, Lancaster, NYReporter: Garry and Anne Lemon, Niagara Falls OntarioBoard Representative: Holly Walter, Lancaster, NY

The SOWNY Chapter is a viable and active chapter in theSouthern Ontario and Western New York area. We currently have23 paying members and 2 "honorary" members whose national andlocal dues are paid by the chapter. Since the time of the last Inter-national Board meeting, our chapter has held four meetings at dif-ferent venues in the area. Our financial outlook is steady. We have$3861.18 in a Certificate of Deposit and $814.62 in a Savings Ac-count for a total of $4675.80 in assets.

We are looking forward to holding the AMICA Interna-tional Convention in 2010 with our base hotel being the Hyatt Re-gency Hotel in Downtown Buffalo. The hotel has undergone an $8million renovation starting in 2008 and will be finished by this sum-mer season. The Buffalo Hyatt also has E.B. Green's Steak House,one of the Top Ten Steak Houses in America (for the fifth year in arow).

AMICAns do not travel to conventions for food alone, sowe have endeavored to supply a wide variety of activities that fitin with the general time period and musical interests of our mem-bers. During our tours of the area we will be stopping at such placesas the Pierce-Arrow Auto Museum, the Darwin Martin House (aFrank Lloyd Wright designed residential complex almost com-pletely restored to its original grandeur), The historic RoycroftCampus in East Aurora where the ideals of the Arts & Crafts move-ment live on as if Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters never left,the Fisher-Price Toy Museum, also in placid East Aurora, and a tripto the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, the only buildingstill standing from the Pan-American Exposition of 1901. There

will be lots of player piano music, organ concerts and much moreexcitement that will be shared at the general meeting on Sunday.

Respectfully submitted, Holly Walter, Board Representative, Lan-caster, NY

TEXAS CHAPTER REPORT

President: Rich Clayton, McKinney, TexasVice President: Bill Boruff, Dallas, TexasSecretary: Suzanne McCall, Dallas, TexasTreasurer: Janet Tonessen, Richardson, TexasReporter: Janet Tonessen, Richardson, TexasBoard Representatives: Suzanne & John McCall, Dallas, Texas

The Texas Chapter has 42 paid household membershipsrepresenting 68 individuals. The treasury is solvent.

The chapter had 4 meetings in the year 2008. In February,we met at Mama Emilias Restaurant in McKinney, Texas. After din-ner, we walked to the Court Room Theatre on the court housesquare. The venue was a silent movie, "The Son of Sheik" starringRudolph Valentino. The movie (with subtitles) was accompaniedby a mighty Worlitzer Pipe Organ. This was a joint meeting withThe American Organ Society. Several members of that group be-came members of our club after this event.

In May, we met at the home of Gordon Kelly in Dallas.He has a 1926 Mason Hamlin Ampico A 6'2" Grand Piano.. Thispiano belonged to the daughter of the Ball Glass Jar Company andwas completely restored by Gordon himself. He received trainingand expertise from the now retired E. L. Perry, a highly respected,factory trained Ampico and Duo Art technician. Gordon also favorstrained Chihuahuas and one entertained us with his tricks.

Come September, we met at the lovely home of Richardand Janet Tonessen in Richardson, Texas. Their 1926 MarshallWendell Upright Ampico has been recently rebuilt and is now play-ing in grand style. This piano was discovered by their 9 year oldson (in 1974) in a St. Louis Pizza Parlor. We were also treated witha tour of the first computer-driven paper roll perforator and a vac-uum operated roll reader, designed and built by Richard Tonessenin the 1970s. The perforator is still punching 88 note Ampico,DuArt, and Welte Piano rolls. They also have an upright DishlavierPiano which plays all the piano roll files from the past 29 years,(ie) Duo Art, Welte and Ampico. The phenomenon of all roll typesplayed on one piano is due to a computer program WINPLAY, writ-ten by Richard Brandle of Dallas. That evening, the*group reassem-bled in McKinney at the Court Room Theatre to hear DickKroeckel on the piano and Dave Wickerham on the Wurlitzer PipeOrgan. Dave is organist and curator of the Milhaus Museum inBoco Raton, Florida. Members were advised at this meeting thatmember Bill Flynt was named to THE AMICA HALL OF FAMEat the 2008 Arnica convention, Los Angeles. He arranged andcoded Ampico Expression on numerous piano rolls in the 1970s.Another member, Ken Caswell of Austin, Texas, was honored atthe convention with the Arnica International Award. He recordedand preserved historic piano roll performances. The music has beendonated to the University of Texas Archives.

The final meeting of the year was held as a ChristmasParty at the home of Jerry Bacon, past president of the Texas Chap-ter. A barbeque dinner was followed by a "Chinese" gift exchange.Jerry has a Christmas tree decorated with World War II ornaments.


Jerry is an accomplished organist with a fascinating background inboth collecting and playing antique instruments. He can play byear as well as read sheet music. He has a Seeburg L with parts re-built by Reblitz Restorations. He also has a Gulbransen Player,several phonographs - a Victor 8-9 spring wound, Victor CredenzaSpring Wound, and a VERY early Edison A-100. He also showeda DVD of a tour on the Organ in the Wanamaker Department Store.

It is interesting to note how people get acquainted withmechanical music. In Jerry's case, he was only 8 or 9 (living inOklahoma City) when he went to Spring Lake Amusement Parkand was fascinated with the band organ there. A neighbor's Vic-trola model 215, an upright player and an Emerson Fan were hisintroductions to piano rolls and records and a future fan collection.His family had an Orthophonic Cradenza, Spring wound.

The family moved to Denton, Texas and then to Arlington,Texas in 1955 -1956. This is where he saw his first Ampico and be-came interested in Ampico rolls. He would attend traveling carni-vals in Arlington to hear a small Wurlitzer Band Organ. He becameinterested in organs and organ music while attending the FirstMethodist Church which had the only pipe organ in town at thetime. He learned to play on a Hammond Church Model in Arling-ton High School. He also worked at Six Flags over Texas caringfor two band organs and a Mills Violana.

He installed a small pipe organ and played for Christmaswith the garage door open for people looking at the Christmaslights. He moved to Dallas in 1964 and gave the organ to, and in-stalled it in, the Lutheran Church. He played at the Melba (Capri)Theatre, downtown Dallas and also cared for the Band Organ at theState Fair of Texas. Later Jerry installed a pipe organ in the FineArts Theatre and played there. He then went on to Landmark Pizzaand Pipes in Dallas and Pipe Organ Pizza in Houston. He was or-ganist and choirmaster at St. Patricks Episcopal Church in PleasantGrove. He continues to sub at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Dallasand other churches in the area.

A few of the instruments he has owned are a HammondPlayer, Chickering Ampico 5' 8" (1922) a Cremona A piano withXylophone, Seaburg K, Western Electric X, American Photo PlayerModel 20 and an Everet Orgatron. He has been active in Arnica,Texas Chapter since the early 1970s, recently serving a record termas president of the Chapter from 2000 to 2007. The Chapter salutesyou for being a true and devoted Amican !! The Texas Chapterhad a fine year. Viva La Arnica.

Submitted by Suzanne & John McCall, Board Representatives, Dal-las, TX



The Automatic N. Th ANJO


[ar el of the Age ~ ESTRA

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One Person’s Thoughts About Conventions

By Shirley Nix

Frank and I just came home from the Cincinnati Conven-tion, and it was such a pleasant experience that I thought I’d putdown a few musings. Of course, first of all a huge thanks to DonAndersen and his committee for taking the time and effort to hostthe 2009 Convention so successfully.

As Convention Chairman Frank hears all the time that achapter doesn’t have the huge collections “necessary” to host a con-vention. I think we have disproved that theory time after time. Yes,it’s nice to have collections to visit, but more important is thechance to visit areas of the country we might otherwise not do soon our own, and I have to say the most important thing to most ofus as far as Conventions are concerned is the fellowship we findthere.

Time after time in any Convention you hear that we are a“family” of collectors, and I think Barbara Washburn said it best.She said it was like attending a family reunion every year whereyou actually liked every member of the family. For my part, I can’tstress too strongly the feelings of affection, respect, and genuinefriendship that permeate the whole event. You can sit at a tablewith attendees you don’t know, and before you leave that tablechances are you can count your table mates as good friends youwill look forward to seeing next year.

This year we visited the collection of Ron Wehmeier, whosaid it was so nice for him to have a group in during which visit noone asked why he had so many pianos in the house. (Any collectorcan relate to that) He restores his own pianos, and each one wasbeautiful, both in sound and appearance, to say nothing of the mag-nificent Wurlitzer theater organ.

Other places the committee arranged for us to visit werethe Union Train Station Museums, the Cincinnati Music Hall, anda wonderful trip to the EnterTRAINment Junction, which most ofus would probably never have visited if we were on our own, butwhich was a great venue and left us wanting more time. We had ariverboat cruise complete with dinner also.

As you can see, the focus was on the area and the won-derful things to see and do there. There were over 150 registered,and I am sure every one of them had a ball.

One of the highlights of any Convention is the pumpercontest, and every year the competition gets better and better. Ithink personally that regulars like Joyce Brite, Julian Dyer and onHartwell, to name a few, have set the bar very high. This has reallyupped the quality of the competition. Julian Dyer was our winnerthis year, and had a great turnout at his workshop on putting ex-pression into pumping a piano.

Of course, any one who has attended a pumper contestknows that Larry Norman brings in a lot of the audience with hisproduction numbers. He doesn’t win, but he sure keeps the enter-tainment value high. His imagination runs wild, and he has a wayof getting other members involved who wouldn’t ordinarily do suchcrazy things. (I can speak from experience here.) He brings cos-tumes and props every year, and it’s amazing what happens!

This year we also had a presentation by Timothy Steainfrom Australia. Timothy attended his first convention last year inWoodland Hills, and this thirteen-year-old gave us a real treat withhis very professional slides and sing-a-long of an Australian folksong.

The banquets are always a joy to attend, and I have to givecredit to the gentlemen like Jere DeBacker, Ron Kilfoil, RogerStumfoll and others who make sure the single ladies get a chanceto get out on the dance floor and have fun.

Again, it’s such a congenial group, and if you don’t evergo to a Convention you are missing a huge part of belonging toAMICA. It’s a great chance to get to know others in the hobbyfrom around the country, and even around the world. You just can’tbelieve how many of us have very good friends we only see oncea year, but still have great connection with. The workshops, put onby AMICA members, can teach you or entertain you for an after-noon.

For all chapters…Host a Convention of your own. We needyou, and it’s a way to give back to the organization and the mem-bers. It isn’t that hard, and you don’t have to have huge collectionsto visit. Every part of the country has its charm, and you can showoff your particular area to great advantage.

For all members…Attend the Conventions. You won’t be sorry.You may be amazed at the friends you make who will understandyour passion for mechanical music as your neighbors, family andlocal friends probably never will.

This isn’t meant to be a write-up of the Convention, just a plugfor both attending and hosting future ones. Every year we havesuch a great time and it would be such a shame for Conventions tobecome a thing of the past, which could easily happen if we don’t

have host chapters.


Hi Babit entertained us royally throughout the convention.

Our conventions bring out members from far and wide, e.g. Julian Dyer from the UK, the Steain family from Australia, etc.


Convention PicturesPhotos by Ed & Nancy Group, Christy Counterman, Alan Turner, Paul Watkins and Terry Smythe

The Radisson, our conventional hotel View of Cincinnati from our hotel

Welcome

Sherri and Wes Neff

Convention Chairman Bob Ander-son welcomes all at breakfast.

Gary Rasmussen, Alan Davara, Don Johnson & Bob Anderson welcome Alan.

Honorary Member Hi Babit arriving.

Board Meeting Sightseeing

Clock Tower at Goebel Park The Verdin Peace Bell


Union Terminal and Museum

Union Terminal tile mosaic muralsUnion Terminal seen from hotel

Union Station Ticket Counter Catered lunch in this art-deco dining room.

1929 E.M. Skinner 4 manual pipe organ

Sherri Neff in the transportation museum


Basilica Of The Assumption

Postcard Overview


Wehmeier Collection

Ron Wehmeier

Frank Nix admiring Ron’s immaculateworkshop

Roger Stumfoll at Ron’s gorgeous hand-crafted one-of-a-kind art case upright player piano.


Riverboat

Alvin WulfekuhlGary Rasmussen

Julian Dyer and Thad Kochanny

Our CaptainTiimothy Steain 43 note calliope on roof of river boat


1878 Music Hall


EnterTrainment

Arlo Lusby admiring ouitstandingmodel train layout


Hospitality

Bob Gonzalez and David Ramey’s Banjorchestra

Mike Kukral, Bill Chapman and Julian Dyer

Bob Hunt and his Virtual-Roll e-valve system

Carol and Karl Theil, and Liz Barnhart

Honorary Hi Babit

Kathy Stone and Mel Septon

Kay and Tom Bode

David Ramey, Frank Nix and Don Barr Tim Baxter and Hi Babit

Bill Klinger and Tom Hutchinson

Paul Watkins, Mike Kukral and Terry Smythe


Hospitality

Barbara & Ron Hartwell, and Jo Crawford Barabara Washburn, Shirley Nix, Bill Blair

Karl Ellison and Roy Beltz

Roger Stumfoll with his delightful, exuberant sing-a-long.

Dave Ramey’s Banjorchestra was a clear center of attention

Glenda Steain and Sharyn Cunningham


Hospitality

Joyce Brite sharing photos with Bob Tempest and Jere DeBacker

Bonnie Gonzalez and Hi Babit

John Motto-Ros and Don Barr

Ben Gottfried Bill Chapman

Lyle Merithew and Sandy Swirski

Bennet Leedy Bob Andersen, ever watchful


Hospitality

Don and Peggy Lundry

Richard Groman, Betty June Toth, Frank Thompson

Liz Barnhart and Paul Mayer hold a modestmonkey organ rally indoors because of rain

Shirley and Frank Nix, and Hi Babit

Pumper Contest

M.C. Thad KochannyPopular event, very well attended, 150+

Ron Hartwell, lead-off contestant Ben Gottfried

Guest judge Albert Muehlboeck from AustriaIrrepressible Larry Norman, with Joe Orens, Shirley Nix

and Roger Stumfoll supporting, to the tune of ‘Send In The Clowns’

Timothy Steain, from Australia, gave us a ‘first’, asing-a-long to an Australian folk song, with PowerPoint lyrics on screen.

Thad Kochanny awards ‘Footsie’ towinner Julian Dyer.


Workshops

Julian Dyer demonstrates what it takes to become a skilled pianolist

‘Dr.’ Larry Norman demonstrates Roll Repairing

Bennet Leedy discusses the

Welte expression system

Gary Rasmussen did extensive research into the Wurlitzer family and business

Todd Augsburger discusses and demonstrates various small organsLiz Barnhart leads a workshop on cross-stiching the AMICA 2009 Convention logo


Mart

A magnificent roll cabinet offered by Roger Stumfoll, quickly sold.

Dee Kavouras and Christy Counterman at the Keystone boothJoyce Brite offering recut rolls

and various original literature.

Richard Groman and Lee Lanier

Kay Bode checking out souvenir T-shirts

Gary Rasmussen checking out rolls offered by Mike and Holly Walter

Ray and Nancy Dietz offeringan Ampico roll collection

Brian Stahl offering new Ampico recuts rolls

Liz Barnhart offered a Pianolodeon which quickly sold

Larry Norman and Marie Pendleton offeringrecut rolls and literature

Barbara Washburn checking future additionsto their collection


Mart

Dan Harrett checking out Bennett Leedy’s roll offerings

John Motto-Ros offering some ‘interesting’ period orchestrion prints

Bill Klinger and Frank Thompsonat the Keystone booth

Jim Lester and Mel Septon discussing ideas for Duo-Art bleed enhancements

Ray Beltz and Bill Blair offering and explainingprior convention souvenirs Vigorous marketing at Bennet Leedy’s booth

Banquet

President John Motto-Ros awarding specialrecognition to Dr. Mike Kukral for his dedicationto AMICA over his 6 years as our Publisher.

The “Impossibles”, our entertainment for the banquet.

Michael Woolf, from New Zealand, brought his charming sense of humour

Past Presidents in attendanceTerry Smythe, Mel Septon, and Mike Walter

Paul and Barb Watkins Glenda, John and Timothy Steain, with our P&Ggirls, Mary Pollock and Betty Toth.


Banquet

The Spirit of Period Dress reigns, thanks to Christy Counterman, Marilyn Reichart, Roger Stumfoll, Liz Barnhart, Betty Toth, Alan Turner, Dee and Bill Karvouras, and Mary Pollock

The Northern Lights Chapter members,(Alan Turner missing)

Bill and Nora Klinger Margaret Bisberg and Richard Van Metre

Jo Crawford and George WilderJoe Orens and Florie Hirsch Leslie and Alan Ford


Banquet

Barbara Washburn and Ron Kilfoil

Mary Pollock and Timothy SteainBetty Toth and Richard Groman

Farewell Breakfast

Frank Nix (r), awarding a souvenir plaque toBob Andersen (l), Chairman, 2009 AMICA

Convention, for an outstanding job by he and his committee.

Farewell Breakfast

Passing of the AMICA Banner

Mike Walter with his Power-Point presentation for the2010 AMICA Convention in

Buffalo, NY

Mike Walter’s PowerPoint presentation forAMICA 2010 Convention in Buffalo, NY


AfterGlow

Lyle Merithew having a spin in Alvin’s Model TAlvin Wulfekuhl’s

Marshall & Wendell Ampico BAlvin’s Steinway Duo-Art and numerous

charming collectibles

Alvin’s Weber Duo-Art A small portion of Alvin’s auto memorabilia

Yet another portion of Alvin’s auto memorabilia

Julian Dyer and Steven Bucknam enjoying Mike Barnhart’s enthusiasm for their Weber Otero orchestrion

Liz and Mike Barnhart’s band organ they’ve named Treveris after the Roman ruins in Trier, Germany

Liz and Mike’s Double Mills Violano

Wulfekuhl Open House

Barnhart Open House


AfterGlowBarnhart Open House

Barnhart Custom Orchestrion

Model railroading theme throught Barnharthousehold and property More model railroading

Liz Barnhart describing and demonstrating theirmodel railroad on their property

Barnhart’s Chickering Ampico A The loft over Treveris, containing ever more delightful collectibles

Garrison Open House

Don Barr and Harry Garrison enjoying a fine cigar

This must be the place.....

Double Mills Violano graces Harry’s elegant staircase

Harry’s Steinway Duo-Art

Beautiful large Symphonium alongside a charming vintage radio

Uniquely carved face on acoustic phonograph


AfterGlowRamey Open House

Don Johnson and Bob Andersen admiring David’s Cremona J

David explains the working mechanism of his Seeburg H to Ed Group and Bob Andersen

David’s Seeburg KT

David with his Western Electric Selector model B and Seeburg G

Zaharkos Ice Cream ParlorColumbus, IN

Welte Cottage Orchestrion, restored by Durward Center, once again gracing the premises of Zahakos Ice Cream Parlor

in Columbus, INAnother Welte orchestrion, in the ZaharakosMuseum, restored by AMICAn Hayes Mclaran

One last farewell at Wertheim’s Germanrestaurunt close by our convention hotel.

Steven Bucknam, Roger Stumfoll, Alan Turner,with Terry Smythe behind the camera.

Beautifully restored genuine ice cream parlorfrom 1900, a must see by all AMICAns

Florie Hirsch, Joe Orens and Julian Dyer enjoying genuine ice cream desserts Fully restored functional ice cream bar

BOSTON CHAPTER May 17, 2009

Don Brown - ReporterPhilip Konop - President

The Spring meeting of the Boston Chapter was held at thehome of Phyllis and Phil Konop in Harvard Mass. There are manyworking instruments here and we always enjoy hearing them per-form. After a conversational gathering, president Phil Konopopened the business meeting with a report on the upright playerpiano destined to be installed in the Charles River Museum of In-dustry & Innovation in Waltham. Bob Hunt said the piano is work-ing in Maine and is to be used in Windham, Maine for WindhamDay. The present installation plan is to install the piano in the mu-seum in July. A truck with ramps is available for the move. TheAMICA Cincinnati convention was discussed and a summer meet-ing of our group is set to be Sunday August 16 in Billerica The sta-tus of the Player Piano Company in Kansas with 30 years under thedirection of Durell Armstrong was talked around. The 6 story build-ing with a wealth of parts has no working elevator!

Bill Koenigsberg gave a short show & tell on how to undowood parts glued with Elmer's white glue with out damage to eitherparts. The solvent is hydrogen peroxide from the drug store. A brushis used to put some around the edges of the joint and let soak for30 minutes. The glue turns white again. A putty knife pushed intothe crack begins separation. Repeat this as needed and the parts willbe as good as new. Our host Phil Konop demonstrated his playergrand played from a program in his lap top computer.

There is to be a performance of the Stoneham Town HallWurlitzer Pipe organ to raise funds to be shared with the ChevalierTheater Organ Society (CTOS) on Sunday May 31. The programincludes the musical duo Jim & Linda Duncan performing populararrangements on the theater organ & piano. The CTOS group hopesto have its 1922 Wurlitzer organ playing in 2010, the anniversaryof the birth of the Wurlitzer theater pipe organ. [Hope-Jones UnitOrchestra]

The program for today to commemorate Memorial Day isa Power Point presentation slide show with accompaniment audiocreated by Ron Bopp. The show includes 23 patriotic tunes playedon over 20 different band organs or dance organs. The narration in-cluded details of each organ with a bit of American history thrownin. There were color brochures for all here that included a list ofinstruments and picture..

Ron Bopp’s Power Point Intro

Hosts Phyllis & Phil greet guests Gene Bibber & Bill Koenigsberg

Dot Bromage & Bob Hunt set up video projector

Bill K & Bob Hunt discuss piano parts

Norman Daly, Norman Hall, Bill Koenigsberg, Bob Hunt and Joe Lavacchia


Chapter News

Norman Hall and Phil Konop

Norm, Phil and Bill Hammel

1929 Seeburg KT Special

Host and president Phil Konop

Phil, Dorothy, Kirk Russell and Norman Daly

Dorothy & secretary Kirk Russell

Joe, Bob, and Bill


Bill K. and Allan Jayne

1929 Mills Violano Virtuoso

Hostess Phyllis Konop

Phil at laptop controls grand piano

Phil at Ampico A reproducing player grand

Dorothy runs Power Point slide show

Slide of Hail Columbia

Slide of StarSpangledBanner


Heart of America Chapter

Reporter - H.C. and Marlene BeckmanPresident - Robbie Tubbs

On May 16 and 17, 2009, the Heart of America membersenjoyed an educational and entertaining weekend.

Our hosts, John and Barbara Washburn, planned severalopportunities to review our history lessons. Saturday began with aprivate tour of a motorcycle collection. Next, we spent time re-viewing the life and accomplishments of our 33rd President, HarryS. Truman, in the beautiful Truman Library and Museum.

Following the Truman museum visit we enjoyed a familystyle lunch at the original Arthur Bryant?s Barbeque Restaurant.Many United States Presidents and other famous people have eatenthere.

The afternoon tour was at the National World War I Mu-seum at Liberty Memorial.

The evening meal and entertainment was enjoyed at theWashburn?s TWA (Tiny Washburn Airline) hanger. Entertainmentwas provided by the local Moore sisters and Peggy Stanley, whotook us back in time in song and dance. Sunday?s brunch and business meeting was held at the Washburn?swith time for browsing through and enjoying their collection of mu-sical instruments and other antiques.

Thanks to John and Barbara for a great time. Harold En-gelhaupt is planning an August 1 and 2 rally at the Deanna RoseChildren?s Farmstead in Overland Park, KS and Gary Craig is host-ing a rally at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis the week-end of September 12.

Our hosts, Barbara and John Washburn

Sunday at theWashburn's.

John Washburn demonstrates some of his collection.

CraigBrougher enjoys themusic.

TWA ?


Heart of America Chapter

Reporter - H.C. and Marlene BeckmanPresident - Robbie Tubbs

On Saturday, August 1, the Deanna Rose Children’s Farm-stead in Overland Park, Kansas, welcomed Heart of America organgrinders. Instruments were set up in several locations throughoutthe grounds. A large and enthusiastic crowd was appreciative asthey enjoyed the music. Harold Engelhaupt is very involved withthe day to day workings of the farm and had organized a picniclunch on site.

On Saturday evening we went to Cinzetti’s for an “Allyou can eat” Italian feast which features a bountiful buffet with anamazing dessert bar. We then returned to Engelhaupt’s home forthe evening entertainment with a sing along of vocal music. Youcan not lose track of time at Engelhaupt’s. They have an extensivecollection of interesting and elaborate clocks throughout their spa-cious home.

On Sunday morning we returned to Harold and Jan En-gelhaupt’s for brunch and a business meeting. After the meetingwe were welcomed by Florent Wagner to view his collection ofmusic boxes and clocks.

We have been invited to return to the Deanna Rose Farm-stead on August 29 to provide entertainment for a ribbon cuttingceremony for a new building. We all agreed it is a great place fora monkey organ rally.

Tom Bode enjoys monkeying around!

Bob Stout discusses his recently acquired

Rolmonica.

Kay Bode plays her Jager andBrommer organ.

Mike and SandySchoeppner withtheir Castlewood

organ.

Charlie Tyler visits with members Florent Wagner andHarold Engelhaupt.

Charles Tylerentertains visitors.

Kay Fletcher, Carol Davis, and

Jim Fletcher


Deane Shepherd gets in-terested by playing H. C. Beckman's John Smith26.

The Heart ofAmerica business

meeting washeld on

Engelhaupt's

deck

Jan and Harold Engelhaupt weresuper hosts

NORTHERN LIGHTS CHAPTER

Jerrilynn Boehland - ReporterPaul Watkins - President

The Northern Lights chapter gathered at the home of Pierre Girard and-Dennis Borrell on May 30 in the Minneapolis suburb of Golden Valley. We enjoyedan outdoor Hawaiian-themed buffet provided by the hosts and the members. Pierre& Dennis' beautiful yard has a fully-equiped outdoor kitchen with plenty of placesto relax and enjoy the day.

Paul Watkins conducted the business meeting with secretary Michael-LuBrant and treasurer Barb Watkins. Afterwards, we toured the house and enjoyedPierre and Dennis' magnificant Mason & Hamlin grand piano and 1954 Conn tubeelectronic organ. Pierre also demonstrated his vintage John Deere 'hit-or-miss' sta-

tionary engine.The fine weather capped

an enjoyable day. Thanks again toPierre & Dennis for their hospitalityand a wonderful time.

Paul Watkins conducts thebusiness meeting with MichaelLuBrant &Holly Windle.

Terry Goepel,Craig Remmen,

Jerrilynn Boehland & Ron Olsen.

Pierre Girard con-ducts the meal in hisoutdoor kitchen.

Pierre & Dennis at their Mason grand.

Dennis & Pierre with the John Deere engine.

Pierre warms up the 1954

Conn's tubes.


MIDWEST CHAPTER

Reporter: Christy CountermanPresident: Don Johnson

The Midwest Chapter chose the first weekend in May to do a“practice” visit to Cincinnati to plan for the upcoming convention. We metfor lunch at Kelly’s restaurant in the Radisson, our convention hotel, justacross the river from Cincinnati. After that, we rode up to the 16th floormeeting rooms to do more planning and had a beautiful view of the river,skyline and surrounding park area. The group divided up to visit differentConvention venues, and rode the trolleys and drove to the various destina-tions, planning to report to the committee later. There are so many thingsaccessible by trolley, there really is no need to drive around the town. Wejoined a lot of fans on their way to see the hometown Reds play the St.Louis Cardinals.

Among the many places to eat are the famous Hofbrau House,reminding us of our recent AMICA trip to Germany, and the nearbyWertheim’s where we met later to sample their German food. After dinner,we were able to ride the elevator to the top of the Radisson to the revolvingrestaurant where the nighttime view of the city included the fireworks dis-play after the baseball game.

On Sunday after breakfast, it was time for more planning and alater treat at the famous Graeter’s Ice Cream in Fountain Square. By thetime this report is published, over 150 AMICAns will have joined us forthe Convention in July.

Bob Andersen took this view of the interior of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, a stop on our Thursday tour.

Stopping to smell the roses are Sherri and Wes Neff and Don Johnson.

From the 16th floor of the hotel, you can get a good view of the ClockTower near MainStrasse village. We watched characters portray a Pied

Piper scene as the clock chimed 6 later that evening.

We had to test restaurants before the convention and Wertheim’s serves German food, within walking distance of the hotel.

Chapter members are ready to order as food is always animportant part of any AMICA Convention.


We will travel between Covington and Cincinnati many times during the convention and there are several bridges across the river.

Convention Chair Bob Andersen and Chapter President Don Johnsonpreside over one of our convention planning meetings.

Pacific Can-Am Chapter

Larry Sanchez - ReporterBill Mote - President

The March 2009 meeting for the Pacific Can-Am Chapter washeld at the home of Larry and Myra Karp in Seattle. We had agreat day sharing a potluck dinner and seeing the fabulous collec-tion of the Karp's which included phonographs, music boxes,Wedgewood and a player piano.

Larrydemon-strating arare clockthat is alsoa musicbox.

Jean,Larry and

our pastpresident

Hallie

Dan Brownat the playerpiano.

Part of the groupduring our busi-

ness meeting.

Peg and John at that wonderful view of the Puget Sound


Hallie,Peg andJackie en-joyingsoup andconversa-tion

Our hosts,Larry and

MyraKarp

MarkSmithberggiving theplayerpiano atry.

Dan Brown came over from Spokane for our meeting.

June 2009 Meeting

The June 2009 Meeting for the Pacific Can-Am chapter was heldat the home of Jack and Nancy Stevens in Sequim, Washington.We had a wonderful day seeing their collection of music boxes,coin pianos, an Ampico Reproducing piano and many band organs.

Our hosts for themeeting......Jackand NancyStevens

Band Organ

Another bandorgan that wasmagnificent !

Wurlitzer Mili-tary Band Organ


TomAhearnvisitingfromMaine,DaveGoodwin,Ron Babband MarkSmithberg

Hallie Do-drill and

Fran Will-yard enjoy

a conver-sation. It

was sogood to

see Fran!!

Judy Motepreparingthe foodfor ourpotluckdinner!!!

Dave Goodwin enjoying the coin pianos

More ofthe groupenjoyingthe won-derfulcoin pi-anosmost ofwhichwere re-stored byJackStevens

Mark Smithberg, Jack Stevens, Hallie Dodrill and Jim Freeburg listen to the band organs

TEXAS CHAPTER

Janet Tonnesen - ReporterRich Clayton - President

February & May, 2008 Meetings

Although the Texas Chapter Meeting Reports have beenmissing from the Bulletin the past year we want everyone to knowthat we are still an active Chapter -just tardy in reporting to the Bul-letin. We will catch up with all the reports and promise to report ona more timely basis in the future.

February 9,2008 Meeting

About 20 Texas Chapter members & guests traveled toMcKinney to attend the silent movie "The Son of the Sheik" pre-sented by the North Texas Chapter of the American Theatre OrganSociety at the restored, historic Collin County Courthouse whichserves as the McKinney Performing Arts Center (MPAC). Membershad dinner at Mama Emilia's before the silent movie and the Chap-ter business meeting was held immediately after dinner then mem-bers walked to the square to the old courthouse for the silent movie.


"Son of the Sheik" was Rudolph Valentino's final film -he died suddenly on August 23rd, 1926, at the age of 31, shortlyfollowing the picture's release. Steven Ball was guest artist per-forming on the MPAC Mighty Wurlitzer, still a work-in-progress,installed and maintained by members of the North Texas Chapterof ATOS. Before the movie Steven talked about theatre organs andsilent movies and said if the organist did his job right the audiencewould forget he was there as they were caught up and entranced bythe music and the movie. He did his job well. We look forward toattending more of the silent movies and concerts presented byNTC-ATOS at the MPAC in McKinney.

May 3, 2008 Meeting

The second meeting of 2008 was held Saturday afternoon,May 3rd at the home of Gordon Kelly in Dallas. Gordon has a 1926Mason Hamlin Ampico A 6'2" grand that originally belonged toLucy Ball Owsley whose father owned the Ball Glass Jar Company.

Gordon's Mason Hamlin is a beautiful piano, and it per-formed magnificently, thanks to Gordon's expertise with Ampicopianos. Gordon acquired his knowledge of player and reproducingpianos many years ago from one of the best, Mr. E. L. Perry, ahighly respected, factory trained Ampico and Duo-Art technicianof Dallas.

Having grown up in South Texas, Gordon first heard aplayer piano in 1958 in Chicago. He was fascinated. When he cameto Dallas in 1962 he called Mr. Perry about getting a player to workon - Mr. Perry had an upright Simplex player and Gordon purchasedit with Mr. Perry offering to help him rebuild it. Mr. Perry was quiteimpressed with this first piano that Gordon finished and soon hehad another piano for Gordon to rebuild. It was a "basket case", to-tally dismantled with pieces in a dozen paper bags. Quite a chal-lenge, but again Gordon amazed Mr. Perry with the results.

This was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and ul-timately a job as Mr. Perry's service technician. So while still work-ing his day job, Gordon worked for Mr. Perry Saturdays andevenings until Mr. Perry retired in 1975. Gordpn has many inter-esting stories to tell of the places he went and the people he metwhile servicing pianos for Mr. Perry.

We heard some of those stories at the meeting and listenedto the rolls that Gordon had selected two rolls for the meeting's pro-gram Ampico 71403 "Rumba Medley: 1. Dust on the Moon, 2.Car-ioca, 3.Peanut Vendor" and Ampico 2393 "L'amour ToujoursL'amour" (Love Everlasting) after which members took turns play-ing their favorite rolls. Our thanks Gordon for hosting this meeting- it was a wonderful afternoon.

Bill Boruff, John McCall, and President Rich ClaytonLarry Williams and Gordon Kelly

1926 Mason & Hamlin 6’ 2” Ampico A

Gordon Kelly discusses rebuilding Ampico systems with Bob Gainer


ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER June 14, 2009

Reporter: Larry EmmonsPresident: Jere DeBacker

30 members and guests braved a weekend of thunder-storms to attend our chapter meeting hosted by Don and OwanahWick at their home in Colorado Springs. There were members andguests from Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Arizona, and California.We were honored by the presence of founding members AnitaNickels Johnson of Grand Junction and Jim Bratton of Denver.

The highlight of the meeting were ‘duets’ preformed byDick Kroeckel on the Wick’s 1927 Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organas he accompanied the newly restored 1925 Steinway XR withSteve McCormick at the ‘controls’. Some other instruments we lis-tened to were the 1927 Chickering Ampico A and 1923 Cable-Nel-son 88 note player. Among other interesting collections are theWick’s toy trains, old radios, miniature steam engines, old fans,dolls and more. We enjoyed the tour of the organ ‘loft’ and expla-nation of how it all works. The history of this organ is quite inter-esting. As described by Don:

“It is a Wurlitzer style 190, 2 manual, 8 rank theatre organ, opus1763, originally installed in the Empire Theatre, Montgomery, ALin 1927. It has been completely restored by me.

It was in front of the Empire Theatre where Rosa Parks was evictedfrom the city bus for refusing to give up her seat to a white personand move to the back of the bus thus beginning the civil rightsmovement. The theatre was demolished and replaced by the RosaParks museum in the 1990's.

At an unknown date, the organ was removed to the Martin LutherKing Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. Eventually it wasreplaced by a real church organ and the Wurlitzer sold to a party inCalifornia. The organ finally ended up in a church school in Tulsa,OK and I bought it in 1974 when the school closed and moved it toColorado. It sat in storage for a few years and I finally got aroundto restoring it in the 1980's.”

There are some additional pictures on the web site:

http://www.theatreorgans.com/PPATOS.

During our short business meeting it was announced thatBarry Weiss is taking over the position of Chapter Treasurer. Weeach introduced ourselves with a short description of our individualcollections and interests. President Jere DeBacker brought up thesubject of a possible chapter sponsored restoration project. Apushup player that at one time was used at the Steinway factoryand belongs to a member of the Steinway family has been offeredto the chapter. We voted to accept the gift and will determine at alater date how to proceed. Jere noted that two local area SteinwayDuo-Arts are up for sale (one, a 1923 XR in original un-restoredcondition sold at auction for $2700).

After the concert we relaxed with conversation, food andrefreshments for the remainder of the afternoon.

From left to right (more or less) Steve McCormick, Pete Knobloch, Art Reblitz,Jud Murphy (hidden), Danny Bixler, Bob Grunow, Joe Uher, Dick Kroeckel,

Barb Uher, Marquerito Lefin (in back), Bob Castle, Jake Emmons, Pat Moore,

Anita Johnson, Dave Dansmoor (hidden at right).

Left to Right: Bill Harris, Ken Hodge, Owanah Wick, Arline King, Jim Bratton,Rosanna Harris, Ginger Hein (behind post), Louise Lucero, Clara Wingfield,

Barry Weiss, Joe Saman, Don Hein, Don Wick, Jere DeBacker.

Dick Kroeckel playing the Wurlitzer and Steve McCormick at the Steinway.

Denver’s Paramount Theater Organist Bob Castle at the Wurlitzer.


Steve McCormick, Don Hein, Host Don Wick

In the kitchen for a late afternoon snack.

Owanah’s Doll Collection

Some of the toy trains.

Miniature Steam Engine Collection.

Don showing off the ‘noise makers’

The organ control center.


CHICAGO AREA CHAPTER June 20, 2009

Margaret C. Bisberg - ReporterJerry Biasella - President

Thirty to thirty five people attended the Saturday afternoon meeting,barbeque and mart at the Chicago home of James Huffer. President Jerry Biasellacalled the meeting to order and extended a thank you to our host. The minutes ofthe March 2009 meeting were read and approved.

Treasurer’s Report: No Treasurer’s report was available.

Old Business: Nipper table favors from the 2006 annual meeting arestill available at a cost of $20 apiece. “Windy City Blues” piano rolls from thesame meeting may be purchased for $10.

New Business: Jerry Biasella received a telephone call from FrankNix, AMICA convention chair, inquiring whether the chapter was interested inhosting another annual meeting in 2011. It was pointed out that the Lake Michi-gan Chapter of MBSI, which is substantially the same people, were already in-volved in planning the 2013 annual meeting for that organization. The chapterunanimously voted to not host the 2011 meeting.

Death notices: Long-time AMICA and MBSI member MartinRoenigk was killed, and wife Elise was injured, in an automobile accident earlierin the week.

Board Representative: Richard VanMetre volunteered to serve asacting board representative for the chapter at the annual meeting in July.

Next meeting: Our next meeting will be hosted by Wayne and ConnieWolf sometime in October. Details will be forthcoming. Plans have yet to be fi-nalized for the holiday meeting.

Members gather for ourbusiness meting

President Jerry Biasella

Mel Septon and friend

Cremona Nickelodeon

Mills Violano Virtuoso

A step back in time with one of the antique juke boxes

Members view the mini mart

Our hosts Michael Hubbardand James Huffer


SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

Shirley Nix - RreporterLowell Boehland - Photographer

Richard Ingram - President

Saturday, June 27th found the local chapter at the homeof Jack Conway for a very enjoyable meeting, as is always the caseat Jack's.

Jack has a wonderful collection and is always happy to beable to demonstrate his instruments for fellow collectors.

His house is filled with music boxes, phonographs, andother various items. As with most collectors, he has varied interestsand collects a wide range of items.

We left the main house and drifted out to his music house,which is filled to the brim with mechanical music, and we enjoyedevery minute of it.

His collection includes, among other things, an EeolianOrchestrelle, a Coinola Midget K, a Franklin upright Ampico A, aPerlee 22-key dutch book organ (complete with the dolls for thefront, which he had Brooke Osmundson completely restore, includ-ing making a new head for one of them), a Seeburg K, a SeeburgL, and a Wurlitzer 146a military band organ with bells.

Scattered among all these instruments are table favors, Mr.Christmas automata, carousel posters, organ rally certificates, andwell, you get the idea.

In the yard he had his Wurlitzer 105 organ, which wasplaying really well, and was enjoyed by all.

The next spot was the music room in the downstairs partof the house, where we enjoyed a wonderful Wurlitzer BX or-chestrion and a Gulbransen pumper piano, along with other superinstruments.

We had a meeting in the back yard and when it was overit was upstairs to enjoy the delicious feast jack had prepared for us.There were also two birthday cakes, since Lloyd Osmundson andHerb Mercer both had birthdays the following Monday.

Jack's home is always a favorite meeting place, and thiswas no exception.

From there those who wished went to dinner, while manyof us stayed to enjoy more music, and then it was off to the Griffithpark merry-go-round, which Warren Deasy graciously kept openfor us for a private party.

We had several visitors at the carousel, many with chil-dren. This is always a great venue for families, and it allows thekids to enjoy a real, historic carousel and perhaps foster a love forthe music.

We were free to ride the carousel or just sit and listen tothe Stinson organ, which had just been tuned up and was a pleasureto hear.

Cotton candy and soft drinks were provided for us, andcombined with the carousel rides and great organ music, it mademany of us feel like kids again.

Warren is always very generous with his time for us, alongwith Julio, his manager of over twenty years, which we really ap-preciate. There couldn't be a more pleasant way to end a day.

Jack Conway, ourhost, by his

Calliope, mountedon a Model A truck

Al & Judy Nicholson, SandyLechtick, Bob & Dianne Lloyd

For the birthday boys

The group in Jack’s front yard


Warren Deasy andhis manager, JulioGasdinsky, ourhosts at thecarousel


Jack Conway and Richard

Ingram waiting for the ride

to start

Shirley Nix,Bill Blair, Warren easy,Lea & DanWright, FrankNix, Jerry Pell,Dave Berstein,Jack ConwayPatrick Martin


ADVERTISINGGENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ALL ADVERTISING

IN THE AMICA BULLETIN

All advertising should be directed to.

Terry Smythe 5 Rowand Avenue Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3J2N6 Phone: (204) 832-3982 e-mail:: smythe@shaw. ca

Ad copy must contain text directly related to the product/service beingoffered. Extraneous text may be deleted at the Editor's discretion. Alladvertising must be accompanied by payment in U.S. funds. Telephoneor written ads without payment will not be accepted. This policy wasestablished by a unanimous vote of the AMICA Board at the 1991 BoardMeeting and reaffirmed at the 1992 meeting. AMICA reserves the rightto edit or to reject any ad deemed inappropriate or not in keeping withAMICA's goals and objectives.

The BULLETIN accepts advertising without endorsement, implied orotherwise, of the products or services being offered. Publication of busi-ness advertising in no way implies AMICA's endorsement of any com-mercial operation.

AMICA PUBLICATIONS RESERVES THE RIGHT

TO ACCEPT, REJECT, OR EDIT ANY AND ALL

SUBMITTED ARTICLES AND ADVERTISING

All items for publication must be submitted directly to the Editor/Pub-lisher for consideration.

CLASSIFIED AD RATES FOR AMICA MEMBERS:1-50 Words $10.0051-100 Words $20.00101-150 Words $30.00Non-member rates are double for all advertising.

DISPLAY ADVERTISING

Full Page - 7 1/22" x 10" $ 150.00Half Page - 7 1/2" x 4 3/4" $ 80.00Quarter Page -3 5/8" x 4 3/4" $ 45.00Business Card - 3 1/2" x 2" $ 30.00

Special 6 for 5 Ad Offer - Place any ad, with no changes, for a full year(6 issues), and pay for only 5 issues. Payable in advance. Loose Sheetor Insert Advertising: Inquire

We recommend that display advertisers supply camera-ready copy.Copy that is oversized or undersized will be changed to correct size atyour cost. We ordinarily do not prepare advertisements from suggestedlayout.

PAYMENT: U.S. funds must accompany ad order. Make check payableto AMICA INTERNATIONAL. Typesetting and layout size alterationscharges will be billed.

DEADLINES: Submissions must be received no later than the first ofthe odd months (January, March, May, July, September, November).The Bulletin will ordinarily be mailed not later than the second week ofthe even months. (Rev. 5-09)

As you slide down the banister of life, may the slivers never point in the wrong direction!

Olde Irish proverb

FOR SALE

NEW PIANO ROLL BOXES - Duo-Art Audiographic series - Ex-actly like the originals! Maroon with Gold Printing, all 3 sizes avail-able! (small & medium are "Top Hat" style) $7.00 ea. Quantities arelimited, so get them before they are all gone! AMPICO "Top Hat"boxes- Black Leather with Gold Printing and False Bottom, Exactlylike the originals, $5.00 ea. 88 note roll boxes in two sizes-Large (fits2 34 flange) covered with Black Alligator paper (Top), Black Leather(Bottom), or Brown Leather Paper (Top & Bottom) $3.00 ea. Small(fits 2" flange) Covered with Black or Tan Leather Paper (Top), WhiteLitho (Bottom) $2.00 ea. Other repair supplies available- ParchmentLeaders, Tabs, Tubes, Flanges, Repair Tissue. Quantity Discountsavailable. Rich Ingram <rollguyrich @ yahoo .com> 626-824-4404

(1-10)

5,000+ PLAYER PIANO ROLLS. All in Boxes and in playablecondition. $1.25 each plus shipping Rich Ingram<[email protected]> 626-824-4404 (1-10)

THE GOLDEN AGE of AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Art Reblitz' award-winning reference that brings history, musical andtechnical information to life with hundreds of spectacular color pho-tos. 448 oversize pages. Get your copy today! $120 plus $5 S/H (sin-gle copy USA ground shipment). MECHANICAL MUSIC PRESS

- A Wild Ammonoosuc Rd., Woodsville, NH 03785. 603-747-2636.http://www.mechanicalmusicpress.com (3-10)

WILHELM BRUDER SOHNE Model 79 bank organ, 48 key withmetal bells (two known to exist) made in Waldkirch, Germany. Serialnumber 3549 indicates 1920-1921. Imported to USA in late 1960s bya carnival operator of King Reid Shows. Featured at Eastern Exposi-tion, West Springfield, MA 1970. Just completed total restoration byHaughawout Music Co. Equipped with a MIDI system and includedare many tune selections arranged by Wayne Houton. Some originaland reproduced cardboard book music is also included. Original fa-cade is painted in floral theme with gold leaf $65,000.00.SEEBURG "E" with xylophone-Walnut case; CYLINDER MUSIC BOX 20 TUNE, 2 tunes per turn, cylinder 71/2 inches long, lid with tune sheet $2,500.00. Both items profes-sionally restored & refinished.REGINA ORCHESTRIAL UPRIGHT MUSIC BOX 27" DISCS.Single play, Style 4 (home model) no coin mechanism. Ser #30787,Mahogany case, purchased 40 years ago from original owner. Alloriginal including Mahogany case, double comb and mechanism, in-cluded approx 25-27" discs. $22,500.00. See page 201 Encyclopediaof Automatic Musical Instruments, bottom of page. Joe Uhler, Box126, Ingomar, PA 15127; (724) 940-43 31 (5-09)

AEOLIAN ORCHESTRELLE 58 NOTE PUMP ORGAN - Rib-bon grain mahogany, classical corinthian case, 1989 restoration,stored since, responsive good player, 50 good rolls included. $15,000.00. Phone Ron & Joyce (626) 335-3980 (5-09)

A rare unrestored AMERICAN FOTOPLAYER style 45. This ma-chine was used in the pit of a silant movie house, it can be playedwith standard home 88 note music rolls or played manualy. This is agreat fun minshin. $45,000 Bob Ayres, Salem, OR (503) 364-5301,<[email protected]> (5-09)

Offering high top quality reissues of

Welte-Mignon and 88 Note Player Piano rolls.

Featuring rare, important,

and fun music rolls recut

from the legendary

Welte-Mignon library of recordings

and great music of the teens and twenties

on 88-note player piano rolls.

Please CONTaCT

Mike Kukral 216 Madison Blvd.

Terre haute, IN 47803

812-238-9656

email: [email protected]

The

Kukral Collection

Purchased PIANO STORE AND COLLECTION LIQUIDATION.Offering: roll cabinets. Rare early pianos: bookcase, harpsicord, clavi-cord. Organs: Estey model IV, Packard Chapel. Delivery logistics pro-

vided. <[email protected]>, (304) 667-9564. (4-10)

WANTED

PIANO ROLLS FOR STEINWAY DUO-ART PIANO: Need ClassicalOpera Aria Rolls with words: Carmen, Barbiere Di Siviglia, Cosi FanTutte, I Pagliacci, Rigoletto, Die Zauberflote, Etc., Etc. Robert O. Clark,(270) 651-2024, e-mail: <[email protected]> (5-09)

STRAIGHT STRUNG STEINWAY GRAND PIANO, and STEINWAY

DRAWER STYLED REPRODUCING GRAND. <[email protected]>, (304) 667-9564. (4-10)

FISHER LINCOLN TURNOVER TURNTABLE, Stereo turntableplays both sides of the record automatically. Kirk Russell, 401-742-1565or <[email protected]> (6-09)

SEEBURG H ORCHESTRION. One of my customers is a serious buyerand will pay market price for a Seeburg H. The piano must be completewith original parts especially the pipework (no repros). Older restorationor unrestored preferred but all considered. Contact: Paul Manganaro (610)965-5538 or email: <[email protected]> (1-10)

WURLITZER MODEL 103 BAND ORGAN. Must be in good oper-ating condition. Cosmetics are secondary. Prefer unaltered instrument.Kenneth E. Hodge, 5330 N. Nashua Circle, Parker, CO, 80134-5426,<[email protected]> (4-10)


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Larry’s Music Roll AuctionLarry Norman (540) 721-7188

340 Tracy Drive, Moneta, VA 24121-3416Email: [email protected]

Web Site: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~rollertunes

Worlds best source for: AMPICO, Art Echo, Duo-Art, Recordo, Welte, 46, 58,65, and 88 Note Player Piano Rolls, A, O, G, H rolls for Nickelodeon, Player

Pipe & Reed Organ, and other types of Music Rolls

We also sell Music Roll Repair Tape. Order some today. Get on our mailinglist for the auction and visit our website. We sell music rolls at bargain

prices, all over the world. Don’t miss out on any more rare rolls!

MECHANICALMUSIC

–OR–

Finest RestorationPipes

Alan S. Erb2318 Tahiti Street 4019 Ponderosa Dr.Hayward, CA 94545 Carson City, NV 89701510-783-5068 702-883-6494http://mechanicalmusicbox.com [email protected]

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WANTED - Membership Secretary

After many years of service, our current Membership Secretary Bill Chapman is looking to retire, and so AMICA is looking for someone who would like to fill this position. The

general duties of being the AMICA Membership Secretary are:

Some Requirements of the position:a. Manage, print and mail the annual member renewal notices beginning each October,

process returns in a timely fashion through Dec/Jan (this is the busy season). b. Process applications for new members, deposit checks in Bank of America. Process

Credit-Card and PayPal orders.c. Receive applications from AMICA’s website, mail, telephone.d. Store extra Bulletins for use during the year. Keep a folder of useful information.e. Provide chapters with materials as needed such as ready-made address labels, new

members IDs, etc.f. Maintain the membership database using Microsoft Access. Backup computer and send

backups periodically to the President, et al.g. Correspond with the members or public as needed. h. Purchase supplies for printing, ink, envelopes, etc. at local discount office store.i. Work with N-focus (mailing label processer) who sends mailing labels to Engler Printing. j. Work with Engler Printing, and every 3 years provide them with the data for the

Membership Directory. k. Required attendance to 2 out of 3 Annual Meetings and provide a report to the board with

the prior year’s activities, and the state of the membership (this trip is not reimbursed).l. Become proficient with Microsoft Word, Excel, Access Database.m. Live close to or have access to a US Post Office and a branch of Bank of America.

AMICA will provide:a. An annual Stipend of $1.50 per member (measured in May).b. Computer/Printer/Software (MS Office, etc.), internet service, answering machine,

credit-card keypad, and any reasonable office furniture/supplies/expenses necessary.

We’re looking for at least a 2 year commitment. If you’d like more information contact

our Membership Secretary Bill Chapman - he welcomes any questions - no pressure!

Bill Chapman (760) 564-2951 [email protected]

4 Promote new membership.

4 Attend annual convention.

4 Not let work back-up to

unreasonable levels during

busy seasons (Sept-Jan).

4 Maintain Accurate Membership rolls.

4 Working with the public by phone/email.

4 Communicate/cooperate with the

President, Publisher, Treasurer and

Website Manager.


WILHELM BRUDER SOHNE Model 79 Band Organ

48 key with metal bells (two known to exist)Made in Waldkirch, Germany.

Serial Number 3549 indicates 1920-1921.Imported to USA in late 1960's by

a carnival operator of King Reid Shows.Featured at Eastern Exposition,West Springfield, MA in 1970.Just completed total restorationby Haughawout Music Co.

Equipped with a MIDI system andincluded are many tune selections

arranged by Wayne Holton.Some original and reproduced

cardboard book music is also included.Original Facade is painted in floral theme with gold leaf.

$65,000.00

Joe Uhler

Box 126, Ingomar, PA 15127724-940-4331

(5-09)

Michael A. MorvanUxbridge, Massachusetts • (508) 278-9762

E-MAIL: [email protected]

WWW.PIANOANDORGANKEYS.COM

Call or E-MAIL for our latest Price and Services Sheet (3-10)

BLACKSTONE VALLEY PIANO

Michael A. MorvanCOVERING PIANO AND ORGAN KEYBOARDS

Our services include:

• RESTORATION OF ORIGINAL IVORY, BONE AND EBONY • RECOVERING KEYBOARDS IN NEW IVORY, BONE AND EBONY• RECOVERING KEYBOARDS IN ACRYLIC AND MINERAL PLASTICS• NEW KEYBOARD AND KEYFRAME FABRICATION• REPLACEMENT BALANCE HOLES, BUTTONS, MORTISES, KEYPINS AND SHOES• BUSHINGS, BACKCHECKS, KEY-END FELT, BACK RAIL CLOTH• KEYSTICK REPAIR: THE BUILD-UP OF TOPS, SIDES AND FRONTS TO CORRECT FOR WEAR, EROSION AND NOVICE REPAIRS• KEYBOARD RESTORATION SUPPLIES

DEDICATED TO ADVANCING THE ART OF KEYBOARD RESTORATION

(2-10)


WANTED:

AMICA Advertising Managerto contact businesses or individuals who would ben-efit by advertising in the AMICA Bulletin. This posi-tion will receive a percentage payment ofadvertisements sold. The AMICA Executive Com-mittee of the Board of Directors will set the percent-age to be paid.

Please contact President John Motto-Ros [email protected] or phone 209-267-9252.

www.ptg.org

Anywhere you go, a Registered Piano Technician (RPT) is ready to help you give customers the

extra service and assurance they expect.

Join us in Rochester, NY, June 21-25, 2006For information on the 15,000 sq. ft. exhibit hall and being

part of 250+ hours of educational opportunities visit

4444 Forest Ave.Kansas City, KS 913-432-9975 (1-10)

Anywhere you go, a Registered Piano Technician(RPT) is ready to help you give customers the extra

service and assurance they expect.

JOHN WRASSEP I A N O M O V I N G

Specializing in:Player Grands, Nickelodeons & Orchestrions

Anywhere in Continental US

• • • • • •

25 years experienceKnowledgeable Rebuilder

Well-known - References AvailableInsured

• • • • • •

Your instrument is wrapped, padded andsecured for transport in an insulated,clean custom-built heavy-duty trailer.

Professional and personal service.

John P. Wrasse, Piano Pro

31387 216th St., Bellevue, IA 52031

Cell (John): 563-580-2472

E-mail: [email protected](6-09)

ExperienceATOS

Preserving a unique art form.Concerts, education, silent film, preservation, fellowship and more. www.atos.orgJim Merry, Executive SecretaryP.O. Box 5327, Fullerton, CA [email protected]

American Theatre Organ Society

ATOS Amica ad 3.5x2 9/7/06 10:30 AM Page 1

(6-09)


(6-09)

2S Years of Quality Restorations

Antique & Classic Car Specialists See our cars featured "In the Magazines"

at the "In The News" link AHordableClassics.com

• Mechanical Services

• Auto Body & Paint

• Upholstery Services

• Disc Brake Conversions

• AlC Conversions

• Modern Audio Conversions

• Lojack Security Systems

AMICA & MSBI Member Neal Polan • HValueH

Appraisels • Photo Progress E-mailed

• Written Estimates

®

Automotive Restorations 19010 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance, Ca 90503 (310) 542-5824 [email protected]

\l\nNlN.A'f'fordableClassics.cOITI


APRIL 12, 1924 THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW 32

Weydig Radi-O-Player Arouses Wide

Interest Among the Retail Music TradeCombination of Radio Set and Player-Piano Already Being Handled by Large Number of Repre-

sentative Dealers Throughout the Country—Peter Weydig's and George Stabel's Work

The Radi-O-Player recently put on themarket by the Weydig Piano Corp., New York,has created considerable interest among thetrade at large, according to William E. Wey-dig, president of the corporation, and GeorgeStabel, who is now acting in the capacity ofgeneral sales manager. Since the exhibitingof this instrument at the Radio Show, whichwas held at the Hotel Pennsylvania in March,a large number of representative dealersthroughout the country have placed orders forit, with the result that the Weydig Corp. hashad a very busy six weeks since the an-nouncement of this instrument taking care ofthe demands which have been made upon it

The perfecting of this instrument cameabout through the practical experience of Mr.Stabel and Peter Weydig. Mr. Stabel, in seek-ing the proper place to put a radio set in hishome, hit upon the idea of putting it in thepiano in his living room, and no sooner hadhe done this than he conferred with Mr. Wey-dig regarding the possibilities of such a com-bination. From then on the development ofthe Radi-O-Player became a fact, and forseveral months this combination was workedout with the F. A. D. Andreas Co., with the re-sult that to-day the trade is able to purchasea Fada 160 Hazeltine Neutrodyne radio re-ceiver incorporated in a playerpiano in whichthe strings are used as an aerial and the loud

speaker is contained within the set, a spruce hornbeing used in conjunction with a specially manu-factured sound box. The receiving set is a verycompact unit which can easily be lifted from theplayer in case of necessity and interferes in noway with the operating of the player or the manualplaying on the piano.

The factory of the Weydig Corp. is a placewhere everyone connected with the institutiondoes his share of the work, each member of theorganization being vitally interested in its success.Under the guidance of Peter Weydig, a manwhose long experience in piano manufacturing iswell known in the trade, this corporation is making steady progress; William E. Weydig de-voting part of his time to traveling throughout theretail industry, while his brother, Westphal Weydig,who has had many years experience in the me-chanical departments of the piano manufacturingbusiness, assisted by Stephan Gabrias, keeps indirect contact with the manufacturing process inthe plant. With George Stabel, who has had awide experience in both advertising and merchan-dising, constantly pushing the sales efforts, it maybe readily seen that the organization is well bal-anced and from present reports the corporation isheading in the right direction toward increasedsales and greater production.

The corporation is now also manufacturing aRadi-O-Electric player in conjunction with the firstinstrument produced. contributed by

John Motto-Ros

Westphal Weydig

Radi-O-Player

Peter Weydig

Stephan Gabrias

George Stabel

Wm. E. Weydig

Contributed by John Motto-Ros

TRAm,,- "Alta:: FitiEtN"Z's. f')?;~[illN(j

FEA"[URING

THE FAMor~ FADA ··ONJi:-SIXrl'"

T ,¢ Rest u.tLd M !;JJl ""fJV,"YTJi}/!!;}

G"tule

Radi-O-Electric Player

F..:tl !.Jell"", l:lVtFU iHld "l'n71¥' fnrVHitlrrlffi IIttrt>fI """'c,",, Wri'l<' fot ClI!lI'll1 T ""ris,,,,vc

WEYDIG I~IA~O COUP.

CURRENTLY AVAtLABLE: ~eel)nrE

TIl TRloeI. N. Darren McHenry, UUJ>."J.., 6001)1

TrurnaNE: 630-269-3059 [-MAIL: Tt.I(i)flMTRAGfR.COM

the amica - stacksvj888ts2266/sep... · 2015. 6. 15. · 216 amica bulletin - sept/oct 2009...

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