Volume 69, No. 5 September/October 2023

Volume 69, No. 5 September/October 2023

Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments

Journal of the Musical Box Society International

Volume 69, No. 5 September/October 2023

5 PresidentÕs Message
7 EditorÕs Notes
55 In Memoriam

MBSI News

On the Cover
A view inside Judy and Bob BurtscherÕs music room in their Southern California home. Their collection is extensive as can be seen in the Southern California Chapter report on Page 47.

Mechanical music is a fascinating hobby! It appeals to the artist, historian, craftsman, and musician all at the same time. Play an automatic musical instrument in a room full of people and all else will stop as the machine enraptures the audience with the sparkling melodies of yesteryear!
Mechanical music instruments are any sort of auto.matically-played machine that produces melodic sound including discs and cylinder music boxes that pluck a steel comb; orchestrions and organs that engage many instru.ments at once using vacuum and air pressure; player and reproducing pianos that use variable vacuum to strike piano wires; phonographs; and self-playing stringed, wind, and percussion instruments of any kind.
The Musical Box Society International, chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, is a nonprofit society dedicated to the enjoyment, study, and preservation of automatic musical instruments. Founded in 1949, it now has members around the world, and supports various educational projects.
Regional chapters and an Annual Meeting held each year in different cities within the United States enable members to visit collections, exchange ideas, and attend educational workshops. Members receive six issues of the journal, Mechanical Music, which also contains advertising space for members who wish to buy, sell, and restore mechanical musical instruments and related items. Members also receive the biennial MBSI Directory of Members, Muse.ums, and Dealers.
The only requirements for membership are an interest in automatic music machines and the desire to share infor.mation about them. And youÕll take pride in knowing you are contributing to the preservation of these marvelous examples of bygone craftsmanship.
More information online at www.MBSI.org, or
Call: (417) 576-4280, or
Email: jbeeman.mbsi@att.net

By David Corkrum
MBSI President
I would like to extend my gratitude to all of you for allowing me to serve as your president these past two years. Your support, your confidence and your friendship mean so much to me.
Looking back 47 years ago to when I joined this society, I find it is a deci.sion I will never regret. If my husband, Paul, were still alive he might have something profound to say about my dedication to this hobby. I believe he loved it as much as I do.
By the time you read this, Matt Jaro will be your new MBSI president. Matt has been such an active member in the society and I cannot think of anyone more qualified to succeed me. Throughout these past two years, I have relied on his experience when I have been challenged by a dilemma that requires more than one person to solve it. I have no doubt that Matt will do an extraordinary job in this position. I want to express my sincere appreciation to the MBSI Board of Trustees for giving their time and effort to the society. They are a wonderful group of people whom I have relied on to give me the best advice possible.
I want to thank our treasurer, Ed Kozak, and recording secretary, Linda Birkitt, for their efficient work and willingness to serve in these positions. Although I do not have direct experi.ence in finance, I do have it in keeping track of what is said at our meetings. While serving as recording secretary, I found it was a position I enjoyed very much. And, no, Linda, I do not want it back. Both positions can be difficult at times, but I feel that we have the best people filling these positions.
There are so many other members who keep this organization running so smoothly that I want to thank. Ed Cooley, our Audit Committee chair, makes sure we do not cut any corners and corrects any mistakes. Finance and Endowment Committee Chair Ed Kozak who makes sure that the society spends its money wisely. Bob Smith, our Marketing Committee chair, helps us find ways to market our society and obtain some of the best collec.tors. Matt Jaro, our Meetings Committee chair, ensures that our annual meetings are the best they can be. He will be succeeded by Rich Poppe, another dedicated member and a good friend.
Sally Craig, our Museum Committee chair, is really dedicated to this posi.tion. Sally has agreed, once again, to continue as chair and I cannot thank her enough for doing this. Bob Caletti is another member who has agreed to continue service as the Publications Committee chair. He will, however, need to find a replacement in two years. Our Special Exhibits Commit.tee chair, Mary Ellen Myers, is another member who is dedicated to her posi.tion. Mary Ellen you do a fantastic job in this position. Our newest committee chair, Judy Caletti, who oversees the Nominating committee is showing she is up to the task of filling this difficult position. Thank you!
We have two sub-committee chairs; Rob Pollock who oversees our Ohio operations under the Museum Sub-committee, and Rick Swaney, our Website Sub-committee chair who does fantastic work in helping to keep our site up to date.
I also want to express my special thanks to three people who do so much for our society in a paid capacity. Our editor, Russell Kasselman who is just a fantastic person who does so much for the society. Cinda Rogers, our new accountant, who really keeps us on track financially. Our administrator, Jacque Beeman, who works very hard for us in many capacities. I believe we would be dead in the water without you. Thank you!
I realize this is a long message, but there are so many people I wanted to thank for working for our society. You and the members who work with you have all done superb work.
The society has come a long way since its founding in 1949, which, by the way, was the year I was founded, well, er, born. We are both the same age and we both plan to live on for many years. When I look back on my 47 years as a member, I find I have learned much about mechanical music. Out of all my hobbies, this is the one I treasure the most. I have said to many people that if you have an interest in mechanical music, this is the organization to belong to. The people who make up MBSI all have something important to say about the machines we love. There is an unlim.ited source of information contained in the MBSI. You want to know about a certain area, this is the place to come to.
Okay, I have probably said too much but this is how I feel. My sincere thanks to you all. You are definitely ÒMy Family!Ó

Mechanical Music

43 Golden Gate
47 Southern California
51 East Coast

Sharing the sound
Members of the American Council of the Blind enjoyed tours of the San Filippo collection. Page 42.

MECHANICAL MUSIC

Journal of the Musical Box Society International

Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments

Editor/Publisher
Russell Kasselman
(253) 228-1634
editor@mbsi.org
MBSI Editorial Office:
Iron Dog Media
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
editor@mbsi.org
Publications Chair
Bob Caletti
All manuscripts will be subject to editorial review. Articles submitted for publication may be edited or rejected at the discretion of the Publications Committee and the Editorial Staff. The article will not be published with significant changes without the authorÕs approval. All articles are considered to be the authorÕs personal opinion. The author may be asked to substantiate his/her statements.
Mechanical Music (ISSN 1045-795X) is published by the Musical Box Society International, 130 Coral Court, Pismo Beach, CA 93449 six times per year. A Direc.tory of Members, Museums, and Dealers is published biennially. Domestic subscription rate, $60. Periodicals postage paid at San Luis Obispo, CA and additional mailing offices.
Copyright 2023. The Musical Box Society Inter.national, all rights reserved. Mechanical Music cannot be copied, reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form whatsoever without written consent of the Editor and the Executive Committee.
MEMBERS: SEND ADDRESS CORRECTIONS TO:
MBSI, PO Box 10196,
Springfield, MO 65808-0196
Or, make corrections on the website at www.mbsi.org.
POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO
MBSI, PO Box 10196,
Springfield, MO 65808-0196

Features

8 Nickel Notes
18 The Pietschmann firm of Berlin (Part III)
36 A Polyphon 43 N
40 Building a stand to show off our music box
42 Sharing mechanical music with the American Council of the Blind

Chapter Reports

MBSI has replanted 230 trees so far as part of the Print ReLeaf program.

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EditorÕs Notes

MAILING ADDRESS
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EMAIL ADDRESS
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By Russell Kasselman
MBSI Editor/Publisher
As the high temperatures of Summer fade into the brisk winds of Fall and we watch leaves drop off the trees to create a completely different picture of our daily world itÕs a good time to change things up inside too. Find a new roll to play, or consider ordering a new disc that evokes the coming holiday season. Prepare a cup of your favorite hot drink and think about hosting a holiday party where you might invite neighbors and friends to come share in the joy of mechanical music with you.
Gathering together to share mechan.ical music is one of the best ways to ensure that the appreciation of such wonderful mechanical marvels are preserved for the future generations. Who knows what young child might hear a tune and become forever entranced with the idea that they might, one day, own a such a machine of their own to lend an air of joviality to any party atmosphere.
Transitioning back to the indoors for the winter often means finding activities that can be done in a work.shop or craft room. Are you working on a restoration project? What kind of maintenance tasks do you undertake to be sure your collection is well taken care of in the cold versus the warm weather? Do you have tips for others that might help them keep their collection in the best possible condi.tion? Please share! Your knowledge is welcome here.
My view is that this magazine is a collaboration among all of us. No one person is ÒtheÓ expert on mechanical music and anyone who enjoys the hobby probably has a little something to share with the group. I look forward to hearing from any of you with feedback on what you might like to see more of in these pages.
I hope that everyone who had the chance to attend this yearÕs MBSI Annual Meeting in St. Paul, MN, had a wonderful time. I look forward to seeing the photos and reading about the activities enjoyed by the group. Look for a report in the next issue along with minutes from the Board of Trustees meeting and the meeting of the general membership.
All chapter chairs are encouraged to send in notices of any holiday parties planned for this year so chapter members will see them in the calendar and attend.

Upcoming Deadlines

ADVERTISING
Advertisements for the November/December 2023 issue of Mechanical Music need to be submitted by Oct. 1, 2023.
Advertisements for the January/February 2024 issue of Mechanical Music need to be submitted by Dec. 1, 2023.

EDITORIAL
Articles and photos for the November/December 2023 issue of Mechanical Music should be submitted by Sept. 25, 2023.
Articles and photos for the January/February 2024 issue of Mechanical Music should be submitted by Nov. 25, 2023.

Welcome new members!

June 2023
Kyle Rode & Anna Bernstein
Barrington, IL
Thu Huong Huynh
Carrollton, TX
Deimantas Cepe
Panevezys, Panevezio raj., Lithuania
Dani Kline
South Boston, MA
John Hastings
Ellsworth, MI
Kimberly Horst-Parker & Noah Parker
Red Lion, PA
Yves Gros
Saint Raphael, PACA, France
Thomas & Paula Soniat
River Ridge, LA
July 2023
Katrina Foll & John Carroll
Brooksville, FL
Marie Hall
Oak Park, CA
Randy Guyer
Minnetonka, MN

Nickel Notes

By Matthew Jaro

Music Roll Perforating Machines Ð Part I

For years I have talked about machines, music and people. With this issue of Mechanical Music, I begin a series of articles on the perforating machines used to cut music rolls. There are basically three types of machines: home machines for making single rolls manually, industrial machines for mass roll production and modern machines made by producers of recut rolls. I will try to cover all three.
For this issue I will cover the oldest known home machine and one of the newest modern machines.
Home Machine
The Seville Perforator
The Seville Music Perforator Co., was organized in the spring of 1903 in New Castle, IN. According to the Music Trade Review, (MTR), ÒThe company will manufacture a small and simple machine with which any one can cut the music for the various self-playing piano instruments, and the company has great possibilities before it.Ó In June 1903, MTR announced that the first musical piece was cut on a Seville machine. It was played back with no mistakes. No instruction was needed except a simple explanation. They received a patent for a perfora.tion spacing device. There were round punches for short notes and oblong punches for long notes. Seville had another invention whereby the user could set the key signature of the piece and the machine would indicate the proper position for the note. The company would even supply the paper in the proper width.
In 1905 MTR had an article entitled ÒEveryone Can Cut Music.Ó (The arti.cle assumed that the reader could also read music). Illustrated in Figure 1 is a 1903 advertisement in the St. Louis Republic for a Seville Perforator. After the 1905 article there is complete silence. I guess the perforator didnÕt sell well. There was no notice of the dissolution of the company or any further word. I have never seen one of these perforators and I donÕt know of anyone having one.
Modern Machines
The Billings Perforator
Bob Billings (and his wife Ginny) made countless contributions to AMICA and the automated musical instrument hobby in general. Bob was president of AMICA in 1970. Ginny was editor of the bulletin beginning in September 1970. Bob and Ginny compiled a fabulous database of piano rolls which they shared with all AMICA members.
Our subject today, however, is the perforator and certain aspects of the roll cutting business that Bob wanted to share with us. I am presenting this information in much more technical detail than we usually print because these insights are so valuable and important to anyone contemplating building such equipment.
The music roll perforator Bob designed and built himself was used for many years to produce super-high-quality Sierra Music Rolls and Jazzola rolls that were then sold by John Mottoros. When Bob retired from the roll business, he sold his perforator to Tim Baxter.
Figure 2 shows the perforator.
I asked Bob if he could supply me with information about the machine, and what he answered was far beyond my wildest expectations.
My first request was to ask him to explain the history behind the machine. BobÕs response is reproduced here with only minor edits to improve readability.
History
I was first exposed to player pianos when I was around 10 years old and have tinkered with them off and on ever since. When Ginny and I were married in 1967 we got more seriously into the hobby. Like many other folks, I thought making rolls was something IÕd like to do. It didnÕt take long until I found that making a roll perforator was a major job, so it remained a fantasy for years.
About 1995 I began seriously thinking about making a perforator. I was inspired when I received a CAD (Computer Aided Design) program from the company I worked for after they upgraded their software. My brother, who is a fine machinist with a machine shop full of precision equip.ment, has years of experience and a practical mind. We kicked around various ideas for making rolls and concluded a traditional perforator like the one QRS uses was the best approach. We thought it would be least the expensive, rugged and easy to maintain. We also thought it was something we could build without a major development program. At the time laser equipment was very expen.sive and making more than one roll at a time was a problem. Today we might have gone with a laser system, but that was not a practical solution in 1996.
Richard Tonnesen had a perforator based on the traditional model. It had been running quite well for years making high quality rolls. He let me visit his operation and take pictures and ask endless questions. He was very supportive of the project. After a year of spare time design on the computer, I ran the design by Richard who made many good suggestions, spotted flaws and continued to be supportive. After another year the design started look.ing like it had a chance of working. Again, another iteration with Richard, and many hours of talk and exper.imentation with my brother. Now the final design began to take shape. One very important part of using the CAD program is that it allowed me to assemble everything in cyberspace and check fit the parts, tolerances and general operation. With well more than 1,000 pieces it was necessary to get it all right before actual construction or we would have been cutting and fitting for a long time.
In 1999 we began construction on the core part of the perforator, where the hole punching is done. It worked well, and thanks to the CAD program everything fit as planned the first time. Next, we added the frame and paper handling parts. The paper handling was planned in two stages. First, we used two paper supply rolls to prove out the system, then we added a six-roll frame so eight roll copies could be punched at one time. Stage one was working by 2001. Stage two, with the full complement of paper, was operating by 2002.
After a year of sorting out the bits and pieces, and throwing away lots of paper, the machine was finally able to punch production rolls starting in 2003. Some of the assumptions we made in the beginning were not right, so evolution continued through 2003. By 2004 the quality of punching was quite good, and we had reached our goal.
Design targets
¥
Rugged and easy to maintain.

¥
Operating speed up to 30 punches per second, margins designed to handle 60 per second in the future.

¥
Balanced to minimize vibration.

¥
Handle roll widths up to Welte T-100.

¥
Punch up to 8 copies at a time.

¥
Easily changeable punches and dies to handle any roll format.

¥
Paper advance step size accu.rately settable to any format.

¥
Total length no more than 9 feet, due to shop space limitations.

¥
Paper supply spools to be load.able by one person.

¥
Any paper supply spool change.able without moving any other.

¥
Computer controlled.

¥
Interposers operated by sole.noids, two banks on each side of the punch assembly.

On Jan. 24, 2000, Bob wrote the following to Richard Tonneson:
Dear Richard,
Here are the current drawings for the perforator. They are only for the ÒcoreÓ part – the paper transport and solenoid assembly will come after we prove out the ÒcoreÓ. Please keep these drawings confidential.
The punches are on order and should arrive soon. I got a sample of one, but havenÕt tweaked the dimen.sions for the new flat bottom punches. The tweaks will be only in the inter.posers (I hope!), which havenÕt been made yet in their final form.
Machining starts on the cam and connecting rod assemblies in the next week or so. I will be taking the prints to my brother when we go to the Bay Area later this week. As you will notice, everything is quite robust. If this were a production design I would make prototypes and reduce many of the dimensions, but for a one-off itÕs belt and suspenders time. If this version works well, I will probably build another to handle the monster width rolls, such as the Aeolian organ rolls. Then I can leave one set up for standard 100-hole rolls, and the other for Duo-Art, changing for the occasional run of odd stuff. ThereÕs been a surprising amount of interest in 6-to-the-inch rolls.
All the precision parts are located by pins. In the case of the hammer bar the pins also carry the load, with bolts only holding the assemblies on the pins. Bracing of the slide bars may be necessary, but if so the braces can be made as part of the solenoid support structure.
There are bevels on the edges of the die plate and stripper to facilitate paper loading. Hammer bar stroke is 0.18Ó, which I believe will be sufficient. This allows for 1/32Ó paper slot, punch retraction of 0.012Ó into the stripper, and punch travel 0.012Ó below the die plate. Stroke is as small as possible in anticipation of higher punch speeds in the future. If the stroke needs to be increased it means new cams and increasing the slot depth in the interposers, all of which are allowed for in the design.
Paper handling
I asked Bob how he got clean punches with multiple layers of paper. His reply, again only lightly edited, follows.
It was clear early on that the best way to get clean punches in multiple paper layers was to keep the paper under tension as it passed through the punch area. Any slack meant position errors, as well as paper bunching at the punch location, which would cause fuzzy punches. So, I placed the stepper paper drive in the output path, pulling the paper from a drag bar (Figure 3) at the input side of the punch station. This kept a constant tension on the paper as it passed through the punching area.(This picture is from the developmental period, so it is rather crude). Figure 4 shows the mechanism that pulls the paper from the supply spools to the paper drag. Its motor speed is controlled by a sensor arm on the paper after the pinch roller, so that a service loop is created between the roller and the paper drag. Figure 2 shows the paper puller under the punch bed at the paper feed side of the punches, and shows the stepper drive under the punch bed at the output side of the punches. Additional tension on the output side came from the slip drives for the take-up spools, reducing slippage at the stepper. These are some of the reasons for the clean and well-positioned holes in the rolls.
We considered clamping the paper at the punch site each downstroke of the punch head. This would be a plate with holes for each punch pin, that would press spring loaded on the paper just prior to punching. Experi.ments showed that there was minimal positive effect from the clamp, and it would have unnecessarily compli.cated the mechanism.
Figure 5 shows the paper supply rack under construction in IvanÕs (BobÕs brotherÕs) shop. You can see the built-in winch to load the 40-pound paper spools into position. Figure 6 shows details of the paper spooling mechanism. The motor runs at a constant speed, driving the take-up spools through slip contact with the spool rims.
Figure 7 shows the rig for spooling piano rolls. The paper is vacuumed, passing over the spooler table for stamping and label. Not shown is the leader trimmer. When spooling nickel.odeon rolls the roll spool is placed in the slot at the right end of the spooler. Stamping and labels are done on the integral table.
The punch cycle
I asked Bob to explain how a punch cycle works. He sent me the following reply.
A punch cycle starts with the move.ment of the paper one step forward under the punch head. The distance the paper moves is controlled by parameters set in the punch file. This movement starts when the punch head reaches a point in its upward travel, and is triggered by a sensor that reads the position of the punch head. At the same time any interposers that were operated during the previous punch cycle are then programmed to their proper positions for the next punch stroke. If the programmed position is the same as for the current stroke, the interposer remains in the punching mode, otherwise it is released and returns to the non-punch position. And correspondingly, inactive inter.posers are activated if the next step calls for a punch. The punch hammer then starts its downward travel. So, the interposer positions must be set to their programmed positions in the interval between the sensor trigger and the point where the punch hammer contacts the interposers. The punch pins are then pressed by the interposers to punch the paper. After the pins are extracted from the paper the next punch cycle begins.
To be more specific, the punch pin guide plate is mounted on a moving head (up and down) and an interposer either keeps the punching pins from moving down to the paper or allows them to punch through. The interposer has a notch which is over the punch if it is not selected or a solid section that forces the punch down if it is selected. A picture of an interposer is shown in Figure 8. The pull wire to the operating solenoid inserts into the hole closest to the end of the interposer, the return spring inserts into the other hole.
Punching mechanism
Figure 3 shows the solenoid bank, interposer pull wires and the punch head. Figure 9 is a larger oblique side view of the same area. The paper trim can be seen leaving the punch head and passing through the guides to drop in a collector box (not shown).
Figure 10 shows the interposer ends, with the pull wires inserted and the return springs in place. Figure 11 shows the plate that keeps the pull wires from rising out of the interposers.
Figure 12 shows the punch head, punch pin guide plate and the die plate. The guide plate is fixed to the die plate, with spacers to allow the paper to pass between them. The punch pins are always inside the guide plate holes, retracted from the paper path until called by their solenoids. Then they are pushed out by the hammer bar in the punch head during the time the paper movement is stopped.
Figure 13 is the operatorÕs position. The picture on the wall is from our farm days Ð a 20-year-old cat and a pygmy goat kid.
Figure 14 shows the perforator in full production form.
Solenoids
Solenoids are used to move the interposers into position. Below, Bob discusses his choice of solenoids.
The solenoid I used for testing the interposer system is made by WPI in Warner, NH, part number SAA0406D2. I wonÕt be using this one, since it costs $17.21 each in hundreds. IÕm waiting for a similar part sample from Shinde.gen (SK325 or SK425, distributed by Deltrol in the U.S.), which will cost about $8 in hundreds.
These are rather high prices for use in most perforators I know about, either real or planned. The reason for using this type is that I need a very fast acting solenoid, operating either close or open in about 6Ð8 milliseconds to work at my planned possible maximum speed of around 50 perforations/sec. This requires a quite small solenoid that has a low mass plunger (about 1 gram) and sufficient Ampere-turns to drive it in the time required. My target speed for the first model is 30 perforations/sec, with the design allowing for a possible 50 perforations/sec.
The solenoid is rated at 6 volts, with a 100 percent duty cycle rating of 1.9 watts. Overdriving it to 9.5 volts achieved the required operating time, using the masses and spring tension in my system. This would allow about a 50 percent duty cycle, though my plan is to keep it closer to 25 percent. If the duty cycle circuit can be adjusted to operate in the 5Ð10 millisecond range after drive start, the ÒoffÓ timing of the solenoid drive wonÕt be critical, though it must shut off within the 16 millisecond . cycle time of the punch head.
Scanning
As important as the hardware that makes the paper copies of original rolls, the process that precedes it is just as important. This was BobÕs process.
It started with scanning the original roll, then converting the resulting CIS file to the WEB file, editing the WEB file as necessary, which then drives the perforator. IÕll skip the scanning part, as that is well-known and documented.
Warren Trachtman created a suite of three applications that converts the CIS files to WEB files. The first is RollScan Converter, which converts the CIS file to an intermediate MIDI file, called the ScanImageMIDI file. Next is ScanMidiToPunchMidi, which (rather obviously!) creates the Punch.MIDI file. This suite is tailored for the 88-note scale, so when processing nickelodeon rolls it is necessary to shift the notes up six positions to place the notes correctly. This is done with the PunchMIDI file. Last is the PunchMIDItoWEB/ANN converter, which creates the Web/Ann files that can be edited in Wind (a roll perforat.ing preparation program). The edited files then drive the perforator.
The editing process sometimes took longer than all the other parts of the roll creation process together. Sometimes editing consisted only of fixing obvious mechanical problems, such as missing perforations in a chain. But when it came to judging musical matters it could be a long process indeed. Popular music was usually easy to fix in this respect, but where the artistÕs interpretation was concerned it sometimes took the opinions of others to come up with the most likely corrections, if any. Fixing scans of damaged rolls could also be quite a challenge.
Creating accurate roll
reproductions and error correction
We have been collecting automatic musical instruments for many years, as well as the media that runs them. Rolls of paper with holes punched in them, mainly. The paper has held up remarkably well in most cases, but it eventually deteriorates to the point where it canÕt (or shouldnÕt!) be used to play music. Early on I became intrigued with the problem of accurately copying the paper rolls to new paper. After seeing other folksÕ efforts to do so, I decided to try my hand at it. Building on the pioneering work done by Richard Tonnesen and Wayne Stahnke, I started with a clean slate and designed a roll perforator and a roll reader. After a couple of years, I had an operating perforator and reader, using modern electronic and computer technology. Essential to making this equipment work were the suites of software programs developed by Wayne Stahnke, Rich.ard Brandle and Warren Trachtman. Their programs gave measurement, processing and production control of remarkable precision. And eventually insight into the original production and editing of the rolls.
When we started collecting piano rolls in the 1960s, we assumed they were accurate copies of an artistÕs playing. It wasnÕt long before we discovered that there were rolls that were obviously laid out on a drafting board and those that sounded more like they were played by a real person. After that the categories grew: Artists we liked; different roll makes; types of music; and so on. We didnÕt question whether a roll was an accurate copy of what the manufacturer intended, though it became clear that an artistÕs playing was usually edited. Occasion.ally a defective roll would show up, but this was rare.
When I started designing my perfo.rator and reader in the late 1990s, Wayne Stahnke gave me a suite of programs for processing the results of scanning rolls and operating a perforator. Wayne discovered that the distance between punch holes in a chain, for instance, were not necessar.ily evenly spaced, and punches might wander from side to side relative to the paper edges (slew), or the paper might be tilted relative to the tracker bar (skew), to name a few anomalies. He designed programs that analyzed the punches and figured out where they should have been placed by the original master roll. Later Warren Trachtman designed another suite of programs to do the same functions, and others have since added to the programs that try to put the punches back in the intended positions. They all do a remarkable job, but may not do a perfect one, due to roll defects and program limitations that cause ambiguous punch placement. Human judgment is needed to resolve these problems.
It soon became apparent that the manufacturing process for the origi.nal rolls was often inaccurate. Some manufacturers made consistently good rolls, others ranged from good to quite poor. For instance, QRS until the late 1920s made rolls with very few problems, the Aeolian rolls of the 1930s often had glaring defects. Some defects are more subtle, such as variation in tempo and skew. Missed or extra punches are easy to detect by eye or ear, but the restoration programs have no way to do so. When the variations in tempo (step size between punches) are large, the restoration programs can be fooled into adding or subtracting rows of punches. Skew can cause otherwise identical rolls to sound different. Skewing the treble notes ahead cause them to sound brighter or louder than the bass notes, skewing them behind causes the music to lose Òlife.Ó
Variations in step size are quite common in rolls. Some variations are random, others are cyclic, such as those caused by the paper feed mech.anisms. Some manufacturers had little variation, others could be bad enough to confuse the restoration programs. Where this happens, it takes human judgment to decide where the punches should have been.
Some problems are due to sloppy editing, such as leaving too little space between repeated notes, not aligning chords properly, not catching obviously wrong notes, advancing the master roll too few or too many steps between beats, to name a few. Some of problems of this sort can be found by visual inspection, some require listening with a Òmusical ear.Ó
So how can we restore the original musical intent of the rolls?
Most popular music follows regular and predictable patterns. The music will be on a beat of many punch rows that is consistent throughout, as will be the artistÕs or arrangerÕs style. There are exceptions, of course, but usually this is true. Using roll editing programs, it is then relatively easy, but tedious, to count the rows between beats and find the places where the restoration programs or the original roll has added or lost rows. There are shortcuts to the counting process, so it is rarely necessary to count each row. It takes less effort if one can use this approach rather than the alternate one of overlaying a copy on the original and visually locating step errors. When the original roll has added or lost rows it can be due to manufacturing defects, or occasionally editing errors. When it becomes a judgment issue of what to do I will usually edit so the music sounds right. If it is questionable I will leave it as is.
Classical music is usually not edited to play the notes on a regular pattern of punch rows. Where there is no regular Òbeat,Ó row adds and slips can be found only by visual inspec.tion. Where there are regular chain patterns in the music such errors can be seen with editing programs, though sometimes pattern errors are due to inconsistency of the machinery that generated the patterns. With that exception, the only way to find row adds and slips in this type of music is by overlaying a punched copy of the roll over the original roll. This requires punching a copy with the same punch step size as the original. In practice, a slight difference in step size can be compensated by the eye.
My perforator uses digital stepping with a resolution of about three thou.sandths of an inch. Wayne StahnkeÕs perforator control program controls the step size in much smaller incre.ments, which allows making copies that can be compared accurately to the original rolls.
A copy at this point has been processed by restoration programs, and the punches have been restored to fall on a regular grid pattern. This does not mean that they are on the pattern of the original master that made the rolls, only that they are on the same step intervals as the master. If a punch on the original roll is not exactly on the original step interval, (a regular grid pattern) it may be seen by the restoration program as displaced by a step from where it should be. For instance, if the original punch is a half-step from the intended location, the restoration program may put it a full step from where it should have been. The restoration programs calculate the step size and placement and then make the best fit for each punch.
Paper
The choice of proper paper is essential to obtaining an excellent finished product. Many of the nickel.odeon rolls survive today in excellent condition, while rolls manufactured by Duo-Art and Ampico, for example, have become brittle over the years. Bob explains some of the problems with paper and what he did to over.come these.
Burrows Paper Corporation has a distribution facility in Reno, NV, so they were the folks we worked with on paper issues. We thought the dry wax paper called out in the first purchase order would be a good choice, partly because we thought that the wax would lubricate the punches, and also because it was not too expensive. As we found out, the wax had a slight coefficient of friction, causing the paper layers to stick together slightly as they rolled up on the take-up spool in the playing mechanism. If the drag at the supply spool was less than what would cause the ÒstictionÓ to be overcome, the paper wound some.what loosely on the take-up spool. Often the resulting loose layers would momentarily unstick, causing the paper to stop moving over the tracker bar until the slack was taken up. This of course caused the music to pause until the paper was tight enough on the take-up spool. Another problem was the hygroscopic nature of the paper, which caused dimensional changes with changes in humidity. Reno has a dry desert climate, with low humidity, so the paper expanded when taken to the higher humidity areas where we sold most of the rolls. We compensated for this by storing the paper and punching rolls in a humidity-controlled environment.
This led to the choice of the ÒPlas.tawaxÓ coated paper (the second purchase order), which was slick enough to allow the paper to spool tightly on the take-up spool, and it was much more dimensionally stable. And, as we found, it punched cleaner than the dry wax type, and we didnÕt have to control the humidity of storage and production areas. Not unexpectedly, it was about 50 percent more expensive, but worth the cost. This is the paper we used until we sold the perforator to Tim Baxter.
Bob wrote a letter to the Burrows Paper Corporation requesting help after the first batch of paper brought out the problems mentioned above:
5 November 2004
Burrows Paper Corp
1722 53rd Street
Fort Madison, IA 52627
Attention: Audra
Dear Audra,
At last IÕve gotten around to getting you some paper samples and some thoughts about player piano paper. Please have your engineers see what they can come up with.
Enclosed are two samples of orig.inal paper from the 1920s. They are from rolls that have held up better than most. The one marked ÒCapitalÓ is from a nickelodeon roll, the one marked ÒImperialÓ is from a piano roll.
The paper we have been buying from you, the 30/36 DW BLEA, has been working well for piano rolls, with two exceptions: They are not dimensionally stable with humidity changes, and with very long rolls there is intermittent layer-to-layer slippage as the paper builds up on the take-up spool.
We live in the high desert, where the humidity is often below 20 percent. When I first started making piano rolls I sent samples to people in high humidity areas and they found that the rolls had expanded enough to cause problems on marginal pianos. Since then, I have made the piano rolls in a controlled humidity environment, about 35Ð 40 percent humidity. With rolls wider than the 11 1/4 inch size we trim to, it can expand (or shrink) enough to cause unacceptable opera.tion. Carl Lambie says he canÕt make the 15 inch or larger rolls required for some instruments for this reason. I understand that there will always be some dimensional change, but I (and the rest of us perforator people) would like to minimize it. The samples are acceptably dimensionally stable.
Most of the people we sell to also play old original rolls, which are getting fragile today. For this reason, they set the drag on the supply spool quite low. When playing rolls made with the new paper the paper doesnÕt slide snugly against each layer, I think because it has more friction than the original. At any rate, with long rolls eventually the layers Òcatch up,Ó and the supply spool stops while the take-up spool continues to rotate. This causes the music to halt, which is not a good thing. On very long rolls, such as the nickelodeon rolls, many folks stop part way through and take up the slack. The Capital sample, for instance, doesnÕt do this.
Another requirement is that the paper punch cleanly in our perfo.rators. Typically, we punch up to eight layers of paper at a time using round punches about 0.060 to 0.100 inches in diameter. One type of roll uses punches about 0.045 inches in diameter in some spots. ÒFuzzÓ is not acceptable, as is hanging chad. I suspect this means low rag content, but IÕm no expert on this sort of thing.
Paper thickness must be 0.003 inches, or at least close to it.
Color is not important if it isnÕt too dark. My preference is for something very similar to what we buy now, but that takes a back seat to the require.ments above.
Looking toward the future, it would be desirable to be able to print or screen on one side. Many original piano rolls had words screened on them with an ink that dried extremely fast.
Summing up, what we want is, in order of importance:
1) Dimensional stability with humidity change
2) Paper thickness 0.003 inches
3) Clean punching
4) A surface with low friction
5) Color similar to what we buy now
6) A surface that will take printing or screening
Of course, we want it cheap and if it can walk the dog too that would be nice.
Best regards, Bob Billings
Final paper order
Bob found good paper from Burrows and here is the latest purchase order:
Date: 17 June 2009
Number: 0906171
To:Burrows Paper Corporation
Item: 1. Per your Supply Agreement of 17 June 2009
¥
4,000 lbs. 30/34# Bleached, Plas.ta-Wax One Side, Wet Strength Paper PBL-030-4800 No Color/No Printing

¥
12Ó W x 12Ó Dia. x 3Ó Core

¥
Packed 1 Roll per Carton

¥
Price $1.59/lb., FOB Reno, NV

¥
Wind Rolls Wax side down (wax side toward core).

¥
Paper must be slit to 12Ó wide, tolerance not exceeding +/- 1/16Ó. The closer the better!

¥
Tears from slitting must not exceed 1/8Ó deep.

Delivery: 4 weeks or sooner
Ship to: Burrows Reno Plant. Sierra Music Rolls will pick it up there.
Signature: Robert Billings
Conclusion
This ends our very detailed examina.tion of all aspects of the roll business. It is very important to preserve and share this information since it is a central aspect of our hobby. It is a guide to future roll recutters. The perforator story will be continued in the next issue of the Mechanical Music.

Figure 1

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Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Email Matt Jaro at mjaro@verizon.net if you would like any information about style ÒAÓ, ÒGÓ, Ò4XÓ, ÒHÓ or ÒOÓ rolls. Also, comments and suggestions for this column will be appreciated.
Reprinted with permission of the author and The Automatic Musical Instrument CollectorsÕ Association (AMICA). Originally printed in the January/February 2018 issue of The AMICA Bulletin.

The Pietschmann Firm of Berlin

(Part III)

Deutsche Musikwerke System Pietschmann (German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann)

By Dr. Albert Lštz

The resolution of liquidation of Berlin Musical Instruments Factory took place on Nov. 19, 1896. One and a half months later it became known that Ferdinand Pietschmann had acquired the companyÕs two estates at 25 Brunnenstr. and 45 Fehrbelli.nerstr.11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1896-1897), p. 267.
On Mar. 25, 1897, the Berlin Stock Exchange Journal reported that debts of 245,000 Mark, which were the cause of the company liquidation, had been paid off after the sale of the two factory estates and the recovery of outstanding claims.22 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 25 March 1897, evening issue, p. 2, third column bottom.
Speculators got wind of the news and rushed to buy shares of Berlin Musical Instruments Factory, which were traded again starting March 20 after quite a long time on hold.33 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 20 March 1897, evening issue, stock prices VIII, second column.
Prices varied within a few days between 244 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 23 March 1897, evening issue, stock prices VIII, second column.
and 6.50 Mark for the old shares, and between 30 and 40 Mark for the preference shares. On March 29, the Berlin Stock Exchange Journal warned speculators that the old shares would be considered worthless.55 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 29 March 1897, evening issue, p. 3, second column.
On May 5, 1897, a meeting of the shareholders, led by Ferdinand Pietschmann, took place. During the meeting the following actions were explained and resolved.66 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 6 May 1897, evening issue, p. 2, second column bottom.
Ferdinand Pietschmann could exchange one of the two factory estates for equity in a newly revived company with the name ÒDeutsche Musikwerke System PietschmannÓ (German Mechanical Musical Instru.ments System Pietschmann). As a stock exchange prospectus77 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 28 June 1897, evening issue, p. 8.
shows, the factory estate he exchanged was that at 45 Fehrbellinerstr. Five previous preference shares could be exchanged for three shares of the new company.88 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 23 May 1897, morning issue, p. 11.
The name ÒDeutsche Musikwerke System PietschmannÓ was recorded in the trade register on 23 June 1897.99 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 26 June 1897, evening issue, p. 12, first column.
The director was the merchant Emil Rittner. The stock exchange prospectus said that the factory employed 200 workmen, that the turnover of the last business year in organettes (Herophon, Manopan, Dolcine etc.) had been 221,000 Mark, and that Ferdinand Pietschmann was the managing engineer.
Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau reported in its issue of Aug. 1, 1897, that Ferdinand Pietschmann had replaced Emil Rittner as director of the company.1010 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1896-1897), p. 811.
Then, on Nov. 16, 1897, an extraordinary general meeting took place to decide on whether to take out a loan of 100,000 Mark.1111 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 17 November 1897, morning issue, p. 9, third column.
This was necessary because the company did not have enough working capital, and for this reason it could not deliver on all orders made for products. Ferdi.nand Pietschmann had contributed 37,500 Mark as working capital at the foundation of the new company. In exchange, he had received 150 shares 25 percent partly paid-up.1212 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 6 Febru.ary 1898, morning issue, p. 14, first column.
Though some shareholders demanded the full paying-up of the partly paid-up shares, and a revision committee that should examine all operations during the foundation and the business there.after,1313 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1897-1898), p. 131.
the loan was approved by the majority, and the full paying-up and the revision committee were declined. In addition, the first business year was extended to Apr. 30, 1898.
A month later, on Dec. 27, 1897, the Berlin Stock Exchange Journal reported both in its editorial part and in the trade register excerpts that Ferdinand Pietschmann had left the management board of German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann, and had been replaced by a previous member of the board of supervisors, Rudolph TrŸbe.1414 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 27 December 1897, evening issue, p. 7, third column, and p. 10, first column.
Further information on this event can be obtained from an open confronta.tion between Ferdinand Pietschmann and Rudolph TrŸbe in Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau published one year later in the beginning of January 1899. TrŸbe wrote in an open letter to the journal:1515 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1898-1899), p. 335.

Dear Sir, There is a notice on our company copied from ÒBerlin Stock Exchange CourierÓ on page 303 in issue no. 10 of your esteemed journal that does not correspond completely to reality. Not the managing board, but Mr. Ferdinand Pietschmann, who has been dismissed from his position with the company, has made commu.nications on an alleged meeting of shareholders. In order to gain support for his obstructionism, Mr. Ferdi.nand Pietschmann shall have invited a few shareholders, who are also his friends, to a purely private meeting which cannot and will not at all influ.ence the decisions of the company. Absolutely biased as the meeting are also the communications that Mr. Ferdinand Pietschmann launches in the public. There is absolutely no connection between the leading bodies of the company and these goings-on. We would just like to remark that our company boasts an extraordinary good result since the dismissal of Mr. Ferdinand Pietschmann. We would like to ask you most politely, to kindly make use of this correcting communication in an appropriate manner. Safeguarding the interests of the company by a special committee is not necessary, because, as I said, the current management cares about these interests very well. Berlin, 6 January 1899. Yours sincerely, German Mechanical Musical Instru.ments System Pietschmann Inc., TrŸbe.
The response by Ferdinand Piet.schmann was:1616 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1898-1899), p. 429.

The correction concerning me in no. 11 of your esteemed journal was sent to you by Mr. TrŸbe without knowledge and authorisation by the board of supervisors, and it is stated in an absolutely wrong and spiteful manner. Mr. TrŸbe, who, by the way, has been dismissed by the board of supervisors four weeks ago, has made a cooperation between us impossible by his obstructionism, and caused me to leave the company on 7 November last year by a settlement with the board of supervisors. The meeting of shareholders called by me was by no means generally biased in favour of my opinions, but the shareholders accepted my invitation only in the interest of their holdings in order to obviate further dangers that were caused by the management of Mr. TrŸbe. Though the assembly could have enforced decisions on account of its majority, the established commit.tee is going to reach an agreement with the board of supervisors on the basis of an impartial discussion of the problems with the latter. Thus a good development of the business can be hoped for. This agreement is made possible essentially by the past dismissal of Mr. TrŸbe. The alleged improvement of the business since my retirement is obviously an imag.ination of Mr. TrŸbe. In the months November and December, the turnover is always higher than else during the year. Berlin 31 January 1899. Yours sincerely, Ferdinand Pietschmann.
The dismissal of TrŸbe is confirmed by a trade register excerpt in Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau, according to which Rudolph TrŸbe had withdrawn from the management and merchant Heinrich Hermann became director of German Mechan.ical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann Inc.1717 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1898-1899), p. 459.
Hermann would play a big role in the history of the company. Ferdinand Pietschmann officially retired from the company on Nov. 7, 1898. He had been demoted to technical manager in December 1897 (proofs of this position below) after he lost the director position to TrŸbe, who was at that time a member of the board of supervisors, in a struggle for power.
Ferdinand Pietschmann burnt the candle at both ends when he founded German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann exhausting all his personal funds. This caused him to ask his creditors for a delay of payment in the Berlin Stock Exchange Journal on Feb. 6, 1898, a little more than one month after his demotion by the board of directors:1818 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 6 Febru.ary 1898, morning issue, p. 14, first column.

The factory of musical instruments Pietschmann & Sons, later company on shares, directed by me successfully since 1861, was liquidated in Novem.ber 1896, because it had to raise loans of 200,000 Mark for the installation of a necessary new branch (musical boxes) and could not reimburse them. According to the business report of Berlin Musical Instruments Factory of 15 September 1896, the share capital amounted to 914,000 Mark, including preference shares for 529,000 Mark. In order to avoid the loss of the preference shareholdersÕ funds, and to save a 56-year old factory producing good and modern articles by efficient equipment, I decided to pay off the debts, even by sacrificing my own funds, and to reorganize and stabilize the factory. The attempts in spring last year to transform the company into a limited corporation failed, because the neces.sary capital of 500,000 Mark could not be raised. Then I decided to make all preference shareholders with their capital of 529,000 Mark partners in the new company by exchange of their shares for shares of the new joint-stock company. The success was brilliant, because all shareholders except those of 15 shares participated in the new enterprise, the present German Mechanical Musical Instru.ments System Pietschmann. The new company received the total equipment of the former factory and the estate 45 Fehrbellinerstrasse with a value of 1,058,606 Mark minus the mortgage of 390,000 Mark, thus 668,606.38 Mark, for just 420,000 Mark free of debts. The new company was founded on 15 June 1897. In addition, it was my task, to provide the new company with sufficient operational reserves. In a first step, I paid in 37,500 Mark from my private money for 150,000 Mark operational funds 25% partly paid-up. In a second step, in November last year, I succeeded in raising a loan of 100,000 Mark with a term of several years for the new company, and simultaneously in interesting and engaging a new and wealthy commercial director for the enterprise, so that the company has now been reorganized on a favourable basis and might again be able to reach its former well-known prosperity. In order to reach this aim, I first have paid off the debts of the former company with 243,695 Mark in cash. Then the liquidators, the foundation, and the raising of capital required an expenditure of 70,529 Mark, which I paid in cash and in shares. In addition, I had to care for the payment of 37,500 Mark for the operational fund of 150,000 Mark. In total, I paid 351,724 Mark for the reorganization of the former indebted factory into a new factory free from debt. It was not possible for me, to raise this large sum from my own funds, and thus I have pawned my shares and my estates, and spent my liquid resources. This entailed my getting in payment difficulties, and I must appeal to the leniency and patience of my creditors. I do stress that my difficult situation did not result from personal consumption, speculation, or loans, but from my well executed decision to save the money of the preference shareholders, and to save a traditional and highly reputed business. I own more than one half of the shares of German Mechanical Musical Instruments and 4 estates that are all pawned, and currently cannot be used to reimburse the claims of the creditors. As soon as the shares can be listed at a stock exchange after the one-year lockup period that will finish on the 1st of May this year, and after the ensuing balance, I will be able to fully satisfy the claims of my creditors by selling the shares. In case the requested payment delay will be accepted, I will be able to devote myself fully to my position as technical manager of the reorganized factory, like 36 years before, and to contribute decisively to a good profit of the enterprise and thus to a better price of the shares. If the payment delay should be declined, I will go bankrupt as the reward for my devotion. This will entail quite a big and far-reaching disadvantage for my creditors and especially for the company. I therefore ask you to grant my delaying of all payments to the end of the year 1899 with the condi.tion that I will have to fully satisfy all your claims within two months, if the shares should meanwhile be listed at a stock exchange.
The administration of German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann had a cool reply to this appeal published in the same journal:1919 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 10 Febru.ary 1898, evening issue, p.10, first column bottom.

The representation of the debts of Mr. F. Pietschmann contained in no. 61 of Berlin Stock Exchange Journal states at the end that bankruptcy proceedings initiated against the assets of Mr. F. Pietschmann would also have far-reaching disadvan.tageous consequences for German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann Inc. This allega.tion is quite incorrect. The company has absolutely nothing to do with the private debts of Mr. F. Pietschmann so that an opening of bankruptcy of the considered kind would not have the slightest influence on the business of the company.
In reading the text by Ferdinand Pietschmann asking for a delay of payment, the fourth to the last sentence implies that he had not left the company, but was working as a managing engineer below the level of a director. This is also confirmed by a report of the executive board and the board of supervisors at the general meeting in September 1898 stating that deductions were made from Ferdinand PietschmannÕs salary in order to pay off a debt with the company amounting to 45,000 Mark.2020 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 20 September 1898, morning issue, p.13.

The request by Ferdinand Piet.schmann for a delay of payment to his personal creditors was obviously unsuccessful. In what must have been a peculiarly humiliating situa.tion for Ferdinand Pietschmann, the ownership of the estate at 24 Brun.nenstrasse passed to Rudolph TrŸbe at an enforced sale in October 1898.2121 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 26 Octo.ber 1898, evening issue, p.11. The newspaper reports as purchaser ÒRentier Adolph TrŸbe in Schšneberg, Hauptstr. 10Ó, thus with wrong Christian name and wrong address, however the Berlin Directory confirms Rudolph TrŸbe as the new owner of the estate.
The estate at 25 Brunnenstr. was like.wise sold at an enforced auction in May 1899.2222 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 13 May 1899, evening issue, p.11. Also here quite a distorting mistake with ÒBlumenstr. 25Ó.
The two other of the four estates in Ferdinand PietschmannÕs possession as mentioned in the request for a delay of payment were the estates at 9 and 10 Barbarossastr. in Berlin-Schšneberg. He must have sold them in 1900 according to the Berlin Directory, probably also by enforced sale, because he had purchased them only in 1897 and was penniless, as the Berlin Stock Exchange Journal reported in May 1902.2323 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 25 May 1902, morning issue, p.10.

In the general meeting of German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann on Sept. 19, 1898, an adverse balance of 56,000 Mark was announced.2424 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 20 September 1898, morning issue, p.13.
With a side-blow at the former administration, it was indi.cated that the balance sheet had been drawn up on the basis of conservative principles (Òwithout whitewashingÓ), and also previous abuses had been remedied, e.g. sales with too low profit. It was mentioned that a new hand-cranked instrument had been launched. That would have been one of the two organettes, ÒLibelle,Ó with 27 steel reeds or, ÒLux,Ó with 16 steel reeds based on the construction principle of the Ariston whose patent had expired. The similarly constructed organette, ÒIris,Ó with 24 or 48 steel reeds (24 notes) was added to the product range only later. All these instruments worked with circular perforated metal discs (Figures 31 and 32). In the beginning of June 1899, Director Hermann of German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann visited Leipzig presenting the improved Manopan and the new organette, ÒIris,Ó to the local wholesalers. Instead of a Forte flap, the Manopan was now equipped with a lever for the adjustment of the spring of the reservoir bellows, and thus with the setting of the wind pres.sure. Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau wrote:2525 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1898-1899), p.760.

This mechanism, which increases the price of the instrument only by a small amount, puts it on top of all organettes with respect to beauty of sound and variety of expression. It will certainly win the favour of many buyers in spite of the oversupply in the market. The main customers will probably be people in the countryside, lords of manors, and hosts, because the instrument produces quite a strong sound by its 39 double reeds, more than sufficient for e.g. dance music. É It may still be mentioned here that Mr Pietschmann has absolutely nothing to do with the company any more, even though his name is still connected with it. This has already created confusion several times, especially because Mr. P. has recently founded a sort of competing company. Therefore, the absence of any connections between him and the company may be stated here.
The competing company founded by Ferdinand Pietschmann and bear.ing the name Berliner Musikwerke (Berlin Mechanical Musical Instru.ments) A. Pietschmann & Co. was recorded in the Berlin Trade Register on Apr. 10, 1899.2626 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 13 April 1899, evening issue, p.13, third column bottom.
The partners were merchant Richard Martienssen and Mrs. Anna Pietschmann, nŽe Mart.ienssen. As Ferdinand Pietschmann had the company officially managed by his wife, his creditors could not take measures to seize any assets. The enterprise was renamed Berliner Musik-Industrie (Berlin Music Indus.try), A. Pietschmann & Co. in spring 1900. It was located in 25 Brunnen.stra§e, where Ferdinand Pietschmann had also lived since 1899. Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau wrote in the announcement of the name change:2727 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1899-1900), p.479.

The new company announces by a circular that its workshop shall manufacture novelties of musical instruments and similar products, as well as automatic musical instru.ments. The workshop is managed by really experienced and professional specialists. It hopes to be able to present its new products already very soon.
Figure 33 shows an advertisement of the company in Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau.2828 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1899-1900), p.802.
In August 1900, Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau reviewed two new developments by Ferdinand Pietschmann, an accor.dion and a harmonica in form of a clarinet, both of which were played according to the chord zither prin.ciple with a music sheet from which the keys to press could be read easily (Figure 34).2929 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1899-1900), p.915.
Ferdinand Pietschmann presented these instruments with the designation ÒIdealÓ on the Leipzig Autumn Fair 1900, in addition to quite an inexpensive and well working phonograph with coin insert (Figure 35), and a vending machine for mouth organs that cost 10 Pfennig (Å 1 Euro) per instrument including a playing instruction.3030 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1899-1900), p.1024.

Meanwhile at Ferdinand Piet.schmannÕs former company, German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann, the business year that ended on Apr. 30, 1899, resulted in only a small operational profit of 2,688 Mark. This meant that the companyÕs negative asset balance could only be reduced slightly to 53,000 Mark. By eliminating a second director position, a noticeable finan.cial improvement and a better climate in the company were expected. The companyÕs production of the Celesta music box made the least profit, but during the course of the business year the company was able to decrease production costs and simultaneously improve the quality of their products to the same level as comparable prod.ucts of other leading companies.3131 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1899-1900), p.111.

Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau wrote about German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Piet.schmann during the Leipzig Autumn Fair 1899:3232 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1898-1899), p.1021.

German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann of Berlin eagerly strives to recover from the previous setbacks, and the new director relentlessly eradicates all those abuses from which the factory suffered for years under the previous management so that prosperity could not result. The management sent a nice collection of accordions of newest design, fine organettes, and Celestas to the companyÕs exhibition stand in Hotel Central. É The family of Celestas has been extended by some new models. The instruments begin to gain a good market share, because they are made quite well, nevertheless inexpensive, and have a good sound. The presentation on the fair has in any case shown that the shareholders have finally found the appropriate person, director Hermann, with the ability and the absolute determina.tion to make the enterprise entrusted to him successful.
At the general meeting on Sept. 24, 1900, the only four shareholders present were confronted with a big deterioration of the cumulated balance.3333 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 1 October 1900, evening issue, p. 12.
The business year 1899/1900 had ended with an operational loss of 44,000 Mark, so that the adverse balance increased from 53,000 to 97,000 Mark.3434 Allgemeine Zeitung [General Newspaper] (Munich), 18 October 1900, p.5.
The shareholders decided to form a committee that should participate in the meetings of the board of supervisors. Ferdi.nand Pietschmann agreed to collect registrations for a meeting of the shareholders which should set up this committee. As it became known only after the bankruptcy at an extraor.dinary general meeting in May 1902 which the shareholders had to enforce by legal action, director Hermann and another investor made a contract with the board of supervisors on Feb. 19, 1901, by which they had granted a loan of 100,000 Mark. Assets of the company served as security.3535 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 25 May 1902, morning issue, p.10.
The company was likely insolvent already by the time this loan was made. In the beginning of May 1901, an extraordi.nary general meeting was called for the Jun. 6, at which a decision should be made on a purchase offer.3636 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 4 May 1901, morning issue, p.13.
Direc.tor Hermann, however, had already filed for bankruptcy on May 11, 1901.3737 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 25 May 1902, morning issue, p.10.
The bankruptcy proceedings were instituted on May 18, 1901.3838 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1900-1901), p.641.

The second-tier and successor firms
Former director Hermann took over the factory of German Mechan.ical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann on Jun. 15, 1901, and renamed it Heinrich Hermann.3939 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1900-1901), p.747.
A liquidator disclosed that a treaty had been made with Hermann according to which the latter took over the estate and the factory and paid 75 percent of the claims of the creditors.4040 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1900-1901), p.795.
In the issue of Sept. 11, 1901, an adver.tisement appeared in Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau announcing the new ownership of the former Pietschmann factory between two big exclamation points (Figure 36).4141 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1900-1901), p.922.
Its design derived from the corresponding former adver.tisement of the Pietschmann firm. The angel was replaced by a depiction of the Hermann Monument in Teutoburg Forest (Westphalia), thus alluding to the name of the new firm owner. On the top right, the Dolcine had been replaced by the organette Lux, in the bottom left, the organette Iris appeared instead of the two instruments Fluto.pan and Motor-Orchestrion.
On Jun. 15, 1902, Hermann moved the whole firm to the small town Bernau, 22 kilometers north-east of the center of Berlin,4242 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.719.
and sold the estate at 45 Fehrbellinerstra§e. This meant the final end of the former firm Piet.schmann in Berlin, but it did not mean the Pietschmann family was done there. The family was still involved in the Berlin Music Industry A. Piet.schmann & Co. at 25 Brunnenstr. and the music shop Schulz, Pietschmann & Co. which had moved from 25 Brunnenstr. to 26 Brunnenstr. in 1899. The shop of musical instruments G. Martienssen & Co., founded in 1885 together with the two Pietschmann brothers as partners at 194 Friedrich.str., had become the sole property of Gustav Martienssen in 1890.4343 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 10 July 1890, evening issue, p.11.
In 1891, Ferdinand Martienssen became a partner, which is known from the Berlin Directory mentioning him in this position the first time in the issue of 1892. In March 1892 he took over the business completely.4444 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 17 March 1892, evening issue, p.18.
In 1896, the shop moved to 59/60 Friedrichstra§e, but in 1898 it went bankrupt.4545 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1897-1898), p.683.
It was started again at 54 Friedrichstra§e., but the Berlin Directory mentioned the business for the last time in 1902 with the following assets for sale, Òmechanical musical instruments, Organola, gramophones.Ó Ferdinand Martienssen obviously gave up the business because he joined Berlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co. in late summer 1901 as a person.ally-liable partner, while Richard Martienssen simultaneously left the company.4646 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1900-1901), p.929.

The ÒOrganolaÓ mentioned among the assets sold by the music business in Friedrichstra§e is not the well-known automatic organ-player built since 1904 by the traditional organ builder Walcker of WŸrttemberg4747 Bernhard HŠberle, Die Organola von Walcker als zeitgeschichtliches PhŠnomen [The Organola by Walcker as a Contemporary Phenomenon], Das Mechanische Musikinstru.ment no. 32 (Baden-Baden, 1984), p.11.
but a product of American Organola Co. Menzenhauer, Spierling & Co., which was mentioned on Sept. 5, 1901, in the Berlin trade register, and whose partners were the chord zither manufacturer Menzenhauer, the merchant Spierling, and Mrs. Anna Pietschmann, nŽe Martienssen.4848 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.21.
Figure 37 shows the instrument,4949 German utility model DRGM no.163050. Musical instrument with reeds, the melodies being played by pressing down rods, and the accompanying chords played by buttons. Menzenhauer & Schmidt, Oscar Schmidt, holder, Berlin. 7 October 1901, Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.153.
which was described and depicted in an editorial contribution in Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau.5050 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.140.
The bellows for the wind supply was integrated in the instrument itself, and was moved by a strap with stirrup (lying right of the instrument on the table in Figure 37), or by a knee lever in a different version, after the instrument had been clamped to the table. On its right side, the instrument had keys for the melody notes in form of rods (Figure 37), upon which a book of thin cloth pages bound on its upper border was put. A zig-zag line was printed from top to bottom on the pages like in the case of chord zithers. The line connected the notes to be played in succession, lying directly over the corresponding rods. After a page had been played, it could be turned over upwards, and the next page could be played. At the left, there were the keys for the accompanying chords. The sound of the instrument was described as being quite loud but pleasant. The trademark ÒOrganolaÓ was registered for Berlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co.5151 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.183.
The company also filed patents for this instrument that describe the details of the construction (DRP 128395, DRP 128568, DRP 131283). The corre.sponding English patent no. 15970 was filed by Ferdinand Pietschmann in 1901 (depatisnet GB000190115970) so that he would have been the inven.tor. On Feb. 18, 1902, bankruptcy proceedings of American Organola & Co., Menzenhauer, Spierling & Co. were instituted.5252 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.405.
The company listed 400 finished and 100 partly-finished Organolas in stock.5353 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.629.

On Aug. 30, 1902, private company Berlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co. was transformed into Berlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co. Limited. Merchant Emil Stein became its manager. Ferdinand Martienssen was partner and contributed stock, claims, utility models and rights. The corresponding press notice said:
The new firm still communicates in its circular that the support by Mr. F. Pietschmann, so valuable in technical issues, will also further be available to the firm.5454 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.993.

The inventions by Ferdinand Piet.schmann, protected by patents and utility models, were to be evaluated economically by Berliner Harmoni.um-Fabrik GmbH [Berlin Harmonium Factory Ltd.] founded on Nov. 15, 1902. Merchant Eduard Scheidel was a partner and the manager. Ferdinand Martienssen, as partner, contributed a series of patents and utility models that were valued at 25,000 Mark.5555 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1902-1903), p.311.
The company produced a miniature harmonium with the name ÒSkalaÓ that was played similarly to the Organola (Figure 38). Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau wrote that the instrument had a full and pleasant sound.5656 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1902-1903), p.393.
At the Leipzig Easter Fair 1903, many contracts were awarded for the instrument.5757 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1902-1903), p.445.

In the issue of 21 March 1903 of Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau, the following news was published on page 491:
The manufacturer of musical instruments, Mr. Ferdinand Piet.schmann of Berlin, passed away after a short illness in Leipzig, where he stayed for the Fair, on Sunday 8 March, at 11 am. A life rich in ups and downs found an end. The mortal remains of the deceased were trans.ferred to Berlin and laid to rest in St. Mary Old Cemetery on the 12th of the month.5858 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1902-1903), p.Ê491.

The church record of St. Mary (located between the Royal Castle and Alexanderplatz) says that Ferdinand Pietschmann died of pneumonia.5959 Archive of the Berlin Protestant Church, Berlin-City I, St. Mary, Interments 1899-1907, March 1903, p. 85, no. 7k.
In addition, the uncommon remark can be found that his flat in 25 Brunnenstr. had already been cleared out. The Berlin Directory lists him for the years 1900 and 1901 as living in 25 Brunnen.str., but from 1902 he cannot be found in Berlin anymore. It is possible that he could have lived at Bernau and worked for the firm Hermann. His wife is listed in all these years as living at 25 Brunnenstr. As a further annota.tion it must be said that the ÒobituaryÓ in Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau is decisively too short for a manu.facturer who had led a big factory of musical instruments for several decades. Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumen.tenbau published far longer editorial articles at important birthdays, jubi.lees, deceases, and even for each ten thousandth fabricated instrument of far smaller firms. Deutsche Instrumen.tenbau-Zeitung (German Journal for Instrument Making) did not publish any notice at all after the death of Ferdinand Pietschmann, although this journal appeared in Berlin. ItÕs possible that the reason for this was Ferdinand Pietschmann might have had the reputation of a bankrupt. Then there was the not-so-well hidden imitation of the Ariston by the Hero.phon, and patent litigation following for years and finally lost that further damaged the reputation of Ferdinand Pietschmann. He indeed appears not to have been a skillful merchant, but mainly a maker of instruments. For example, the shareholder Beck, a previous member of the board of supervisors, charged Ferdinand Pietschmann at the general meeting in November 1892 with having set up a private workshop for developments in which the best workmen of the firm were busy.6060 Berlin Daily, 28 November 1892, evening issue, trade journal of Berlin Daily, second page.
Thus, the main interest of Ferdinand Pietschmann obviously was the development of new instru.ments and of improvements, which cannot be judged as a negative, but it would have helped if he did not neglect caring for the production and the commercial side of the enterprise at the same time. This is exactly what the chairman of the board, Neuburger, accused him of at the general meet.ing where Neuburger declared that Pietschmann was unable to manage such an enterprise successfully.6161 Ibidem.
This widely-held view of Ferdinand Pietschmann is confirmed by a highly suggestive remark and the reaction of the shareholders at the general meeting of German Mechanical Musi.cal Instruments System Pietschmann in November 1897, at which it was agreed that a skillful and experienced merchant should be installed as second director in addition to Ferdi.nand Pietschmann.6262 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1897-1898), p.Ê159.

On the other hand, it must be said that times had changed since the 1880s and even well-managed firms were having difficulties. For example, the Factory of Leipzig Mechanical Musical Instruments, formerly Paul Ehrlich & Co., had to record an operating loss of 30,000 Mark for the business year 1898.6363 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1898-1899), p.Ê749.
The two following years were also adverse and a capital reduction at the ratio of 4-to-1 became necessary.6464 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.Ê155.
Even this measure, however, could not save the company. At the general meeting of April 1904 it was decided to liquidate the assets,6565 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1903-1904), p.Ê641.
leading to bank.ruptcy in July 1905.6666 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1904-1905), p.Ê883.
Also Symphonion Inc., Factory of Lochmann Mechanical Musical Instruments, had to reduce its capital in a ratio of 4-to-1 in May 1902 on account of the 700,000 Mark losses attributed to its participation in the American Symphonion Manufacturing Company. The reason for the losses were stated as the inability of the Swiss firm Paillard to deliver parts for the production of a table model of a disc music box with automatic disc changer.6767 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1901-1902), p.Ê649.
The Polyphon company closed with a loss first in 1903. The stated loss amounted to 128,000 Mark and was caused by the sales declines in mechanical music.6868 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1904-1905), p.Ê597.

The bankruptcy proceedings of Berlin Harmonium Factory were initiated on Aug. 17, 1903.6969 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1902-1903), p.Ê927.
Shortly afterward, the Skala Harmonium Company Ltd. was founded in Hamburg and took over the manu.facturing and the sales of the ÒSkalaÓ instrument.7070 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1902-1903), p.Ê959 and p.Ê987.
Yet, this company did not last long either. It was liquidated on Apr. 3, 1905.7171 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1904-1905), p.Ê653.

In spring 1904, Heinrich Hermann sold the inventory and all rights in the former Pietschmann organettes to the firm Leipzig Mechanical Musical Instruments Euphonika7272 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1903-1904), p.Ê457.
(FigureÊ39), because he intended to change his business activities into harmonicas that he sold together with patented novelties like curtain tighteners and potato peeling machines (Figure 40 bottom). Yet he went on using the traditional trademark of the firm Piet.schmann which the latter had used since 1875 (FigureÊ40). The Leipzig firm Euphonika had been founded in 1895 to produce and market an accordion playing with perforated metal disks and a spring motor turning the disk (German patent DRP 79Ê003, Figure 41).7373 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1894-1895), p.Ê527 and pÊ881.
The firm Euphonika had soon also offered organettes with steel reeds and metal discs branded ÒAmoretteÓ in several sizes. The former Pietschmann organettes that were taken over from Heinrich Hermann were produced by the firm Euphonika for a number of years (FigureÊ42) until the firm went bank.rupt in May 1910.7474 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1909-1910), p.Ê911.
The inventory was then purchased by the well-known Leipzig wholesaler Holzweissig, who continued the production of discs for the instruments ÒEuphonikaÓ (half-au.tomatic accordion) and ÒAmoretteÓ and also sold the instruments.7575 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1909-1910), p.Ê1219 and p.Ê1301.

Berlin Music Industry A. Piet.schmann & Co. Ltd. ended turbulently. Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau published a report that is printed below. It mentions a sensational trial that took place in Berlin in 1885.7676 Paul Lindau, Der Proze§ Graef [The Graef Trial] (Berlin, 1985), new edition of ãInteressante FŠlle. Criminalprocesse aus neuester ZeitÒ [Interesting Cases. Criminal Proceedings from the Newest Time] (Breslau, 1888).
The trial focused on a report of a sexual relationship between a married academic painter, Professor Gustav Graef (1821-1895), and his model, Bertha Rother. The trial was initiated by the father of another model, a girl of 13 years. She was underage according to Prussian law. This girlÕs father, working as a model himself, had introduced his daughter into the ateliers of Graef and of another academic painter. The parents then accused both artists of seducing of their underage daughter. Later it was discovered that the parents made the accusation to extort money from the painters. The girlÕs mother even.tually was sentenced to two years in prison, because she had demanded a bribe of 1,000 Mark. Professor Graef denied under oath any intimate physical relationship with the girl or with Bertha Rother. One piece of incriminating evidence against Graef was his financial support of Bertha Rother and her mother, amounting to 30,000 Mark over three years. Both women denied any conduct of a sexual nature by Graef and he was ultimately acquitted even though lyrical letters in his handwriting addressed to Bertha Rother were found during a search of the Rother house as ordered by the court. The court also considered as evidence the painting ÒMŠrchenÓ (fairy tale) by Graef that shows a young naked woman (Bertha Rother) outdoors in side-view, just having stripped her scaly skin after the meta.morphosis into a fish.7777 Black-and-white depiction under

The connection of the above-men.tioned trial to the bankruptcy of Berlin Musik Industry A. Pietschmann & Co. Ltd., became clear when Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau cited a report from the Berlin Daily:7878 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1903-1904), p.Ê759.

Berta Rother, who once posed for Professor GrŠfÕs ÒMŠrchenÓ, and became world-famous by the sensa.tional artist trial, married the now 41 years old merchant Emil Stein 15 years ago, three years after the trial. For a while, the couple had a wine shop in Frobenstrasse in Berlin. Three years ago, they changed to the retail sale of musical instruments for a wholesale firm in 25 Brunnen.strasse. They lived in no. 160 of the same street on the third floor. They remained childless. A certain Henny G. had already been an assistant in the music shop since one year before the takeover by Mr. Stein. Soon Stein began a love affair with his shop assistant. Since that time the previously unclouded marital bliss was over. Five weeks ago, there was a vehement familial incident. On the next morning, the spouse left the flat and did not return. Also the shop assistant remained absent. Mrs. Stein has been searching her husband since that time, yet in vain. Accord.ing to her investigation, he appears to lead a jolly life with his beloved. He can do so financially, because he has only recently received a major inheritance.
Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau added ironically that the vanishing of Emil Stein with his shop assistant, followed by the immediate bankruptcy of the company where he worked appeared to be a strange coincidence. The fortune of the firm had apparently vanished together with the two. The disappearance of Emil Stein was also recorded in the trade register, because his power of representation was withdrawn, and Bertha Stein was appointed company manager.7979 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1903-1904), p.Ê673.
Two months later, Bertha SteinÕs power of representation was finished, and Emil Stein was again appointed manager.8080 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1903-1904), p.Ê861.
Nine months later, the two Steins changed their role again.8181 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1904-1905), p.Ê597.
Bertha Stein suggested the creditors a settlement three months later.8282 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1904-1905), p.Ê855.
The text says that the couple had been divorced for quite some time, and that Emil Stein had taken more than 5,000 Mark for private purposes from the till without being able to pay the money back. Bertha Stein had purchased the stocks from the bankruptcy assets and had continued the business. The bank.ruptcy proceedings were canceled after a final distribution on Sept. 14 1905.8383 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1905-1906), p.Ê59.
The Berlin Directory lists the firm A. Pietschmann & Co, manager Bertha Stein, in 1906 for the last time. According to the Berlin Directory, Anna Pietschmann, nŽe Martienssen, had an agency business in 44 Alexan.drinenstr. in 1903, then a mail-order business of phonographs in 1904, and an employment agency in 1908 in 77 Potsdamer Str. As of 1909 she had no business of her own anymore. She can be found in the directory of 1915 unambiguously, and an entry in 1920 still relates to her with considerable certainty.
Paul Schulz, the husband of Auguste Schulz nŽe Pietschmann, died in 1905.8484 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 14 November 1905, evening issue, p.Ê15.
Thus Auguste Schulz became the sole manager of the music shop at 26 Brunnenstr. for four months, until Emil Schulz, possibly a son, was recorded as the new proprietor.8585 Berlin Stock Exchange Journal, 27 March 1906, evening issue, p.Ê15.
He is listed with this function up to 1919, yet the business Schulz, Pietschmann & Co. can be found in the directory up to 1933 with an unchanged address.
While that may have been the end of Pietschmann business firms, Ferdinand PietschmannÕs inventions continued to influence the mechanical music industry for many years after.
The musical instruments with hot-air motor
Small hot-air motors (Stirling motors) were often used in various applications in households and small businesses in the last quarter of the 19th century and beyond when electric current was not yet available. There were different types of this motor, but only the .-type (Figure 43) was used for Pietschmann instruments. The lower part of the air-filled cylinder is heated from outside by a petroleum or gas flame (wave symbol), and its upper part is cooled by water (star symbol). The lower one of the two pistons, the so-called displacer, that is moved by the flywheel and whose rim does not fit the cylinder walls tightly, causes periodic heating and cooling of the major part of the total air volume, simply by changing the partial cylinder volumes in contact with the heating and cooling sources. On dominant heating, the air in the cylinder expands and drives the upper piston (power piston) in the cylinder upwards. On dominant cooling, the power piston is pushed back by the external air pressure. The best result is obtained with a 90-degree lead of the displacer in the cycle of movement of the power piston. In total, a certain part of the thermal energy of the flame is converted into mechanical energy of rotation of the flywheel, and the remaining part gets lost to the cool.ing at the upper part of the cylinder. Hot-air motors run quite silently which is important for musical applications. The leading manufacturer of small hot-air motors in Europe was the firm Heinrici at Zwickau (Saxony).8686 Roland Rei§ig, Die Stirlingmotoren der Firma Heinrici aus Zwickau und der Firmen Lochmann und Raab aus Zeitz [The Stirling Motors of the Firm Heinrici at Zwickau, and of the Firms Lochmannn and Raab at Zeitz], 2. edition (Zwickau, 2014).

The application of a hot-air motor for a mechanical musical instrument requires certain additional devices for the customerÕs convenience. Accord.ing to the Berlin Directory, the holder of the following two utility models was a mechanic living on the third floor of the house at 45 Fehrbellinerstr., on the estate of Berlin Musical Instruments Factory:
No. 24 714. Mechanical musical instrument, whose drive shaft is turned by one or two motors on both ends. E. Thiele in Berlin N. 10 April 1894. Ð T. 730.8787 Mitteilungen aus dem Kaiserlichen Patentamt [Communications from the Imperial Patent Office], Anmeldestelle fŸr Gebrauchsmuster [Registration Office for Utility Models] (Berlin, 1894), p. 207.

No. 25 534. Motor-driven mechan.ical musical instrument, whose shaft can be turned from without at the start and can be braked. E. Thiele in Berlin N, 45 Fehrbelliner Str. 10 April 1894. Ð T. 729.8888 Ibidem, p. 241.

It is not known whether E. Thiele was employed by Berlin Musical Instruments Factory, but the design of this quite special unit would almost certainly have been an activity at the factory. Ferdinand Pietschmann was blamed at the general meeting in November 1892 of filing inventions developed in the firm under the name of men who worked for him. He gave as reason for this practice the smaller number of objections lodged by competitors.8989 Berlin Daily, 28 November 1892, evening issue, trade journal of Berlin Daily, second page.
A further utility model for motor-driven mechanical musical instruments was filed four months after the two above utility models from April 1894:
No. 29 797. Mechanism for the control of heating flames in motor-driven mechanical musical instruments, in order to stop the heating when the instrument is not playing. Berlin Musical Instruments Factory Inc. formerly Ch. F. Piet.schmann & Sons, Berlin N, 24 August 1894 Ð B. 3223.9090 Mitteilungen aus dem Kaiserlichen Patentamt, Anmeldestelle fŸr Gebrauchsmus.ter (Berlin, 1894), p. 417. The documents of the Imperial Patent Office concerning the util.ity models filed before 1934 were burnt by the bombardment of Berlin in World War II. Apart from the information given above that was printed and widely disseminated, nothing exists any more (maybe corresponding foreign patents). Ñ> remove tick before Ônur Objekte mit DigitalisatÕ Ñ> Reichspatentamt (Bestand).

In addition, Berlin Musical Instruments Factory received a patent with the following title:
No. 82 824. Berlin Musical Instru.ments Factory Inc. formerly Ch. F. Pietschmann & Sons, Berlin N., 25 Brunnenstr. Mechanical musical instrument with coin insert, worm-gear and brake. 22/8 1894.9191 Verzeichnis der von dem Kaiserlichen Patentamt im Jahre 1895 ertheilten Patente [List of Patents granted by the Imperial Patent Office in the Year 1895] (Berlin, 1896), p. 83. According to the quotation, the application was filed on 22 August 1894.

The mechanical musical instru.ments constructed according to these utility models and the patent were presented at the Berlin Autumn Fair 1894:
The Berlin Autumn Fair. Berlin Musical Instruments Factory Inc. formerly Ch. F. Pietschmann & Sons had a favourable stall on the first floor at BuggenhagensÕ .9292 The estate in 147 Oranienstr. at the cross.ing called Moritzplatz (Berlin-Kreuzberg), with indoor and outdoor restaurant and halls for arrangements of many kinds, a property of the brickworks owners Buggenhagen, a place known all over the town.
Yet it proved to be much too small for the rich selec.tion of exhibited objects, although it was the largest of all. The novelties presented, and about which we will report later, were: Motor-Manopan, Harmonium-Manopan, Minia.ture Harmonium, Chord Organ, Drum-Manopan with motor, newly constructed table for zithers etc. There also was much interest by visitors at this stall, and the number of given orders was pleasing.9393 Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung (Berlin, 1893-1894), p. 879.

The contribution announced in the preceding quote for a later time said:9494 Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung (Berlin, 1893-1894), p. 946.

Motor-Manopans. As we have already written in the report from the Berlin Autumn Fair, Berlin Musical Instruments Factory Inc. formerly Ch. F. Pietschmann & Sons launched various important novelties on the market. Among them, there are espe.cially the Motor-Manopans.
After many attempts, the firm succeeded in manufacturing the self-playing Manopan. The Motor-Manopan does not need being cranked any more. A double hot-air motor is heated by the flames of two petroleum or gas burners within five minutes. They replace the human power and play each piece of music of the rich selection pleasantly, as is character.istic for the Manopan.
The instrument is quite safe, can be stopped immediately without any inconvenience, can be played at any time slowly or quickly by a simple manual setting, and runs with abso.lutely even speed because of the two connecting-rods. The playing time of the instrument is unlimited. When desired, it will play without stop or interruption, until the two burners run out of petroleum, and must be refilled. If the motor is purchased with gas burners that are connected to the gas main by rubber hoses, no interruption of the playing will result any more because of limited fuel.
The Motor-Manopans are available in 3 different models.
1. The Concert Ð Motor (Figure 44, Page 30)
This instrument in a beautifully made case with a gallery on top has a width and depth of 75 cm each. The height amounts to 156 cm, and the weight including transportation chest will reach c. 200 kg.
The double reeds of the Motor-Manopan are made from best English reed material, and can be specified as unbreakable, nor do they change their pitch. Ð The folded music is a special advantage for the motor-driven Manopan, because whole overtures, quadrilles, waltzes etc. can be played and render the instrument capable for dance and concert music. Ð A maroon painted case with gold ornaments that hides the mechanism except the chest with the reeds and the book music provides a tasteful appearance and the possibility of placing the instrument in the drawing-room, the restaurant, and the tea garden.
The music used for the 39-note Manopans can be used also for this instrument. A special drawer for the music is integrated in the case.
2. The Motor Ð Orchestrion (Figure 45, left)
The design of this instrument is similar to the ÒDrum ManopanÓ. A single motor plays the Manopan II with 24 half-double steel reeds and the accompanying instruments drum, bass drum,9595 The German text uses the designation ÒPaukeÓ [tympani] which popular usage mistooks for bass drum.
bell and cymbal.
The music is absolutely sufficient and fitting for restaurants and small ball-rooms, because the sound of the instrument is loud, even piercing with pulled Forte stop, while the closing of the Forte flap causes a dampened sound for solemn melodies and overtures. As in the case of the simple Drum Manopan, the accom.panying instruments can be switched off by a lever.
The motor is started in the same way as in the Motor-Manopans described above. Likewise, all else is valid for the Motor-Orchestrion that was said about the Concert-Motor, especially the even and unlimited playing.
The case of the Motor-Orchestrions is delivered painted with oil in a look like aged oak with gold trims. The bottom part of the instrument with the motor can be closed by a door, while the upper part with the Manopan and the accompanying instruments shows an open design in elegant style.
The T-music9696 ÒTÓ obviously is an abbreviation for the German ãTrommelÒ [drum].
for the Motor-Orches.trion is the same as that used for the Drum-Manopan. The dimensions are as follows: width 62. cm, depth 66 cm, height 196 cm.
The third instrument reviewed in the above reference is the Flower-Re.flector-Manopan (Figure 45, right). It corresponds to the Motor-Orches.trion, but without the percussion instruments that are replaced by a very attractive rotating mirror effect. These will be discussed in Part IV of this article. Figure 46 is an advertise.ment from October 1894 in Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau also showing the Concert-Motor, together with the Flower-Reflector-Manopan in a rough drawing.
The patent DRP 82824, filed in August 1894 and concerning the automatic action of the motor-driven Manopans with coin insertion, was mentioned above. A drawing from this patent is shown in Figure 47 (Page 32). The drawing shows two smaller detail drawings from the patent speci.fications as inserts at the right margin, below the crank m. The two hot-air motors with their cylinders B have a common shaft and a second coupling between them in form of a bar connecting the two inner flywheels excentrically. The hot-air motors drive the Manopan (C, at the top) by a belt transmission which reduces the relatively high rotation velocity of the motor shaft to the typical rotation frequency of a hand crank. The motors are heated by two gas flames (bottom) with a valve to the gas supply at q. The heat screens A keep the heat near to the motor cylinders B. Hot-air motors do not start themselves, but must be started by a short turning of the motor shaft. The crank m (top right) serves for that purpose. It starts the motor through the belt transmission. The patent says that two to three full turns of the crank will start the motor. According to the index of patents filed in 1895 that was printed in 1896, the patent had already been canceled.
For a better understanding of the interpretation provided in the follow.ing for the further parts visible in Figure 44, a three-dimensional draw.ing of the hot-air motor is shown in Figure 48 (page 33). The hot-air motor is a .-Stirling model by Heinrici with a power piston driving the motor shaft using two connecting-rods (green) protruding from the cylinder and uniting in a bow just below the crank so that the connecting-rod of the displacer (blue) can be accommodated on the center-line of the cylinder. The drive for the displacer is likewise a typical construction by Heinrici. A rod eccentrically mounted by a joint on the left side of the left flywheel drives the Ònodding shaftÓ located in front of the flywheels through an intermediate joint and a second rod. The nodding shaft thus performs small angle turns to and fro that drive the connect.ing-rod of the displacer through a rod and a joint. The oiler appearing in Figure 45 left of the flywheel is located between the two motors in Figure 44.
In Figure 44, a shaft runs horizontally above the two motors over the whole width of the motor compartment. This shaft has six ring-like extensions. Immediately below the shaft with the six extensions, 10 wheel-like objects can be seen. Four of them, those with a smooth glossy surface, are assigned massive bearings of the motor shaft, because their screw connections to the rear panel of the motor compart.ment are visible immediately under the cover plate of the motor compart.ment. The other six wheel-like objects are flywheels. The two outermost of them drive the displacers. This is also confirmed by the six ring-like exten.sions of the long shaft located exactly over the flywheels, and are interpreted as brakes. They probably had brake pads that contacted the wheels on turning of the shaft by a certain angle.
Between the rightmost bearing of the motor shaft and the next wheel to its left, a gap can clearly be seen, not present in the other three sets of wheels. It might well be that this is the place of the belt wheel for the transmission to the Manopan shaft. This belt wheel must have been small in order to reduce the speed of rota.tion and does probably therefore not appear in the gap between the bigger bearing and the flywheel.
As the short horizontal shaft of the joint from the connecting-rod of the power piston to the flywheels appears to be in a different position for the two motors in Figure 44, they will have a phase shift of 90 degrees, as is optimal for the overcoming of the dead points (turning points) of the crank drive, a fact well known from steam locomotives. In Figure 44, there is no handle at D on the upper side-panel of the instrument but simply a wheel in contrast to the patent DRP 82 824 (quite obvious in Figure 44 for the instrument with open doors). The instrument depicted might therefore not have been equipped with a mech.anism according to the patent DRP 82 824. The manufacturer of the hot-air motor says in his catalogue that a turn by 90 degrees of the flywheels is sufficient to start the motor.9797 Louis Heinrici, Heinrici Motoren (Zwickau, 1910), reprint in ÒRoland Rei§ig, Die Stirlingmotoren der Firma Heinrici aus Zwickau und der Firmen Lochmann und Raab aus ZeitzÓ [The Stirling Motors of the Firm Heinrici at Zwickau, and of the Firms Lochmannn and Raab at Zeitz], 2. edition (Zwickau, 2014), p. 105.
Due to the belt transmission from the rapid rotation of the motor shaft to the slower rotation of the Manopan shaft, a start of the motor from the Manopan shaft would require an even smaller rotation angle so that a simple hand wheel on that shaft should be sufficient. The two to three turns required according to the patent are most probably necessary for the coin mechanism. The brake of the flywheels requires an exterior control by which the music can be stopped and its tempo be adjusted. Because control B is near to the shaft with the brakes, it might serve this purpose. The function of control E is uncertain.
C and A are two sockets for the gas supply and the cooling water. There is a cooling jacket with tap for the water connection on both upper ends of the two cylinders in Figure 44, yet without attached hose in the drawing. In order to avoid a pump for cooling water, one of two possibilities as recommended by Heinrici9898 Ibidem, p. 104.
had to be chosen. The motor could be cooled with slowly running tap water, or a cooling circuit could be used that was driven by convection of the warm water from the motor flowing through a big water container above the motor.9999 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (1894-95), p. 432.
According to the above quoted text from Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung, only the case for the reeds, the keys, and the music transport is visible as separate unit from outside, so that the bigger upper part of the instrument must have contained the bellows and the wind reservoir. Its size in relation to the case with the reeds does not deviate much from that of the hand-cranked Manopan. Therefore, the upper part of the instrument cannot have contained a cooling water tank. Thus either tap water was used or a cooling circuit outside of the instru.ment had to be set up.
The reason for the double Stirling motor of the Concert Motor in contrast to the single motor of the Motor Orchestrion is of course the different number of reeds that had to be supplied with wind. The Concert Motor had 78 reeds, while the Motor Orchestrion had just 36 reeds. The Concert Motor is not the only instru.ment that was delivered (for a certain time) with two motors. Also GermanyÕs top firm in mechanical music, Hupfeld, used them for its mechanical piano. Heinrici succeeded in constructing more powerful hot-air motors with 15 centimeter piston diameter and 1/5 HP only in 1895.100100 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1894-1895), p. 536.
In the beginning of 1896, the firm Pietschmann tried to sell the small hot-air motors that had been used as double motors and were still in stock:
ÒA number of small hot-air motors for driving sewing machines, ventila.tors etc. are for sale at Pietschmann, Brunnenstr. 25.Ó101101 Berlin Daily, 22 February 1896, morn.ing issue, General-Anzeiger, first page, last column.

As can be read in the advertisement in Figure 46, and is also mentioned in Part II of this article (Figure 26), Berlin Musical Instruments Factory marketed a pipe organ which was driven by belt transmission from a double hot-air motor in an external case (Figure 49, Page 34 left). This organ with the name ÒHenry-OrganÓ had 39 notes of two pipes each, and was played with Manopan music. The height of the case was 190 centimeters, the width 95 centimeters, the depth 50 centimeters, and the weight 80 kilograms. The pipe versions of orga.nettes had come into fashion with the ÒFlute AutomatonÓ shown first by the Factory of Leipzig Mechanical Musical Instruments formerly Paul Ehrlich & Co. at the Leipzig Autumn Fair 1893. It was played with Ariston music of 24 notes. There was also a quite successful variant of this instrument in form of a cabinet with height 188 cm (Figure 49 center). The instrument was presented with hot-air motor at the Leipzig Autumn Fair 1894.102102 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1893-1894), p. 855.
It is designated ÒFlute Music Automaton MarsÓ in the Holzweissig catalogue of 1893-1894.103103 Ernst Holzweissig Nachf. Leipzig, Engros-Preisliste Ÿber Musikwerke [Wholesale Price List for Mechanical Musical Instru.ments] 1893-1894. CD ãHolzweissig & Zuleger Gro§handelskatalogeÒ, Musikmuseum Werner Baus (Helsa-Eschenstruth, 2016), p. 6.

At the Leipzig Easter Fair 1895, even the firm Hupfeld launched its version of a similar, but as always somewhat more sophisticated instrument named ÒAeolionÓ (Figure 49 right). It had the stops Lieblich Gedackt 16Õ, Flauto-traverso 8Õ, and Wienerflšte 4Õ, in all 100 wood and tin pipes. The instrument was played with perfo.rated paper rolls, whose perforations served as valves to the pipes, i.e. the instrument did not have any valves for the notes inside. Accordingly, the roll had to run over the tracker bar in an air-tight chest supplied with wind. The response of also the semiquaver shall have been excellent.104104 Der verbesserte Pfeifen-Musik-Automat ÒAeolionÓ [The improved Automatic Pipe Organ ÒAeolionÓ], Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumenten.bau (Leipzig, 1895-1896), p. 387.
Initially, the instrument was driven by a weight, but was available also with hot-air motor since the Leipzig Easter Fair 1897,105105 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1896-1897), p. 370.
and with electric motor since the Easter Fair 1898.106106 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1897-1898), p. 477.
According to an advertisement in autumn 1901, the Aeolion had been equipped with percussion instruments.107107 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1900-1901), p. 810.

Figure 31: The three organettes Lux, Libelle and Iris of German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann11 Libelle, Lux, Iris, Ernst Holzweissig Nachf., wholesale catalogue, Leipzig, 1903-1904, p.118.
(CD ÒHolzweissig & Zuleger Gro§handelskataloge [wholesale catalogues]Ó, Musikmuseum Werner Baus (Helsa-Eschenstruth, 2016), with kind permission).

Figure 32: Range of products of German Mechanical Musical Instruments System Pietschmann
(Bavarian State Library, Munich, Digitizations online. Also the following Figures in Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau are from Bavarian State Library).
The design of the advertisement by Berlin Musical Instruments Factory from autumn 1894 (Mechanical Music vol. 69, no. 4 (July/August 2023), p.Ê26, Fig.Ê27) was used without change.11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1898-1899), p.1023.
The text of the advertisement says:
ÒCompany on shares Deutsche Musikwerke [German Mechanical Musical Instruments] System Pietschmann. Foundation 1835. Many awards. Ð Berlin N. [North] Ð Fehrbellinerstr. 45. Accordeons, Herophons, Manopans, Dolcines, Seraphines, Libelles, Lux. Miniatur-harmonium. Big selection of Celesta musical boxes, also with coin insert. Completely new: ÒIrisÓ. Rich stock of music of the new.est and most favourite musical pieces of all nations. Torpedo pipes. Catalogues and price lists gratis, no postage.Ó

Figure 33: Advertisement by Berlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co. The text of the advertisement says:
ÒBerlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co. Berlin, Brunnenstr. 25. Sale of accordeons, mouth organs, phono.graphs and other kinds of musical instruments. New! Vending machine for mouth organs, protected by law, tuned harmonica with manual and fine card.board case 10 Pfg. [1 Pfennig = 1/100 Mark Å 0.1 Euro]. Proven enormous success! New! ÒPreciosaÓ, cheapest phonograph with coin insert, with and without glass cover. New! ÒTriumphÓ, self-playing musical instrument, equipped with all modern advantages, cheaper than the competing products, easily working wind-up crank.Ó

Figure 35: Phonograph with coin insert by Berlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co.11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1900-1901), p.149.
The text of the advertisement says:
ÒBerlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co., Brunnenstrasse 25. Accordeons, mouth organs, phonographs etc. New! Vending machine for mouth organs, pro.tected by law, 500 instruments sold per month and machine. New! ÒPreciosaÓ, phonograph with coin insert, protected by law; 5 models, prices starting at 36 Mark, unrivalled, working reliably. New! Ideal Harmonica, can be played immediately by reading the music from cardboards. Interesting. Prices start at 1.50 Mark. Ask for prospectus.Ó

Figure 34: The easily playable accordion (left) and harmonica (right) with the chord zither principle. Berlin Music Industry A. Pietschmann & Co.

Figure 36: Advertisement of the firm Heinrich Hermann in September 1901. The text of the advertisement says:
ÒHeinrich Hermann. Berlin N., Fehrbellinerstr. 45. Factory of accordeons and mechanical cranked instruments. Specialties: Universal and Regina accordeons, Herophons, Manopans, Iris, Libelles, Favorite, Lux, miniatur harmoniums etc. Torpedo pipes. Illustrated catalogue gratis.Ó

Figure 37: Left: the table harmonium ÒAmerican Organola.Ó Right: console (from DRP 131283).

Figure 38: The harmonium ÒSkalaÓ of Berlin Harmonium Factory Ltd.11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1902-1903), p.Ê345.
The text of the advertisement says:
ÒSkala Harmonium, without knowledge of musical notes playable by everybody. Transported easily. Strong organ-like sound. Unlimited repertoire of classical and light music. Price for No. I 50 Mark, for No. II 75 Mark. Music per page 0.25 Mark. Berlin Harmonium Factory Ltd., Berlin SW 13, Alexandrinenstr. 22.Ó

Figure 39: Advertisement of the firm Leipzig Mechanical Musical Instruments Euphonika when it took over the former Pietschmann organettes from Heinrich Hermann (Bernau).11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1903-1904), p.Ê463.
The text of the advertisement says:
ÒLeipzig Mechanical Musical Instruments ÔEuphonikaÕ, Leipzig. We have the hon.our to inform you that we have purchased the whole inventory and stock of the factory Heinrich Hermann at Bernau as far as the known cranked instruments Lux, Favorites, Libelles, Iris, Manopans, and Herophons are concerned, and that we have moved the manufacture of these instruments to our current address in Leipzig, Friedrich-List-Str. 11. We will deliver the above instruments together with our known and approved Amorettes and Mandolinatas, and we are therefore able to offer a selection of cranked instruments of most different systems like nobody else. A sample stock comprising all our products can be found during the Leipzig Fair at Petersstrasse 20, H™tel de Russie, room 59.Ó

Figure 40: The trade mark of the firms Ch. F. Pietschmann & Sons,11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1888-1889), p.Ê39.
Berlin Musical Instruments Factory Inc.,22 Waarenzeichenblatt [Trade Mark Gazette] (Berlin, 1895), p.Ê611.
and Heinrich Hermann.33 Waarenzeichenblatt (Berlin, 1904), p.Ê2025.
The text of the trademark specifications say:
Top: ÒCh. F. Pietschmann & Sons in Berlin. Royal City Court of Berlin. Application on 6 July 1875, 10:20 am, with no. 88, for accordeons. Center: No. 6034. B. 1047. Berlin Musical Instruments Factory Inc. formerly Ch. F. Pietschmann & Sons, Berlin. Application on 26 November 1894/6 July 1895. Recorded on 4 May 1895. Business: Manufacture and sale of musical instruments. Merchandise: accordeons.Ó Bottom: ÒNr. 73768. H. 9885/25. Firm Heinrich Hermann, Bernau (Mark). Application on 2 May 1904. Recorded on 10 November 1904. Business: Factory of musical instru.ments and of patented and protected novelties. Merchandise: accordeons, mouth organs, organettes, embroi.dery-frames, curtain stretchers, rasps, potato peeling machines, fruit peeling apparatus, fruit chipping machines, paper cutting machines, potato rasping machines. A description is attached to the application.Ó

Figure 41: The half-automatic accordion by Euphonika.11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1894-1895), p.Ê944.
The text of the advertise.ment says:
ÒEuphonika! Self-playing harmonica, playable by everybody without any previ.ous experience. Highest expression capability by being able to play piano, forte, crescendo, and decrescendo. Elegant, easy, with unlimited repertoire. Beautiful sound and cheap. Factory of Leipzig Mechanical Musical Instruments ÒEuphonikaÓ, Leipzig, Friedrich-List-Str. 11.Ó

Figure 42: Advertisement of the Leipzig firm Euphonika from the year 1909 offering organettes of the former firm Pietschmann.11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1908-1909), p.Ê1332.
The text of the advertise.ment says:
ÒLeipzig Mechanical Musical Instruments ÔEuphonikaÕ, Leipzig. Productive fac.tory of bandoneons of all systems. Guaranteed pure intonation. Immediate delivery. Lowest prices. Manufacture of the known cranked instruments Amorettes, Manopan, Herophon, Iris, Lux etc. Demand special catalogues.Ó

Figure 43: The hot-air motor of the .-type (drawing by the author).

Figure 44: Concert-Motor11 Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung (Berlin, 1893-1894), p. 947.
(with kind permission: Berlin State Library Ð Prussian Cultural Heritage, Music Department with Mendelssohn-Archive). Left: Concert-Motor while playing. Right: Concert-Motor opened.

Figure 46: Advertisement from October 1894 showing the Concert-Motor and the Flower-Reflector-Manopan.11 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1894-1895), p. 76.
The text of the advertisement is as follows.
ÒSensational novelty! Ñ Patented Motor-Manopan, Ñ self-playing, Ñ by safe hot-air motor; unlimited playing time: no winding-up necessary as for musical boxes or orchestrions; ready for working by simple lighting of the heater. No smell, no soot, no smoke. Long-range audible music: replacement for orchestrion and dance music. Most solid construction. The reeds of the instru.ments are made from steel, the bearings from metal; bellows without cardboard; our common Manopan music is used. Each instrument can also be played with crank instead of motor. Ñ The automatic Motor-Manopan Ñ with coin insert plays a certain fixed time only when a coin has been inserted (patent pending). The Motor-Manopan can be delivered as Ñ Concert-Motor, Ñ Motor-Orchester Ñ with drum, bass drum and bell, Ñ instrument with effect! – flower reflector – instrument with effect!, Ñ and as Organ-Motor with genuine organ pipes. Ask Berlin Musical Instruments Factory formerly Ch. F. Pietschmann & Sons, Berlin, Brunnenstr. 25 for prospectuses and prices. Biggest and oldest factory for accordions and mechanical musical instruments. Permanent exposition and sample stock: Ritterstrasse 84, ground floor.Ó

Figure 45: Motor-Orchestrion (left) and Reflector-Manopan (right)11 Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung (Berlin, 1893-1894), p. 947.
(with kind per.mission: Berlin State Library Ð Prussian Cultural Heritage, Music Department with Mendelssohn-Archive).

Figure 47: From the patent DRP 82 824 of Berlin Musical Instruments Factory.11 Patent data bank ÔDepatisnetÕ of Deutsches Patentamt [German Patent Office], Munich.

The coin insertion mechanism: The crank is only coupled to the shaft E of the Manopan, when a coin has been inserted. In order to bring about the coupling, the coin drops through the chute N, and then (insert bottom right) onto a sleeve coupled to the crank. The sleeve has eight radial incisions into which the coin fits. After short turning of the crank, the coin will have fallen into one of the incisions. The sleeve fits loosely onto a cylindrical rod connected with the shaft E of the Manopan. The rod has many short incisions, into one of which the coin drops partially, thus coupling rod and sleeve. Because the coin is jammed in the two incisions of rod and sleeve when the crank is turned against the load of the idle motor, the coin does not drop from the slits when they are directed downwards. In con.trast, when the motor has started and the manual cranking has stopped, the motor has to turn the coin only against the weak load of the sleeve and the crank. The coin hits the chute once at every full turn, in order to support loosening the coin in the slits. Therefore, the lower part of the chute is fixed to the upper part by a spring-loaded hinge, so that it can give way to the coin, and is reset afterwards. This loosens the coin which drops into the collection tray, when the slits with the coin are directed downwards.
The automatic On/Off action of the motor and the gas supply: The shaft of the Manopan is coupled by a worm-gear to a wheel H (insert center right) with a pin h fixed excentrically on the wheel. A spring holds the curved lever with pivot at i in such a position that the upper end of the curved lever is within the area of the wheel H, and the brake K is positioned off the flywheel of the motor. The brake stops the motor, as soon as the pin h on the wheel H shifts the curved lever outwards after a certain number of motor revolutions required to sound a musical piece. Simultaneously with the braking, the curved lever I (in the main drawing) and a second lever P, pivoted at p and connected to the lever I by a joint, turn in opposite directions in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the main drawing. The lever P turns the gas tap down for a low flame. If liquid fuel is used, the wick of each burner is drawn down. On starting the machine, the shaft of the Manopan can be turned by the crank after insertion of a coin, so that the pin h on the wheel H moves away from the lever I. Thus the spring-loaded lever rotates a bit counter-clockwise which releases the brake and increases the fuel supply.

Figure 48: Interpretation of the parts of the double Stirling motor visible in the histor.ical woodcut (Figure 44). Green: connecting-rods of the power pistons, blue: drives of the displacers, red: brake for setting the velocity, grey: unmoved parts (bear.ings, cylinders, oiler). (computer drawing with FreeCAD (): author).

Figure 49: Mechanical pipe organs with hot-air motors. Left: the 39-note Henry-Organ of Berlin Musical Instruments Factory driven by an external double hot-air motor11 Drei harmoniumartige Musikwerke [Three Harmonium-like Mechanical Musical Instru.ments], Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung (Berlin, 1894-1895), p. 43.
(with kind permission: Berlin State Library Ð Prussian Cultural Heritage, Music Department with Mendelssohn-Archive), center: The flute automaton ÒOrchestrionÓ of Factory of Leipzig Mechanical Musical Instruments formerly Paul Ehrlich & Co. playing with 24-note Ariston music,22 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1893-1894), p. 511.
right: The Aeolion of the firm Hupfeld playing 100 pipes grouped into three stops, with the perforations of the music roll acting as valves.33 Zeitschrift fŸr Instrumentenbau (Leipzig, 1896-1897), p. 475.

Reprinted with permission
This article originally appeared in Das Mechanische Musikinstrument, the journal of the Society for Self-Playing Musical Instruments, Germany. Translated by and reprinted with the kind permission of the original author, Dr. Albert Lštz.

Interesting Tidbits

Spreading the joy of mechanical music

Snowbelt chapter member Jeff Ingebrigtson, aka Mr. Tweezle, plays ÒThunder and BlazesÓ on a Raffin 31/84 behind his circus train at the Shriner’s children’s picnic held at the St. Croix Railroad in St. Paul, MN, on Jul. 23, 2023.

Polyphon Model 43N

By Harold Wade
Having purchased a Polyphon Model 43N 15.-inch disc music box with a spiral or helical/coil spring in late 2022, I decided to write an article about this unusual music box.
In the late 1990s, Larry Karp wrote an article in Mechanical Music (Vol. 44, No. 1, Page 12, Spring 1998) describing spiral spring music boxes with several black and white pictures.
It is difficult to pinpoint when this type of music box first started to appear on the market. In Larry KarpÕs article he notes that one authoritative source states that the first appearance of these boxes was in the 1890s. Then he follows up with the fact that a different authoritative source says these type of music boxes were not available until after 1900. I like to believe my music box was made somewhere between 1892 and 1893, but I may never know for certain.
The first Model 43N spiral spring music boxes had the single comb on the left-hand side of the bedplate, driven by the drive gear on the left-hand side so the disc is mounted backward to the normal disc music box with the comb on the right hand as we are used to today. The spiral spring, which looks like a modern-day garage door spring, is mounted in the back of the cabinet near the base behind the bedplate and across the entire width of the cabinet. The spring is wound from a shaft inside the spring coils on the left-hand end from the winding assembly in the back right hand corner of the cabinet. The crank is on the outside of the cabinet on the right side toward the back.
The drive gear is driven by a small chain from the drive motor and the governor is mounted on top of the drive motor. The chain on the right-side comb machine has a tension idler while the left side comb machines do not. A small wooden cover on the inside right side covers the drive motor assembly. The motor assembly is mounted on the inside right side, but four mounting screws are located on the outside of the cabinet with the winding crank between the screws. The start knob is on the outside right side near the bottom of cabinet.
The serial number is stamped in the center of the bedplate just above the center spindle.
Another interesting feature is that the bedplate mounting feet have small locating pins on each foot into the sounding board below. I have not seen this feature in non-spiral spring machines. The bedplate is mounted very close to the sounding board which helps the music box speak sharp and loudly.
All the early Polyphon spiral spring music boxes were left hand comb and left-side drive gear until near the end of this type of drive spring. My machine, serial number 1497, is right hand single comb and drive wheel as we normally think of table-top music boxes. I found in Kevin McEl.honeÕs book ÒThe Disc Musical BoxÓ that serial number 1804 (right-hand comb) is the highest serial number machine with a spiral spring. IÕve found less than a dozen spiral spring music boxes on YouTube, LiveAuctioneers.com or the internet dating back more than 20 years. Kevin McElhoneÕs ÒSupplement to The Disc Musical BoxÓ book states that PolyphonÕs serial number listings have less than 10 serial numbers for spiral spring music boxes.
The start knob lever is on the outside of the cabinet, lower right side, and the disc is stopped with a small arm in the slot on the disc start/stop position so only discs with slots will function correctly for starting and stopping. There is a speed control lever which is in the right side of the inside cover. The inside lid print was copied from the original dirty print.
Polyphon also made a few double left hand comb spiral spring music boxes. The bedplate is a bit wider to acquire the double combs. I only found one spiral spring double comb right hand side Polyphon music box.
I have seen a spiral spring in a 22.-inch upright Polyphon disc music box but these are very rare. There were several Polyphon 141/8-inch bell boxes with spiral springs made but IÕve not seen one.
I believe Kevin McElhone says that he saw only one double-comb spiral-spring Polyphon disc music box in his travels. This is the list of spiral-spring disc music boxes from his ÒSupplement to The Disc Music BoxÓ book.
Serial 2
Table Top Spiral Spring

Serial 41
Table Top Spiral Spring

Serial 159
Table Top Spiral Spring

Serial 161
Table Top Spiral Spring

Serial 166
Table Top Spiral Spring

Serial 238
Table Top Spiral Spring Duplex combs

Serial 1422
Table Top Spiral Spring

Daniel Davis did the restoration on my Polyphon 15.-inch spiral spring music box. He owns and restored both a single comb (left hand side-serial no. 57) and a double comb (left hand side-serial no. 7) music box.
The Polyphon spiral spring music box plays very brightly and functions perfectly after its restoration. I thank Daniel Davis for the beautiful work he did to restore this music box for our enjoyment.

The drive gear and chain at the back right of the cabinet. In the photo on the facing page, this motor assembly is hidden by a wooden cover that fits along the right side of the interior of the music box.

A close-up photo of the wooden cover that hides the motor assembly. The speed control lever is visible on the right.

An exterior view of the crank on the right side of the music box. The start/stop knob is below and left of the crank.

Building a stand to show off our music box

Article and photos by G. Emory Warren
Our music box was a Christmas gift from my dad to my mom in the late 1960s. I inherited it after they both passed away. The first time I played it, it didnÕt sound exactly right so I began a search to find someone who could repair it. I ran across Bob CalettiÕs name and called to arrange for the work to be done. We shipped our music box to him and received it back in perfect working order. Our music box always sat on a shelf or a table. For several years we looked for an antique stand that might better set it off as the unique antique it is but we could not find one we liked (or could afford!). After multiple internet searches, plugging in key words, I finally ran across a music box stand I liked. My choice had to do with the overall look and size that seemed appropriate for our music box. Most importantly, the design was one that I felt I was capable of reproducing based on my skill set. A big bonus was that I already had a more than an adequate amount of oak wood available to me. We had milled the wood from trees we harvested in 2020 to build a barndomenium on a friendÕs property.
I made measurements based on my best guesses from the photos I found online and construction was relatively simple using a specialized Kreg pocket hole jig tool. The other tools I used included a table saw, band saw, miter saw, router, drum sander and orbital sander. I matched the stain as closely as possible to the color of the music box case then top-coated it with several coats of lacquer satin finish. The hardware included a lock and hinges obtained at a hardware store called Rockler. The project turned out better than expected and the music box looks outstanding on the stand.

Sharing Mechanical Music with members of the American Council of the Blind

By Marty Persky
In October of 2019 I had the pleasure of taking music box collector and MBSI member Jim Kracht on a tour through the Sanfilippo collection. Jim is a director for the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and he was in town planning the groupÕs 2020 convention that was to be held in Chicago.
Jim and I spent more than seven hours experiencing and discussing instruments just in the house. It was an amazing visit as much for me as for him. Blind since just after birth, Jim has a special appreciation for the music, but I also learned that by touching he ÒseesÓ the instruments.
We discussed several possibilities of having ACB members visit the collection. Upon his return to his small planning group, they requested a Sanfilippo site visit. Recognizing this to be a worthy humanitarian effort Jeffrey Sanfilippo agreed to a visit for that Saturday afternoon. Of the approximately 10 people and two service dogs attending, three were sighted volunteers. It was difficult to imagine how excited and appreciative these people were. One woman shared that she was in tears listening to the theater organ.
With the onset of COVID the ACB convention was placed on hold. Fast forward to 2023 when the convention would finally come to Chicago. One morning and one afternoon tour on July 7 were worked into the convention offerings. Each group would have a total of three hours on site. Sadly for Jim and for us, he was not able to attend the convention due to medical issues but he did learn of the dayÕs happen.ings via email.
In my opinion, the tours went wonderfully! In spite of bus delays, Sanfilippo Foundation director Greg Leifel, docent Laura DÕArgo, my wife, Sandy, and I were able to give each group pretty close to three hours. Minimizing time for moving room to room and bathroom breaks, most of the house visit was in the theater with all visitors seated on the main floor.
The day before we brought in a number of instruments to set up at the front of the theater. Items included a French serinette, a six-cam singing bird call box, a Kalliope table.top disc music box with bells, a cylinder orchestra box with hidden bells, drum and wood block, a fine musicalÊsnuff box, a modern manivelle playing ÒYou are My SunshineÓ and a sound box to acoustically amplify the latter two.Ê The largest piece was a Jager & Brommer paper roll-operated flute pipe organ celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first Bruder barrel organ. We also used a cylinder of EdisonÕs only recordedÊvoice for the public, his speech supporting America and its Allies of WWI, ÒLet Us Not Forget.ÓÊÊ
Already in the theater was the monumental 24-inch MermodÊFreres interchangeable cylinder box, Frati barrel monkey trumpet organ, and an Edison Opera cylinder phonograph. A cordless microphone enabled me to give a musical introduction to mechanical music instruments. Greg continued the music with an Enrico Caruso recording on a Victor Style 6 phonograph and a selection on each, the Weber Otero orchestrion and the 112-key Mortier.Ê Then it was time for a few pieces on the 5 manual, 80 rank Wurlitzer theater organ, finishing with ÒPhantom of the Opera.Ó The last house experiences would be a selection on the Home Model Mills Violano and then another on the Hupfeld Phonoliszt Violina in the foyer.
The bus loaded and unloaded relatively quickly with the driver wisely instructing all to move to the rear of the bus. With only 30 minutes remaining all were seated in the open area of the pavilion as the Verbeeck street organ played. Greg described the room, the organs and facades vividly and followed with a brief history of the Eden Palais from 1890 to the present day.
There was not sufficient time to safely give rides, so we gathered all around the carousel and started it up. The warning bell rang, the rubber drive wheels squealed and the 89-key Gavioli started to play. Then came the sound of the galloping horses and rocking gondolas on the circular track. For those closest, a slight breeze could be felt as each passed by. We played Jasper SanfilippoÕs first organ, the 80-key Bruder (with waltzing dancer automaton).Ê As theÊsmiling faces made their way out, weÊfinished with OffenbachÕs ÒCan CanÓ on the worldÕs largest American band organ, the Wurlitzer 180.
The two tours were all but carbon copies. The main difference was twice as many questions from the smaller afternoon group. This was a most rewarding and memora.ble day for our guests as well as the four of us.Ê

Marty plays the Sanfilippo Frati trumpet organ for ACB members

Golden Gate Chapter

Chair: Judy Caletti
Reporter: David Corkrum
Photographers: Rob Thomas and Bob Caletti
Jul. 29, 2023 Ñ Woodside, CA
The Golden Gate Chapter held its July meeting at the home of Marc and Marguerite Kaufman. Due to vacations and other engagements, it meant only eight members were able to attend but this did not stop anyone from having a great time. Marc and Marguerite provided a main course of turkey, ham and salmon and members provided all of the trimmings, which, from this reporterÕs view, was perfect. We were all so busy visiting with each other that we failed to get a picture of our meal or a picture of the group.
Marc and MargueriteÕs home is located in the redwood studded hills above San Francisco Bay in an area known as Woodside, CA. The day was perfect, and we all enjoyed the outdoor deck. Marc and Marguerite have a considerably large and quite diverse collection of cylinder and disc boxes and two grand pianos. There are boxes from B.A. Bremmond, Mermod Freres, Nicole, Regina, Polyphon, and Symphonion. The Bremmond was a four-cylinder revolver with six tunes each. The numerous Nicole boxes were of various formats. Two were a grand format cylinder box and one was a large key-wind piano forte box. These were all definite showstoppers.
A beautiful Mermod Ideal Soprano with wonderful sounding tunes built into a desk with an interchangeable box incorporated into the top is attributed to Karrer. The disc boxes included a 133/8-inch Imperial Symphonion with edge drive, a 15.-inch Regina in an ornate oak case and a 27.-inch Symphonion with 12 bells in an art nouveau case. In the living room was a grandfather clock with a 151/2-inch Polyphon installed in the base. There was also an automaton attributed to Decamps and a necessaire complete with all of its tools and a sectional comb music box. All in all, it is a truly fantastic collection. Marc even pulled out some of his snuff boxes for guests to see.
Marc, once a volunteer fireman, also has collected and restored an old fire engine. Marguerite is active in the weaving community. She owns and runs five looms in her home and travels the world to see and talk with other avid weavers.
Chapter members, having had their fill of great food and desserts, attended the business meeting. We talked about future meeting sites. Dave Corkrum conducted the meeting on behalf of our chair, Judy Caletti, who had a bad head cold and could not attend. It was sad to report that Richard Hales, a longtime member, had passed away. The chapter has 44 dues paid members including two from Virginia and one from Connecticut.
After the meeting adjourned, the members went back to enjoying the many instruments that Marc has collected including a pocket watch with a Sur Plateau movement.

Marc Kaufman shows David Corkrum a Symphonion disc storage binder.

Snuff boxes with sectional combs (three and four per screw).

Pocket watch with Sur Plateau movement.

Interior of Pocket watch.

Inside of a necessaire.

The winding key for the musical movement of the necessaire.

This photo shows the details inside a Symphonion disc stor.age binder.

A silver bird box with bird-shaped winding key.

An overture cylinder music box in the Kaufman collection.

Marguerite Kaufman with embroidered jacket cuffs by Edith Head.

A Symphonion Eroica with clock and carved dome top.

Marguerite Kaufman and Jenny Hoyt in front of a loom and 27 inch Regina Changer.

From left to right: A Symphonion Eroica, a grandfather clock, a Sirion and Marc Kaufman.

A 1920s street barrel piano from New York. The tune sheet on the side iden.tifies the maker as Isabelo Velazquez, Afinidor Mech‡nico de Pianos with an address in Madrid Spain.

Southern California Chapter

Chair: Robin Biggins
Reporter: Robin Biggins
Photographer: Lowell Boehland
Jul.15, 2023 Ñ Fullerton, CA
Since our last meeting at the lovely home of Judy and Bob Burtscher in 2021, they have expanded their wonderful collection of antique musi.cal boxes to the point that I would say it is one of the most outstanding collections in the United States. Their collection now includes everything from small fusee and Sur-Plateau cylinder music boxes to singing bird boxes, singing birds in cages and even ranges all the way up to huge disc playing machines. They have a Violano, several organs and musical clocks as well. All examples are restored to their original beauty. The exciting thing about the Burtschers is that they donÕt just collect these musi.cal boxes, but they enjoy playing them daily. They have also taken the time to acquire knowledge so that they are able to describe the function and the historical evolution of the various makers.
As you will see from the photos in this article, they have displayed all their machines for the best possible presentation.
Music boxes are not the only amaz.ing thing they collect. The Burtschers have a beautiful Koi pond and a spec.tacular garden of rare ferns, palms and exotic plants from around the world.
Judy personally put together a lovely variety of snacks including interesting food and beverages for all chapter members to enjoy after we had been thoroughly educated by BobÕs amaz.ing descriptions and history lessons. Satiated, we were able to visit with each other in the patio area and have a short business meeting.
Chapter Chair Robin Biggins encouraged members to consider attending this yearÕs MBSI Annual Meeting in St Paul, MN. Our chapter meeting hosts were then applauded, and several long-time members were recognized, such as Dianne and David Reidy, Diane Lloyd, John Gaughan and Phyllis DeSio. We then took more time to tour the fantastic garden before heading home.

Our hosts. Judy and Bob Burtscher, in front of a Regina changer with art glass door.

Bob discusses the line-up of small musical boxes displayed on his dining room table.

Bob demonstrates one of the large Mermod Frres boxes.

Helen Chin admires some singing bird boxes.

Bob works his way down a row of cylinder music boxes, playing each as he goes.

Bob demonstrates a Regina to Rick Moyer.

Bob shows off some caged singing bird automatons.

A pair of wide-angle views showing many parts of the BurtschersÕ collection. Top photo is the dining room and bottom photo shows a view of the main music room.

The chapter meeting on the patio where members applauded Judy in thanks for the wonderful food and drink available.

Bob guides a parade through the garden.

Our group photo in front of the Koi pond.

Coco eyes the photographer

East Coast Chapter

Chair: Elise Low
Reporter: Elise Low
Photographers Brooks Low and Joe Wineburgh
Jul. 1, 2023 Ñ Succasunna, NJ
On July 1, 14 East Coast Chapter members emerged from their COVID ÒcocoonsÓ and met at the home of Bill and Carolee Wineburgh in Succasunna, NJ. We enjoyed lovely weather, enabling us to eat our boun.tiful catered luncheon outside on their tree-shaded patio. Five guests joined us for the day: the WineburghsÕ son Joe and his wife and son, and two neighbors. After many Zoom meetings, it was nice to see folks in-person for what once was a regular ECC event, a Summer picnic.
We began the dayÕs activities with demonstrations of two monkey organs provided by members. Claudia Molinari brought one of the smaller organs from her collection, made in Brooklyn, NY, by her paternal fore.bears. She is collecting stories and anecdotes from relatives about the Molinari factories to add to known facts, and we all encouraged her to write an insiderÕs history. Barbara and Glenn Crater brought their Jaeger & Brommer roller organ and allowed others to play its Mozart arias for our listening pleasure.
The Wineburghs are gracious and experienced hosts, having organized and hosted many ECC and/or MBSI meetings over some 40 years, mainly in New Jersey. Bill enjoys sharing his collection and led us on two tours, first on the lower level before lunch and our business meeting, and then in the living and dining rooms afterward.
Bill began our first tour by playing a magnificent sounding 153/8-inch Lochmann disc box. Other impressive disc boxes we heard were: an upright 27-inch Style 5 coin-op Regina; a double comb, short bedplate 151/2-inch Style 50 Regina in a serpentine mahogany case on a matching disc storage cabinet; a 17-inch Stella ÒGrandÓ by Mermod Frres, also set on a matching disc storage cabinet; an Adler 141/2-inch double-comb disc box; and a 121/4-inch double-comb Regina in an oak case. Other pieces included a rare Paillard six-air ÒPolytypeÓ Zither cylinder box and an Ami Rivenc eight-air box playing sacred airs. This room is loaded with mechanical wonders, including a complete Regina Model A vacuum cleaner, appropriately placed on the floor.
Our second tour began with a 17-inch Stella disc box in a console case. Next was a rare 15-inch single-comb Tannhauser with an unusual disc-shifting mechanism that requires two revolutions to complete a discÕs two tunes. Arrayed on the dining table were small disc boxes and various size cylinder boxes.
Especially notable were a 131/8-inch Nicole Frres eight-tune key-wind operatic box, a four-air Ducommun- Girod reverse sectional-comb cylinder box made circa 1830, a Ducommun ˆ Charles Ullmann ÒMultiphoneÓ interchangeable cylinder box with 13/4-inch cylinders, two manivelle (hand-cranked) disc boxes (Arion and Polyphon), and a master tuning comb.
Returning to the living room, Bill played his 151/2-inch Style 35 Regina glass-front changer and 1929 Steinway DuoArt piano. Several piano pieces were ÒplayedÓ by known olden-day artists. This concert brought our delightful musical day to a close.
As they prepared to leave, members were invited to take table favors left over from the 2017 MBSI Annual Meeting, made by ECC host-members. Bill Guimes had stored them for us and was very happy to unload them! Those remaining can be distributed to newer members.

Claudia Molinari played her familyÕs organ for us.

Barbara Crater, Carolee Wineburgh and Mike Falco check out the CratersÕ Jaeger & Brommer crank organ while Bob Penna listens in.

Gavin Wineburgh cranked the CratersÕ organ for all to enjoy, especially Bob Penna.

Bill prepares to play the Lochmann and the Regina manivelle for us.

The WineburghsÕ magnificent coin-op Style 5 Regina.

Glenn Crater listened closely as Bill played the Stella ÒGrand.Ó

The Ducommun Multiphone has very small interchangeable cylinders.

Our business meeting had a very pleasant setting.

Ken Clayton watches as Bill Wineburgh plays a manivelle from his collection.

Bill adjusted the rear controls of the Ducommon-Girod reverse-comb box before playing it. His master tuning comb is on his left.

Mike Falco leans in to see a small disc box.

The 151/2-inch Regina bow-front changer and piano-roll cabinet.

BillÕs motto and an automaton.

Brooks Low and Bill Wineburgh shared restoration tips at the end of the day.

The Steinway DuoArt piano awaits our concert.

Michael Richard Perry 1943Ñ2023

By Richard Dutton
Mechanical music enthusiast and collector and longtime MBSI member Mike Perry passed away suddenly and unexpectedly upon suffering a heart attack at his home in Marion, OH, on May 13, 2023. He was 79.
Mike lived in Marion from the time he was 2 years old and was married to his beloved wife Linda for more than 51 years. He was a hard-working individual who held down two jobs for most of his working life. Following his retirement, he and Linda operated the Victoriana Bed and Breakfast in Marion.
While visiting a car museum in 1969 Mike saw a brochure printed by mechanical music dealers Hathaway and Bowers. He called them, bought his first music box over the phone and joined MBSI. His love for mechanical music grew. He began collecting and continued to collect for the rest of his life, ultimately assembling a large group of instruments and other items that included both substantial and valuable pieces as well as many smaller items like organettes. He was always active in MBSI, serving as chair of the Mid-America Chapter twice. He also belonged to the Automatic Musi.cal Instrument CollectorsÕ Association and the Carousel Organ Association of America. He and Linda traveled widely to attend mechanical music events and activities. They journeyed to Europe on three occasions, visiting many MBSI collections.
Mike had a number of other collect.ing interests, including phonographs, postcards and photographs of early Marion. He regularly displayed his collections around the community and enjoyed recruiting new collectors all over the country to join him in his hobbies. He encouraged them to develop substantial collections of their own. He was a strong and ener.getic supporter of the city of MarionÕs history and was instrumental in the restoration of a reproducing grand piano that was in the White House when Marion native Warren G. Hard.ing was President. That piano is now in the Harding Library and Museum.
In addition to the joy of collecting, Mike and Linda cherished the lifelong friendships they made in the mechan.ical music world. Mike was always happy to visit with fellow enthusiasts in person, to engage in long telephone conversations with his many friends on mechanical music subjects and to help other collectors find items for their collections. He will be missed.
Here is a link to a lengthy obituary article about Mike which is followed by a video of slides with views of him, his family and friends at all times of his life, many involving mechanical music:
https://www.snyderfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/Michael-Richard-
Perry?obId=27928461#/obituaryInfo

Mike Perry discussing his collection with visitors.

MBSI has learned that members Peg Herman passed away in January and Richard Hales passed away recently. We extend our sincere condolences to their family and friends.

FOR SALE
RESTORED MUSICAL BOXES Offering a variety of antique musical boxes, discs, orphan cylinders, reproducing piano rolls & out of print books about mechanical music. BILL WINEBURGH 973-927-0484 Web: antiquemusicbox.us
THE GOLDEN AGE of AUTOMATIC MUSI.CAL INSTRUMENTS By ART REBLITZ. Award-winning classic that brings historical, musical, and technical information to life with hundreds of large, vivid color photos. We guarantee youÕll find it to be one of the most interesting, inspiring, informative books you have in your libraryÐor your money back. Everyone has been delighted, and some readers have ordered several copies. Get your copy today for $99 plus S/H. MECHANI.CAL MUSIC PRESS-M, 70 Wild Ammonoosuc Rd., Woodsville, NH 03785. (603) 747-2636.
http://www.mechanicalmusicpress.com
PAILLARD INTERCHANGEABLE CYLINDER BOX with 6 cylinders, 6 tuned bells, fitted on original table. This instrument is in excellent mechanical condition and sounds beautiful. Price: $22,500. Contact JOSEPH SIGMON, at jkentsigmon@gmail.com or 828.381.9048
MARVELS OF MECHANICAL MUSIC – MBSI Video. Fascinating and beautifully-made film which explains the origins of automatic musical instruments, how they are collected and preserved today, and their historic importance, MBSI members and collections are featured. $20 USD. Free shipping in the continental U.S. Additional postage charges apply for other locations. Purchase now at www.mbsi.org
SERVICES
REPRODUCTION POLYPHON discs; Cata.logs available for 19 5/8Ó, 22 1/8Ó, and 24 1/2Ó. DAVID CORKRUM 5826 Roberts Ave, Oakland, CA 94605-1156, 510-569-3110,
www.polyphonmusic.com
SAVE $Õs on REUGE & THORENS MUSIC BOX REPAIR & RESTORATION Ð MBSI MEMBERS RECEIVE WHOLESALE PRICING. 40 + Years experience servicing all makes & models of cylinder and disc music boxes, bird boxes, bird cages, musical watches, Anri musical figurines, et al. All work guaranteed. WeÕre the only REUGE FACTORY AUTHORIZED Parts & Repair Service Center for all of North America. Contact: DON CAINE – The Music Box Repair Center Unlimited, 24703 Pennsyl.vania Ave., Lomita, CA 90717-1516. Phone: (310) 534-1557 Email: MBRCU@AOL.COM. On the Web: www.musicboxrepaircenter.com

THE MARTTHE MART

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Mechanical Music
Mechanical Music is mailed to all members at the beginning of every odd month Ñ January, March, May, July, September and November.
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It is to be hereby understood that the placing of advertisements by members of the Society in this publication does not constitute nor shall be deemed to constitute any endorsement or approval of the busi.ness practices of advertisers. The Musical Box Society International accepts no liability in connection with any business dealings between members and such advertisers.
It is to be further understood that members are to rely on their own investigation and opinion regarding the reputation and integrity of advertisers in conducting such busi.ness dealings with said advertisers.

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call (253) 228-1634 for more details.

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2……….Renaissance Antiques
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Advertise in The Mart
Have some spare parts or extra rolls taking up the space where you should be installing your next acquisition? Ready to trade up, but need to sell one of your current pieces first? Get the word out to other collectors in The Mart, an effec.tive advertising tool at an inexpensive price. Copy or cut out the form below and mail it in to get started. All ads are published in Mechanical Music and on the MBSI website at www.mbsi.org
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Call MBSI Administrator Jacque Beeman at (417) 886-8839 or send a check to:
Musical Box Society International
P.O. Box 10196
Springfield, MO 65808-0196

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Back Cover
8.75Ó x 11.25Ó
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Add a 10% surcharge to the prices shown above if you are not a member of MBSI.

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OFFICERS, TRUSTEES & COMMITTEES of the
MUSICAL BOX SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL¨

OFFICERS
President
David Corkrum
5826 Roberts Avenue
Oakland, CA 94605
musikwerke@att.net
Vice President
Matthew Jaro
24219 Clematis Dr
Gaithersburg, MD 20882
mjaro@verizon.net
Recording Secretary
Linda Birkitt
PO Box 145,
Kuna, ID 83634
scarletpimpernel28@yahoo.com
Treasurer
Edward Kozak
3615 North Campbell Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
ekozak1970@gmail.com
TRUSTEES
Dave Calendine
Bob Caletti
Edward Cooley
David Corkrum
Richard Dutton
Rich Poppe
Matt Jaro
Tom Kuehn
Mary Ellen Myers
COMMITTEES
Audit
Edward Cooley, Chair, Trustee
Dave Calendine, Trustee
Matt Jaro, Vice President
Endowment Committee
Edward Kozak, Treasurer, Chair
Edward Cooley, Trustee
Dave Calendine, Trustee
B Bronson
Executive Committee
David Corkrum, Chair, President
Matthew Jaro, Vice President
Tom Kuehn, Immediate Past Pres.
Dave Calendine, Trustee
Bob Caletti, Trustee
Finance Committee
Edward Kozak, Chair, Treasurer
Edward Cooley, Trustee
Peter Both
Marketing Committee
Bob Smith, Chair
Judy Caletti
Don Caine
Meetings Committee
Matt Jaro, Chair, Vice President
Judy Caletti
Tom Chase
Cotton Morlock
Rich Poppe
Membership Committee
Chair, TBD
David Corkrum, President
Richard Dutton, Trustee
Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee, Southeast
Robin Biggins, Southern California
Judy Caletti, Golden Gate
Julie Morlock, Southeast
Rob Pollock, Mid-America
Florie Hirsch, National Capital
Dan Wilson, Piedmont
Gerald Yorioka, Northwest IntÕl
TBD, East Coast
TBD, Lake Michigan
TBD, Snowbelt
TBD, Sunbelt
Museum Committee
Sally Craig, Chair
Matt Jaro, Vice President
Glenn Crater, National Capital
Ken Envall, Southern California
Julian Grace, Sunbelt
Richard Simpson, East Coast
Museum Sub-Committees
Ohio Operations
Rob Pollock, Mid-America
Nominating Committee
Judy Caletti, Chair
Tom Kuehn, Immediate Past Pres.
Bob Caletti, Golden Gate, Trustee
Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee,
Southeast
Jonathan Hoyt, Golden Gate
Robin Biggins, Southern California
Aaron Muller, Lake Michigan
Publications Committee
Bob Caletti, Chair, Trustee
Richard Dutton, Trustee
Steve Boehck
Christian Eric
Kathleen Eric
Publications Sub-Committee
Website Committee
Rick Swaney, Chair
B Bronson
Knowles Little, Web Secretary
Special Exhibits Committee
Chair Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee,
Southeast
David Corkrum, President,
Golden Gate
Donald Caine, Southern California
Jack Hostetler, Southeast
Knowles Little, National Capital
Judy Miller, Piedmont
Aaron Muller, Lake Michigan
Wayne Myers, Southeast
Rick Swaney, Northwest IntÕl
MBSI Editorial Office:
Iron Dog Media
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
editor@mbsi.org

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES
Publications Back Issues:
Jacque Beeman
Regina Certificates:
B Bronson
MBSI Pins and Seals:
Jacque Beeman
Librarian:
Jerry Maler
Historian:
Bob Yates

MBSI FUNDS
Members can donate to these funds at any time.
Send donations to:
MBSI Administrator,
PO Box 10196,
Springfield, MO 65808-0196.

General Fund (unrestricted)
Endowment Fund (promotes the purposes of MBSI, restricted)
Ralph Heintz Publications Fund (special literary projects)
Museum Fund (supports museum operations)

All manuscripts will be subject to editorial review. Articles submitted for publication may be edited or rejected at the discretion of the Publications Committee and the Editorial Staff.
The article will not be published with significant changes without the authorÕs approval. All articles are considered to be the authorÕs personal opinion. The author may be asked to substantiate his/her statements.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Date
Event
Location
Sponsor

2025
MBSI Annual Meeting
TBD
Lake Michigan Chapter

Send in your information by Oct. 1, 2023, for the November/December 2023 issue.
Ask your questions on our Facebook discussion group Ñ the Music Box Society Forum.

Please send dates for the Calendar of Events to editor@mbsi.org

CONTACTS

Administrator Jacque Beeman handles back issues (if available) $6; damaged or issues not received, address changes, MBSI Directory listing changes, credit card charge questions, book orders, status of your membership, membership renewal, membership application, and MBSI Membership Brochures.
P.O. Box 10196
Springfield, MO 65808-0196
Phone/Fax (417) 576-4280
jbeeman.mbsi@att.net
Regina Certificates: Cost $5.
B Bronson
Box 154
Dundee, MI 48131
Phone (734) 529-2087
art@d-pcomm.net
Advertising for Mechanical Music
Russell Kasselman
Iron Dog Media
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Phone (253) 228-1634
editor@mbsi.org
Museum Donations
Sally Craig
2720 Old Orchard Road
Lancaster, PA 17601
Phone (717) 295-9188
rosebud441@juno.com
MBSI website
Rick Swaney
4302 209th Avenue NE
Sammamish, WA 98074
Phone (425) 836-3586
r_swaney@msn.com
Web Secretary
Knowles Little
9109 Scott Dr.
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone (301) 762-6253
kglittle@verizon.net

CHAPTERS

East Coast
Chair: Elise Low
(203) 457-9888
Dues $5 to Roger Wiegand
281 Concord Road
Wayland, MA 01778
or pay via PayPal, send to
treasurer.eccmbsi@gmail.com
Golden Gate
Chair: Judy Caletti
jeeperjudy@gmail.com
Dues $5 to Dave Corkrum
5826 Roberts Ave.
Oakland, CA 94605
Japan
Chair: Naoki Shibata
81-72986-1169
naotabibito396amb@salsa.ocn.ne.jp
Treasurer: Makiko Watanabe
makikomakiko62@yahoo.co.jp
Lake Michigan
Chair: Mark Pichla
(847) 962-2330
Dues $5 to James Huffer
7930 N. Kildare
Skokie, Illinois 60076
Mid-America
Chair: Rob Pollock
(937) 508-4984
Dues $10 to Harold Wade
4616 Boneta Road
Medina, OH 44256
National Capital
Chair: Ken Gordon
(301) 469-9240
Dues $5 to Florie Hirsch
8917 Wooden Bridge Road
Potomac, MD 20854
Northwest International
Chair: Rick Swaney
(425) 836-3586
Dues $7.50/person to Kathy Baer
8210 Comox Road
Blaine, WA 98230
Piedmont
Temp Chair: Dan Wilson
(919) 740-6579
musicboxmac@mac.com
Dues $10 to Dan Wilson
4804 Latimer Road
Raleigh, NC. 276099
Snowbelt
Chair: Tracy Tolzmann
(651) 674-5149
Dues $5 to Bill Nunn
2825 Willow Drive
Hamel, MN 55340
Southeast
Chair: Wayne Myers
(407) 333-9095
Dues $5 to Bob Yates
1973 Crestview Way Unit 147
Naples, FL 34119
Southern California
Chair: Robin Biggins
(310) 377-1472
Dues $10 to Diane Lloyd
1201 Edgeview Drive
Cowan Hgts, CA 92705
Sunbelt
Chair: Vacant
Dues $10 to Diane Caudill
14015 Spindle Arbor Road
Cypress, TX. 77429

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