Volume 70, No. 3 May/June 2024
Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments
Journal of the Musical Box Society International
Volume 70, No. 3 May/June 2024
5 PresidentÕs Message
7 EditorÕs Notes
8 Mid-year Trustee
Meeting Minutes
49 In Memoriam
MBSI News
On the Cover
A tale of two pianos tracked down after many years and added to a treasured collection. Page 33
By Matthew Jaro
MBSI President
MBSIÕs journal, Mechanical Music, is worth the membership dues alone, but our society offers far more than these printed pages to its members. New members and those who only interact with MBSI by reading this journal might not know that MBSI has 11 local chapters, spread out around the United States and Japan. Chapters usually meet three to four times a year in varying geographic areas.
Membership in the national MBSI automatically makes one eligible to join a single local chapter or multiple chapters if desired. Local chapter membership fees generally range from $5 to $10 per year. The chapters usually meet in membersÕ houses where you can visit some very interesting collec.tions, enjoy some great parties and meet new friends. The back half of each issue of Mechanical Music often features local chapter meeting reports with pictures illustrating the activities. In addition, each chapter typically has some educational activities it engages in during the year to tell the world about mechanical music. For example, the National Capital Chapter makes yearly visits to the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park run by the National Park Service. Members bring portable instruments like monkey organs, cylinder music boxes, disc music boxes and roller cob organs to play for the public pass.ing by on side of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
Most importantly, each local chapter gets a chance to host an MBSI annual meeting bringing mechanical music enthusiasts to their area from around the country and around the world. Hosting an annual meeting is gener.ally an endeavor that is undertaken by many members of the chapter. It is certainly a community effort. The host chapter is responsible for obtaining a hotel, planning all the events Ñ including tours, banquets, buses, open houses, marketplaces, business meetings, entertainment, registration and publicity Ñ and constructing table favors if the chapter decides to provide them.
Another benefit of membership in MBSI is access to the members-only section of the societyÕs website found at mbsi.org. An online membership directory can show you any memberÕs phone number, address and collecting interests so you can get in touch to compare notes or view another memberÕs collection if they are willing to have you visit. (Only a few members opt out of appearing in the directory but we really encourage everyone to participate because it helps build our community.) This information is updated regularly and you can also update your own information so other members can reach out to you.
The website also features news items along with interesting articles and videos you can enjoy. There are a large number of videos available covering a huge range of topics. There is a text-only version of a number of issues of Mechanical Music so you can translate them into your favorite language if you wish. A wonderful addition to the website is the ability to search and read MBSI journals, the Music Trade Review (MTR) and Presto magazine issues. MTR and Presto are newspapers about the music industry in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These magazines contain articles about the manufacturers of nickelodeons, orchestrions, music rolls, reproducing pianos and many other topics.
The website also contains descrip.tions of MBSI-owned instruments in the museum collections. MBSIÕs instruments are displayed on the premises of the American Treasure Tours facility in Oaks, PA, which is just outside of Philadelphia, PA. MBSI has also loaned instruments to the Musical Instrument Museum just outside of Phoenix, AZ.
The website has a store where you can buy books, seals and a Regina certificate stating the date and orig.inal purchaser of any Regina music box. There is also a DVD called ÒThe Marvels of Mechanical MusicÓ which provides a good introduction to the hobby.
I have met very close friends through MBSI and part of our friendship is based on our common interests. ItÕs important to preserve and use our antique instruments and the music they play so that this unique heritage is passed from one generation to the next. IÕve heard it said that we are just guardians of this material.
I hope this little summary gives you a better idea of some of the benefits of membership. Above all, I hope you will be inspired to participate more fully in our society.
Mechanical Music
43 Golden Gate
45 Southeast
Connecting through
music boxes
Sadahiko and Yuriko Sakauchi spread joy through sharing their music boxes in many places. Page 36.
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 2024. 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
12 Nickel Notes
23 An unclaimed orphan
of WWII
25 The Hunt: A modern interpretation of
automaton paintings
33 A tale of two pianos
36 Making connections
with music boxes
40 Annual meeting preview
42 Interesting tidbits
Chapter Reports
MBSI has replanted 258 trees so far as part of the Print ReLeaf program.
EditorÕs Notes
MAILING ADDRESS
MBSI Editorial / Advertising
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
EMAIL ADDRESS
editor@mbsi.org
By Russell Kasselman
MBSI Editor/Publisher
I would like to take a moment to congratulate our three first-time contributors to this issue for stepping outside their comfort zone and shar.ing their stories with us all. Roger DeWeese, Jim Neuman, and Sadahiko Sakauchi each sent in an article with accompanying photos that are both informative and entertaining. After you read the articles, donÕt be afraid to reach out and say thank you to them for allowing us to join in their music box experiences and for helping to expand the societyÕs archives.
Enjoying content from a new source serves as a good reminder to us all how deep and wide this hobby can be. Mechanical Music has covered everything from cylinder and disc music boxes to automata and phonographs, not to mention organs, orchestrions and nickelodeons. Our members are interested in music and history, woodworking and metalwork. Whether it be a navigating a maze of pneumatic tubing or restoring the intricate plucking of the tiniest metal teeth on a comb, our membership is sure to be interested in hearing about it. Feel free to jot down your stories the next time you find yourself telling them to a friend. All it takes is a simple email to get the ball rolling and your story can become a part of MBSIÕs vast bank of knowledge available for future mechanical music enthusiasts to learn from.
Now shifting gears to the upcoming annual meeting that will be held in and around Los Angeles, CA, I want to remind everyone that it is not too late to make your reservations to attend. Southern California is home to some incredible collections of mechanical music and this yearÕs meeting, joint with the Automatic Musical Instrument CollectorsÕ Association (AMICA), offers many opportunities to make new connections with mechanical music enthusiasts you may not have met yet. A description of one of the tours planned for the meeting can be found on Page 40 of this issue. Additional information and a meeting sign-up form is available on both the MBSI website at mbsi.org or the AMICA website at amica.org. I hope to see you there.
One quick reminder; please make sure your contact information stays up to date. Changing your address or phone number is easy since you only need to log into the mbsi.org website and click on the Update My Information button in the members-only section. Snowbirds and frequent travelers can make updates as often as needed to be sure you donÕt miss even one issue of Mechanical Music.
Morris Museum hosts AutomataCon May 17-19
AutomataCon is a gathering of those who enjoy or are curious about animated objects, both historical automata and present-day kinetic artworks. This three-day event is being hosted for the fourth time at the Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ, from May 17Ð19, 2024.
The privately-run event will kick off with a social reception on Friday evening, followed by two full days of programs. Convention attendees can pre-register for just one day or the entire weekend. The museumÕs courtyard will feature visiting automata exhibitors, artists, live demonstrations of kinetic artworks, the famed Guinness Gallery, and the Spark!Lab workshop where children can create their own automaton on Saturday. The main gallery exhibition is ÒSet in Motion: Kinetic Worlds from the Studio of Richard Whitten.Ó The artist will be present to discuss his work.
Get your tickets at www.AutomataCon.org
The Morris Museum is at 6 Normandy Heights Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
Call (973) 971-3724 for more information.
Welcome new members!
February 2024
Robyn & Jim Johnson
Kennesaw, GA
Carl Hasbargen
St. Paul, MN
Joseph & Joseph Steed III
Candor, NC
Mr R
Horse Shoe, NC
Robert Braun
Alameda, CA
Sponsor: Bob Caletti
Randolph Shrider
Marietta, OH
March 2024
John Diehl
San Diego, CA
Patrick Donohue
Stony Brook, NY
Kristina Hensel
Denver, CO
Florent Wagner
Leawood, KS
Allen & Judy Marcovitch
Boynton Beach, FL.
Justin Miles
Vancouver, BC
MBSI Mid-year TrusteesÕ Meeting
From top left: MBSI President Matt Jaro, Trustee Dave Calendine, Recording Secretary Linda Birkitt, Immediate Past President David Corkrum, Trustee Edward Cooley, Trustee Rich Poppe, MBSI Vice President Bob Caletti, Trustee Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee Rick Swaney and Trustee Richard Dutton.
Mar. 15, 2024
MBSI President Matt Jaro, called the 2024 MBSI Mid-year TrusteesÕ Meeting to order at 9:03 p.m. on Mar. 15, 2024, via Zoom. Those in attendance were President Matt Jaro Ñ presiding Ñ Vice President Bob Caletti, Trustee Dave Calendine, Trustee Ed Cooley, Immediate Past President and Trustee David Corkrum, Trustee Richard Dutton, Trustee Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee Rich Poppe, and Trustee Rick Swaney. Nine of nine trustees composed the required quorum. Also in attendance were Judy Caletti (Nominating Committee chair), Sally Craig (Museum Committee chair), Linda Birkitt (recording secretary), Russell Kasselman (editor), and Ed Kozak (treasurer).
President Jaro asked the recording secretary to comment on the minutes of the 2023 MBSI Annual TrusteesÕ Meeting minutes since all the trustees had read the document prior to this meeting. No additions, deletions, or corrections were noted by the trustees. Trustee Dutton moved and Trustee Corkrum seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the meeting as published in Volume 69, Issue No. 6 of Mechanical Music. Motion carried.
Board Actions
President Jaro asked the recording secretary to review the board actions. President Jaro will inform the MBSI administrator to create a separate line item for 2024 membership renewals by adding an additional processing fee of 5 percent as an added fee for credit card use (ongoing). Bob CalettiÕs name will be added to the Audit Committee and the editor will be informed of same. In the future, under the Meetings Committee, the convention fees will be separated from the credit card processing fees. This must occur in any future joint meetings which may transpire. Addi.tionally, in the future, a safe deposit box will be rented only as needed and be under Museum Committee control. Trustee Myers announced that Trustee Dutton, a member of the East Coast Chapter, has been selected and has agreed to become a representative for the Special Exhibits Committee. This leaves two chapters not represented on this committee. The Sunbelt Chap.ter now has a chapter chair, Marty Nevel. Report received.
Vice PresidentÕs Report
The vice president is responsible for coordinating the annual awards process and ensuring timely action to obtain nominations as required to present to the board at its mid-year meeting. This process has been completed and nominees will be presented and voted on during a closed-door session. Additionally, the vice president is responsible for gathering necessary information, completing and filing the annual report from the society to the Board of Regents of the University of New York no later than the Jul. 1 filing deadline. The vice president will provide guid.ance and advice to the chapters of the society, keep informed of committee activities and review and recommend revisions to the bylaws and policies and procedures. Vice President Caletti indicated that the Guidestar document has been updated. The report has been received.
Finance Committee Report
Treasurer Kozak presented the financial statements ending Dec. 31, 2023, and indicated that total fund balances decreased by $10,959 (decrease of $16,277 in 2022). From 2020 to 2024, there was a 6 percent decrease in assets.
The main items of revenue and expense for the year were:
1) Dues revenue of $59,653 ($63,909 in 2022).
2) The annual convention contrib.uted a gain of $151 for the year.
3) Publishing revenue of $14,113 ($17,902 in 2022) and publishing expense of $70,794 ($80,378 in 2022).
4) Accounting, tax preparation and administrative expenses totaled $34,218 ($36,699 in 2022).
Non-endowment certificates of deposit and money market deposits totaled $476,000 and $25,134, respec.tively, on Dec. 31, 2023. The average rate of return was 2.7 percent. The maturities of the laddered certificates are as follows:
¥
2024 Ñ $230,000;
¥
2025 Ñ $150,000;
¥
2026 Ñ $50,000
¥
2027 Ñ $46,000.
On Dec. 31, 2023, temporarily restricted assets totaled $160,511, which may be used as seed money for future annual meetings. The seed money is limited to $15,000. The total of restricted cash assets and the contingency amount to $205,511 as of Dec. 31, 2023. Cash, certificates of deposit maturing in 2024, accounts receivable and money market funds total $298,549 on Dec. 31, 2023. Much of the restricted cash is part of the investment portfolio of certificates of deposit terms and is not immediately available for use.
Declines in membership and the cost of the societyÕs publication may hinder operations.
In February 2024, a request was made to the trustees to review the approved budget for 2024 and suggest any changes. The budget projects a deficit of $38,185.
A list of amounts more than $1,000 paid to vendors, in 2023, was provided. The report was received.
Endowment Committee Report
Treasurer Kozak indicated that the Endowment Fund balance is a perpet.ual duration asset, totaling $163,605 as of Dec. 31, 2023. The fund balance increased by a donation of $1,145 from a previous balance of $162,460 as of Dec. 31, 2022.
On Dec. 31, 2023, the investment portfolio for the fund was made up of three certificates of deposit totaling $161,000 that mature in 2024 ($101,000), and 2025 ($60,000). Inter.est rates average about 4 percent.
The fund also has a Vanguard cash reserves balance of $1,840 as of Dec. 31, 2023, which earns currently 5.2 percent interest.
No grants or loans were requested from the trust estate in 2023.
Interest is accumulated in the Endowment Fund principal. The balance in this Endowment Interest Earned Fund is $46,847 on Dec. 31, 2023. Two-thirds of this amount, or $31,231, is available currently for proj.ects or programs from the trust estate.
President Jaro moved and Trustee Cooley seconded that the budget be approved. Motion carried. The report was received.
Administration
President Jaro presented the MBSI administratorÕs report. Currently, there are 880 members of MBSI as of Dec. 31, 2023. In 2022 there were 937. As of Feb. 21, 2024, there are 937 members. Thirty-four new memberships were generated from Jul. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023. Twenty-five of these came from the website (74 percent). In calendar year 2023, 74 new memberships came to fruition and of these, 55 were website members (74 percent). These new members received the 50 percent new membership discount.
Don Caine was the dealer recipient of a free renewal for sponsoring three new members and there is a 13-way tie for the member recipient of a free renewal for sponsoring one new member each. The winners were Ardis Prescott, Bill Wineburgh, Trustee Caletti, Brooks Low, Hope Rider, Jack Hostetler, Jessica Holden, Kelly Newsome, Nancy Stevens, Nancy Van Broekhoven, Robin Biggins, editor Kasselman, and Wayne Myers. Report received.
Audit Committee
Trustee Cooley presented the Audit Committee report. Budgeted revenue was $7,987 higher than the dues received. This result was caused primarily by two factors. 1) Prior to the dues increase of Jan. 1, 2023, the cost to join or renew was always the same regardless of month paid. Approximately 43 percent of MBSI membersÕ anniversary dates are in December. About 200 members paid their 2023 renewals in December 2022 at the previous $60 rate. 2) Also, 55 new website members paid the special first year rate of $35. In summary, large rate discounts for an unknown quantity of new members combined with the large attrition rate of current members will complicate the budget.ing and audit process going forward.
Trustee Calendine noted that in the American Theater Organ Society (ATOS), the group has been retain.ing 70 percent to 75 percent of the reduced-price memberships for the first year who have renewed for the following year at the full membership price. ATOS focuses on professional magazine presentation and reinvigo.rating the chapters at the local level. Audit report has been received.
Marketing Committee Report
A promotional program for mechanical music restorers/dealers and antique dealers to acquire new members, has been developed. The editor will be sending out this program via email the first week of March, which will reach 155 targeted names. There will be a cover letter and two attachments Ñ a sell sheet including a link to the website and a membership application. These intended recipients will be asked to forward the attach.ments to their customer list or to include it with their correspondence.
An updated MBSI brochure is expected to be available for the upcoming July annual meeting.
Two additional testimonial videos have been produced and are awaiting uploading to the website.
The current Marketing Committee members are Bob Smith, Chair, Judy Caletti, Don Caine and Trustee Cooley. The report was received.
Meetings Committee Report
Trustee Poppe reported that 75 members were anticipated to attend the annual meeting in held in 2023 in St. Paul, MN. A total of 84 members actually attended the meeting with $150 being returned to the society as profit. Michael Clark, from England, attended the annual meeting and wrote a very complimentary article about the meeting which was published in the Mechanical Organ Owners Society (MOOS) magazine. It was suggested to have this article reprinted in Mechan.ical Music or placed on the website.
Upcoming annual meetings are listed below:
2024 Ñ Southern California 75th anniversary meeting (Jun. 30 to Jul. 6) is a joint meeting with the Auto.matic Musical Instrument CollectorsÕ Association (AMICA) taking the lead, at the Sheraton Agoura Hills Hotel. Frank Nix is the organizer and Sandy Swirsky is the registrar.
2025 Ñ Lake Michigan 76th anni.versary meeting in Chicago, IL, will be a joint meeting with MBSI taking the lead. Marty Persky is working on meeting plans.
2026 Ñ Princeton, NJ, 77th anni.versary meeting will be led by Glenn Thomas and AMICA will be taking the lead for this meeting.
2027 Ñ Mid-Am Chapter meeting needs to be discussed with the chapter.
2028 Ñ National Capital Chapter meeting has not yet been discussed with chapter members.
A document titled ÒGuidance for future Joint Annual MeetingsÓ is being developed by the Meetings Committee with valuable assistance from Judy Caletti. This guidance will require that the Meetings Committee be part of the approval process for the hotel contract. Additionally, the guidance will specify that there must be legal review of the contract. When completed, this document will be placed in the MBSI Policies and Procedures and in the MBSI Meetings Manual.
President Jaro suggested that since collections are disappearing, and there are fewer volunteers to put together an annual meeting, that MBSI consider having an annual meeting that is not hosted by any one local chapter, but instead be someplace independent, for example, an annual meeting in Japan, or Phoenix, AZ, to see the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) and Organ Stop Pizza. MBSI needs to seek more variety in locale for its annual meetings. Trustee Cooley suggested going to more than one city for a meeting. Report has been received.
Museum Committee Report
Chair Craig invited Trustee Calen.dine, as suggested by the MBSI Trustees, to assist the Museum Committee in inventorying the Amer.ican Treasure Tour (A.T.T.) collection and cleaning up the numbering system of the Barry Johnson collection. Per Chair Craig, only some of the database is inaccurate. Some items have been stored in Wappingers Falls, NY, and then moved to Trenton, NJ, for storage. Some of those items were on loan and did not even belong to MBSI. Member Bill Wineburgh maintained the data.base for some 30 years for free, after which the database was converted to be part of the societyÕs website. Much discussion ensued regarding Museum Committee budgetary line items, as well as the potential way items at the A.T.T. may eventually be sold. Some donated items have restrictions on them as to how the items must be managed.
The Archives Committee has disbanded. At one time, it was managed by B Bronson and Bob Yates, per Chair Craig.
After much discussion, Trustee Calendine moved, and Trustee Myers seconded a motion to approve that database maintenance digital format should go on line 104 of the budget under the Zivin Digital Archive Fund, which will be managed by the Trust.ees. Motion carried. This report has been received.
Nominating Committee Report
Chair Judy Caletti will be assisted by Nominating Committee members, Trustee Caletti, Trustee Myers, and Immediate Past President David Corkrum. The members of the Nomi.nating Committee rotate every two years and Judy Caletti said she looks forward to having a Japanese Chapter member join in at the next rotation. President Jaro suggested that it might be a goal to secure a European to become a member of the MBSI Board. Report received.
Special Exhibits
Committee Report
Chair Myers thanked Trustee Dutton for joining the Special Exhib.its Committee. Current Committee members are Trustee Myers (South.east), chair; Trustee Corkrum (Golden Gate); Donald Caine (Southern California); Knowles Little (National Capitol); Aaron Muller (Lake Michi.gan); Wayne Myers (Southeast); John Hostetler (Southeast); Rick Swaney (Northwest International). These members have been contacted regard.ing exhibits in their area as well as their desire to stay on the committee. All have agreed to stay on.
The Southeast Chapter hosted its annual Christmas Show, attracting interested people, some of whom became new MBSI members. Jack Hostetler continues to hold monthly meetings on various topics regarding mechanical music for residents of The Villages, FL, with the hope that they will become MBSI members.
Judy Miller, past Southeast Chapter chair, and former trustee, holds a yearly membership in the Biltmore House and Estate in North Carolina. She is exploring the possibility of MBSI participating in a future event in late 2025, involving mechanical musical instruments. The supervisor of volunteers at the Sarasota Opera House in Sarasota, FL, has not agreed to have a mechanical music box be played during pre-shows and intermissions due to the size of the lobby. Report received.
Publication Committee Report
Chair Bob Caletti thanked all contributors to the journal including the Publication Committee and the proof-reading team, as well as editor Kasselman and Trustee Swaney, who is also the Website Subcommittee chair.
Trustee Caletti said the Publication Committee would love to publish more Òhow toÓ articles, so if anyone is interested in writing one, that would be greatly appreciated.
Editor Kasselman and Trustee Swaney investigated an issue with members downloading digital issues of Mechanical Music and concluded that there is no way to allow a member to read a PDF without also being able to download it. A PDF can be password protected, but anyone who wants to download and distribute a PDF can distribute the password as well. The only other option is to not expose the full PDF to the user but have the web server display it one page at a time. This is the way it was done on the old website, which was a much less enjoyable reading experience compared to using a PDF reader. Also, a determined member could capture each page and reassemble an article. Even though that would be an arduous task, it would be doable.
After much discussion regarding publication costs, a motion was made by Trustee Calendine and seconded by President Jaro, to cease publication of the MBSI Directory of Members, Museums and Dealers and place that information under the membership section of the website, and fund editor Kasselman to add more detail to the online search feature. Motion carried. Trustee Poppe voiced concerns about losing vendorsÕ support by publishing only in the online directory. Editor Kasselman noted that the challenge will be to convince the vendors to remain with MBSI at the same rate, using an online format rather than a printed version. Trustee Calendine stated that an article needs to be writ.ten in Mechanical Music to elaborate the changes in the new webpage and to consider decreasing the number of journals published annually. Trustee Swaney will write an article detailing how to log onto the website. Report received.
Editor/Publisher Report
The average advertising pages remained steady at an average of 16.36 percent of the total pages printed between May/June 2023 and March/April 2024. The percentage of adver.tising pages in each issue for the past 12 months is as follows:
¥
May/June 2023 Ñ 16.36 percent;
¥
July/August 2023 Ñ 19.30 percent;
¥
September/October 2023 Ñ 15.99 percent;
¥
November/December 2023 Ñ 14.89 percent;
¥
January/February 2024 Ñ 14.89 percent and
¥
March/April 2024 Ñ 16.73 percent.
New article submissions to the jour.nal are steady enough that we have not had to reprint many articles from previous issues of Mechanical Music, the Music Trade Review, Presto, or journals published by other mechani.cal music societies. The journal is, as it will always be, an insatiable consumer of content so the search for additional writers continues.
Website advertising is stagnant currently, but it is hoped that a refresh of the website homepage may help attract new advertisers. The editor has provided support to the Marketing Committee in several of its efforts to attract new members this year and will continue to do so.
This is the fifth year in a row a volunteer was needed to serve as the societyÕs asset database manager. The program allows a person to use the MBSI website to update the status of all the societyÕs instruments on a regu.lar basis, post photos of instruments, and record any moving of instruments from place to place. Currently, the editor/publisher is filling this role on a per-hour fee basis. Report received.
Web Subcommittee Report
The long-awaited update to the MBSI website is now live. Currently, editor Kasselman is archiving the current website code and data and replacing them with the new ones. Thanks to Trustee Caletti, 10 new instruments, with photos but without owner identification, were added to the Member Instrument Gallery.
During the last quarter, the website averaged 3,000 views from approxi.mately 900 unique visitors per month. The top viewed pages are:
¥
Instrument Gallery Ñ 537 views;
¥
MBSI Collection Ñ 424 views;
¥
Member logins Ñ 384 and
¥
Chapters Ñ 372 views.
Since the start of the year, the soci.etyÕs Facebook group has received 274 posts, 1,087 comments, and a total of 32,816 views. This group now has 2,486 members. That is an increase of 705 new members since the annual meeting.
Future plans include making the Journal article index filterable by author, category, and subject. Articles will also be retrievable via a single click. Facebook Forum posts will be viewable from within the website. MBSI historical information such as past presidents and awards is moving to the members-only section of the website and more member video testimonials will be added to the home page. Report received.
Old Business
President Jaro noted that there was no old business.
New Business
No new business was presented before the board. Having no other business before the board, a motion was made by Trustee Calendine, and seconded by Trustee Poppe to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 2:08 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Birkitt
MBSI recording secretary
March 15, 2024
Nickel Notes
By Matthew Jaro
Photographs by B Bronson, Ed Cooley, Bill Nunn, and Glenn Thomas
Bill and Stacy Nunn
For this issue of Nickel Notes, we travel to Skyrock Farms, in Medina, MN, to visit Bill and Stacy Nunn. Their principal occupation is horse training and horsemanship lessons. Their mission statement is:
ÒAt Skyrock we teach horseman.ship to develop the horseÕs natural athletic ability and willingness to work making him calm, supple and attentive to his rider.Ó
ÒWe train and show hunters and jumpers as well as teach English riding lessons to riders of all levels. Our goal is to culminate compassion.ate, confident riders with effective aids and relaxed horses. If riding is your passion, Skyrock is your place.Ó
Now, the attentive reader will ask: ÒWhat does this have to do with mechanical music?Ó Since horses and carousels go together and carousels require band organs to supply the music, the link is established. Bill and Stacy write:
ÒWe invite you to our farm to enjoy the ambiance of our horses, flower gardens and the fresh country air. The carousel building is home to our antique carousel and 1900s dance organ collection. Home cooked meals, music and horses come together to culminate an experience like no other! We look forward to having you as our guest.Ó
The Nunns have about 40 horses on the property. They travel to a lot of horse shows all around the country. They also give riding lessons, train horses and conduct a day camp. The carousels and organs are a hobby that just spun off from their main business.
Beginnings
So, letÕs be the guests of the Nunns as we explore their incredible mechanical music collection.
Bill has owned Skyrock Farms since 1982. Someone gave Bill a small carousel music box with a date and a name on it. He found it intriguing, so he looked for a book on carousels and bought a coffee-table style volume. He was hooked. Bill said he found the history interesting because of the age of the carousels and their makers. He thought about someday finding a carousel animal. Then he saw one at a garage sale. It didnÕt have any ears and the two front legs were missing. It was a little Herschell-Spillman. Bill found a couple more while browsing antique stores. He said he didnÕt really mean to start collecting carousel horses, it just sort of happened. He found that once he was hooked, he started to see carousel animals at all the sales he went to.
At one of the sales, Bill saw a little Ragtime calliope. It wasnÕt playing but was very inexpensive. He thought it would be a fun thing to have next to the carousel horses. He fixed it and added glockenspiels and drums. The repair work was intriguing, so Bill decided to find out more about mechanical music. He ended up finding a North Tonawanda band organ which played Wurlitzer style 125 music. It was for sale by a man who dealt in church organs. The man also happened to be carving a carousel. The man had an old Parker frame and old Parker horses that he was duplicating with the idea that one day he would have a full carousel.
The seller explained next that he had put the carousel project on hold because he recently bought an RV so now he was more in the mood to sell stuff. Bill ended up buying one of the Parker horses, the North Tonawanda organ and a derelict Wellershaus band organ that was in pieces. Originally, the Wellershaus was a barrel organ that was in the process of being changed to play Wurlitzer music. It is currently being restored and will eventually play book music. Bill now had two organs and he didnÕt even know how to change a roll. Bill restored the North Tonawanda organ pretty much by himself. (What a great accomplishment!) The whole process was a learning experience. From there, Bill said his collecting just progressed from one thing to the next. It was more opportunity buying than anything.
Growing the Collection
Bill had a friend who came to see the North Tonawanda organ play. The friend said, ÒI know where there is another one of those. ItÕs bigger but itÕs the same idea and itÕs up in a barn.Ó Bill went to see it and found a Mortier organ that was converted to play Wurlitzer 165 rolls. He bought it and now he had three organs and he still didnÕt know a thing about them. He had to find people to help and thatÕs what led him to join MBSI and the Snowbelt Chapter. This was approximately in 1999.
Bill did a lot of reading and figured he next wanted a keyed organ and something European, not any more American stuff. While researching the history of his Mortier he called Ron Bennett in Texas. During the conversation, Ron related that he had a Hooghuys Organ for sale. Ron had it all apart and said he wouldnÕt ever have the time or energy to put it all together. Bill bought the organ. It was all in pieces. Bill said he often acquired instruments that big collectors might pass up. The faade of the Hooghuys organ was painted over at some point in the past in Europe with just one color. It took Bill an entire winter, but he scraped off all the paint and found gorgeous artwork underneath the tan enamel paint. Seeing the size of the faade, it is obvious that Bill has both significant patience and a unique ability to imagine what it would look like after all the hard work was done. He said, Òwhen a carpenter sees a pile of wood he envisions a house, but if you see a pile a wood you envision a pile of wood. If you see a junk organ, you have to have vision.Ó
Dick Lokemoen in Merrill, WI, restored the Hooghuys organ for Bill. ÒDick is a meticulous restorer and great guy to boot. He knows music and mechanics. He has restored organs which probably would have never been done.Ó
Bill bought a 57-key Gavioli Organ from Steve Lannick near Pittsburgh, PA. Steve was a great craftsman. He had taken the organ completely apart and stored all the pieces in boxes. Then Steve got sick and had to sell the organ as is. Bill hired Russell Wattam from England to help with this resto.ration. Russell made some new pipes and the glockenspiel unit to replace what was missing. Bill did the rest of restoration on the organ in-house. I asked Bill how he learned how to do all the pneumatic work. He said, ÒYou learn as you go. ThatÕs the fun part of all this. You get to meet a lot of people. The trick is Ñ If you need something done, hire someone better than you. Hire the best people you can.Ó
Another acquisition was a Marenghi Dance Organ. It was built in Paris in 1905. Originally, the organ was special-ordered by a restaurant in Antwerp, Belgium. It spent 60 years in the restaurant before it came to the U.S., where Alan Bies worked on it a little bit. Dick Lokemoen also worked on the organ. It was later bought by Greg Filardo in Milwaukee, WI, and then sold to Bill. Greg was in the process of moving and wanted to sell some pieces so Bill took the opportu.nity to buy it.
Bill has a 45-key Limonaire Organ which he got through Tim Trager. He also has a Wurlitzer 146 organ which Bill bought from Dick Lokemoen. Dick owned the organ for 40 years. Dick restored it 40 years ago and itÕs still working.
Next, Bill bought a 107 Bruder (52-keyless) that was on a carousel in Alaska. It was advertised on eBay. No one bid on it and Bill bought it after the sale. It had been converted to play Wurlitzer 150 music. Bill converted it back. Dick Lokemoen also restored that organ. It came with no library of music but now can play more than 3,000 meters of music.
Bill has a Mandolin PianOrchestra duplicate built by Dick Lokemoen. This instrument has a great library of music and since it was initially made by Phillips, half of the music is from Europe and half is from America.
Bill has an 89-key Black Forest Gavi.oli organ. It took 10 years to restore both the chassis and the massive faade for this machine. The chassis was restored by Jeffery Verbeek and Martin Conrads.
Bill bought a carousel from a theme park and populated it with his own collection including a mix of Parker horses, Herschell-Spillman horses, a German cow (Gustav Heyn), a zebra, a pig, a cat and a goat (Gustav Bayol).
Collecting Music
Bill doesnÕt just collect organs, he collects music. Most of BillÕs organs now have more than 3,000 meters of book music they can play. The music was either bought, punched or copied from patterns owned by other people. Bill has two scanners to copy other music rolls and books. They were built by Kevin Keymer. Terry Smythe introduced Bill to Kevin who has been instrumental in helping Bill. Kevin built the scanners and designed the punches (Bill has two automatic punching machines to punch all the books). Bill said he has probably punched about 13,000 meters of music with the automatic punches. Bill has one additional scanner made by Gene Gerety. This third scanner can handle extremely wide rolls, like Seeburg H rolls that are 15. inches wide. Bill believes in sharing scans of music and helping people to obtain scans. ÒItÕs all in the family,Ó he said. He uses software written by Kevin to process the rolls. The scanner essentially takes a giant picture which is then converted to a MIDI file. It could also be converted to a punch file for making books. Bill said his main problem is the condition of the books. Even though he tries to repair them as best he can, some of them are derelict and the resulting digital file will require editing to become a functioning MIDI file. A cardboard music book can be warped, torn and not feed through correctly. Bill said he winds up with deadly accurate scans because the scanning speed is about a third of the actual speed at which the rolls play in the organs.
Music Arranging and Transcribing
Bill has been fortunate to get some very good musicians to work for him in transcribing and arranging new material. Richard Olsen was the first one. He was a wonderful arranger but to our great loss, he has passed away. I can attest to the quality of his work since I own several Wurlitzer 150 rolls that Richard arranged. Richard did a lot of songs for BillÕs Marenghi organ. He started doing work for the Hooghuys organ before he died.
Alexey Romashkov was just out of college when Bill met him. Alexey knows European music as well as U.S. music. HeÕs a very good musician and excellent piano player. He has edited and transcribed thousands of meters of music for Bill. For example, Alexey arranged the Bohemian Rhapsody for the Marenghi. A video of the organ playing the roll has nearly 7 million views on YouTube. Unfortunately for Bill, Alexey moved to California and put the music on hold while he does online marketing. Bill recently hired three more arrangers who are in the process of learning from Alexey. One of them (Kim Jipson) has already produced some great music and might be one of the best in the world eventually. One problem Bill said he experiences is that there is no stan.dardized software that is ready-made for this type of work. Everyone uses a different program, such as Abelton, or Legend. Also, if you build a virtual organ for Apple Macintosh, it is not compatible with Windows computer.
The process of repairing old music is as follows: Bill first scans the old books into a cis file. Kevin then makes a MIDI file which he sends to the arranger. The arranger then uses whatever program he wants to edit the file. Usually, the arranger must first unscramble the scale to make the notes easier to deal with. When it is done, the file goes back to Kevin who transforms it to a punch file. It is then sent to Bill where it is turned into a playable book. When Bill transcribes music, he does it from similar scales and organs. For example, Bill has taken a lot of 69-key Marenghi music and transcribed it to play on the 81-key Marenghi.
Also, Bill found that music for the Limonaire organ is very similar to that used in the Hooghuys organ. An algo.rithm does most of the work to match things up, but there are still missing notes, etc. that must be flushed out. A lot of times Bill said that Alexey would start with an arrangement and change it so much that he would say, ÒItÕs mine now.Ó Bill is continually mentoring new arrangers with the hope of finding the next Rich Olsen!
Sharing, Preserving
and Documenting
One of the great things about Dick, Kevin and Bill is that they keep nothing secret. They do not like to deal with people who have secret software or proprietary hardware. They believe in freely sharing knowledge. Bill said he thinks that if you are going to collect music, you must become familiar with scanning and processing as well. He said this is especially true for any machine that has limited music available.
As an example of how Bill works to save music, he bought about 600 meters of 89-key Gavioli music on eBay. It was in tatters. Some pieces were 2 and 3 feet long. Bill said he tried to sort those out and match as many as he could, then he scanned them all. He asked Peter Mackett in England for help. Peter identified almost all the song pieces, matching all 500 snippets of music. Peter can listen to three bars of a song and tell you what it is and who arranged it. Out of all of this, Bill probably made 1,000 new meters of music for the big Gavioli. It was a labor of love. It was all wonderful British fairground music that otherwise might have been lost.
One person who has been of enor.mous help to Bill is Fred Dahlinger. When Bill went to his first organ rally in Columbus, OH, he took his Mortier to the rally. Bill knew nothing about the organÕs history. He went home on Monday and the next day in the mail Bill received a manila envelope from Fred with all sorts of pictures and information about his organ. Ever since then, Fred and Bill have been great friends. Fred is an incredibly great resource. He has row upon row of filing cabinets filled with historical information.
Skyrock Farm Tours
Bill and Stacy started giving tours several years ago when BillÕs mom was in assisted living care. BillÕs mom brought a group of her friends to see the collection. Skyrock Farm soon became a hit with a list of assisted-liv.ing homes. More and more people heard about the farm and now they even have bus tours arranged by tour companies calling to schedule visits. On the tours, Bill gives a 90-minute presentation about the carousel and the organs; then Stacy and Bill cook and serve a great lunch. After lunch they give a horse jumping demonstra.tion with Stacy jumping big jumps.
Two vintage amusement park trains run through the property, so they also let visitors have a train ride. The Nunns have had tour groups come from as far away as California and Texas. Often people on the tour will rate each stop. Skyrock Farm has always been first in both venue and food. These tours expose a lot of people to mechanical music. Bill said he even gets to talk about making the music books. People love seeing the music books go through the organ. ÒIt is a privilege to have these wonderful antiques and it is our responsibility to protect and preserve them and we have an obligation to share them.Ó
Organ Collection
Here is a list of all the organs in the Nunn collection:
¥
Gavioli 57-key Dance organ189
¥
Gavioli 65-key Fair organ 1910
¥
Gavioli 89-key 1905 Fair organ Built in Black Forest
¥
Limonaire 45-key 1902 Fair organ
¥
Marenghi 81-key Dance organ 1905
¥
Hooghuys 77-key Dance organ 1914
¥
Mahauden 80-key Dance organ 1905
¥
Bruder 52-keyless Fair organ 1919
¥
Wellershaus 46-keyless Fair organ 1910
¥
German barrel organ 44-key
¥
Mortier fair organ playing 165 rolls 1923
¥
Wurlitzer 146 band organ 1922
¥
North Tonawanda 125 band organ
¥
Wurlitzer PianOrchestra replica
¥
Thijs Gravendaal Dutch street organ 38-key
¥
Richter fair organ 79-keyless 1914
¥
Barton Theater organ three manual 15 rank 1929
Bill Nunn passed away unex.pectedly on Jan. 22, 2024. He is sorely missed. Six years ago, I wrote a Nickel Notes article about Bill and Stacy. I feel it is important to reprint this now as a reminder for all the wonderful contributions the Nunns have made to mechanical music. It was written when Bill was still alive and excited about his many proj.ects, so the text is written in the present tense. I think Bill would have liked it this way.
Ñ Matt Jaro
Bill and Stacy Nunn, with their son Charlie. (Photo courtesy Bill Nunn)
The sign at the entrance to Skyrock Farms. (Photo courtesy Bill Nunn)
Bill Nunn at the carousel. (Photo by Ed Cooley)
This Wellerhaus organ originally played barrel music, was partially converted to play Wurlitzer music but now plays book music after a restoration by Bill Nunn. (Photo courtesy Bill Nunn)
The Gavioli 57-key organ that Bill Nunn reassembled from parts and restored with help from Russell Wattam. (Photo by Glenn Thomas)
This Marenghi 81-key organ spent 60 years entertaining at a restaurant in Antwerp, Belgium, before being brought to the United States. (Photo courtesy Bill Nunn)
Top left: The Limonaire organ. Top right: The Wurlitzer 146 organ. Bottom: The Bruder 52-keyless. (Photos courtesy Bill Nunn)
The Mandolin PianOrchestra replica built by Dick Lokemoen. (Photo by Glenn Thomas)
The full Gavioli 89-key organ and a detailed shot of the pipes. (Top photo courtesy Bill Nunn. Bottom photo by Ed Cooley)
The Mortier dance organ Bill found in a barn that led him to join MBSI and the Snowbelt Chapter. (Photo by B Bronson)
The 89-key Black Forest Gavioli dance organ that took 10 years to restore. (Photo courtesy Bill Nunn)
Bill Nunn demonstrates his process for punching music books. (Photo by B Bronson)
Book music storage racks with books of music neatly organized and labeled. (Photo by Ed Cooley)
Bill NunnÕs automatic music punch in action. (Photo courtesy Bill Nunn)
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 September/October 2018 issue of The AMICA Bulletin.
A photo of a music box with dancing figures taken by the British army soldiers during recovery operations in 1945 seeking to return art pilfered from France to its original owners. The music box was located in Aachen, Germany and is now housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Its original owners have never been found.
An Unclaimed Orphan of WWII
By Dr. Robert Penna
On display at the MusŽe Gadagne in Lyon, France, is a marvel of automata and mechanical music. The museum which is famous for housing the World Puppet Museum holds an unclaimed object simply titled ÒOrgue de danse ˆ anches,Ó or dance organ with reeds.
The instrument was manufactured circa 1878 by Jerome-Thibouville-Lamy & Cie whose Mirecourt factory specialized in organs and violins. The mahogany case contains small animated figures in front of a mirror. As the music is played, a hunter, a Turk, a French infantryman dancing with a canteen girl, a Russian and a fashionable woman become animated. Though non-operational at this time, four musical arias are played successively: ÒStraussÕs Waltz,Ó ÒLa Narbonnaise,Ó ÒPrayer in the CornerÓ and ÒWhen everything rests here.Ó
A label inside the dance organ states ÒMonsieur Mougenot, organ and serinette maker Ñ Piano Store, rue Sainte Apolline 3A.Ó According to some authorities, the label most likely designated Mougenot as the seller, because at the time it was common to put the sellerÕs name on an item rather than the maker. Likely, this rare and beautiful item was originally sold to a wealthy Parisian family, but was sacri.ficed during the German occupation of World War II and then confiscated.
How this remarkable piece found its way to the museum in Lyon is fascinating. Considered an artwork by the French Office Of Private Property and Interests (OBIP) and confiscated by the Artistic Recovery Commission after World War II, it was recovered in a museum in Aachen, Germany.1 The valuable instrument was meant to be returned to its rightful owners once they had been identified. But who were the owners? How could they be identified?
The Nazi occupation of Paris began on Jun. 14, 1940, with the departure of the French government to Vichy. Paris was then governed by the German military administration (Militarverwaltung). For Parisians, the occupation was a series of frus.trations, shortages, and humiliations. Rationing of food, tobacco, coal, and clothing was imposed and shortages grew greater each year. It is estimated that more than a million Parisians left the city for the provinces. Jews were targeted and more than 13,000 were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was not until Aug. 25, 1944, that the city was liberated and life could slowly return to Ònormal.Ó2
In the midst of this four-year reign of terror and turmoil, many Parisians sold their most treasured possessions in order to survive. Priceless art works, jewelry and valuable antiquities were sold for minuscule amounts. Food and coal were priceless commodities and worth any sacrifice. The possessions of Jewish families were simply confis.cated and sold or sent to Germany.3
British forces sent the artwork to the Central Collecting Point in Dussel.dorf, Germany, from its location in Aachen. It was then sent to the OBIP on Feb. 26, 1948, and shipped to France on Mar. 4 of the same year. At that time, it was registered as a piece of antique furniture, but it was even.tually reclassified as a work of art and placed in the custody of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, in May 1951. At that time, it was registered as a dance organ and recorded in the list of Objects of Art Recovery under the number OAR 284. Although exhibited at the Chateau de Compiegne during the summer of 1950, the dance organ was deposited in the Gadagne Museum in Lyon in July 1951.
Delving into the background of this piece has been difficult. The name of the original purchaser was lost as the sales records of Monsieur MougenotÕs Piano Store were destroyed during the war. No record appears as to the owner of the instrument at the start of the war or who had sold it to an antiques dealer. The only record appears in the German files of the Aachen museum which indicates that the instrument was obtained from M. Georges Charliat, an antiques dealer whose shop was located at 46 rue de Miromesnil in Paris.4
So, there it sits at a museum in Lyon, non-playing, and nearly forgotten. The hope of its return to its rightful owners is long gone. One wonders how many automatic instruments were relocated to Germany and long lost to their rightful owners or their families.
The music box features six dancing figures and plays four tunes.
A side view of the music box shows a portion of the hand crank in the rear and what might be a lid locking mechanism.
The hand-written tune sheet for the box is well preserved.
A dealerÕs label with the name Monsieur Mougenot is prominently displayed under the lid of the music box.
Footnotes
1. ÒParis in World War IIÓ Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_in_World_War_II
2. ÒCommission de recuperation artistiqueÓ Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_de_rŽcupŽration_artistique
3. Rosbottom, Ronald. When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation 1940-1944. New York: Little, Brown & Company, 2014.
4. ÒOrgue de danse a anches,Ó Departement des Objets dÕart, Louvre Collection – https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010101630
The Hunt
Story and Photo By Roger DeWeese
Column Graphic by Mary Clegg
A Modern Interpretation of Historic Automaton Paintings
This modern version of an automaton musical painting is 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. It features a moving balloon, ship, train, clock, waterwheel and windmill.
Life is a continual learning process and that is what makes it so interest.ing. My challenging adventure into the unknown started years ago at an MBSI meeting at the home of Dr. Lelland Fletcher in San Diego, CA. ÒFletchÓ had a large and unique collection of clocks along with a diverse botanical collection of palm trees surrounding his home near Mission Bay, CA. His antique collection also included music boxes, phonographs and other things such as two automata Òpaintings.Ó One of those paintings was beyond repair but the other looked like it had a chance of being repaired even though it had not worked for years. I found myself frequently thinking about that painting and I started researching automaton paintings. I found a few paintings in European museums and in some antique stores, but they were expensive if they were even for sale.
The more I thought about these paintings, the more I thought it might be fun to build a painting myself to demonstrate the typical features usually found in automaton paintings such as operational small clocks, windmills, hot-air balloons, trains, sail.ing ships at sea and sometimes people or animals. I developed a concept for a scene that would include most of these features along with a moving bell in a steeple and a water wheel. Ultimately, I added an AC-programmed music box, battery-operated chimes that played on the hour, and variable intensity lighting. I decided to make the scene out of a number of plywood panels that would be independent from each other so that I could lift out a panel if what was on it needed some work. I ended up with 18 panels that made the complete scene, and I used three small AC motors to run things like the water wheel, the bell in the steeple and the windmill. A somewhat larger AC motor ran the train, the ocean with a sailboat, and the hot-air balloons. Pullies on wood dowel shafts and various types of cords were used to connect everything. (I went very low tech.) The panels were mounted on a base so I could remove everything at once from the enclosure for access to make changes. The automaton paint.ing is 3 feet wide, 6 feet tall (including the table) and 2 feet deep. It weighs in right at 300 pounds.
The artwork in most automaton paintings is usually quite good, but I am not a painter. Fortunately for me, my wife is a watercolor artist. With a little assistance from some wine, we had a great time painting all 18 panels. For the enclosure, I purchased two windows from a junkyard, took out the glass, repaired major flaws with lots of Bondo, installed back-to-back mirrors where the glass had been, added ÒcrackleÓ paint to the window frames, made a new enclosure, and built a high table to put it all on. The height of the table was based on an assumption that standing adults would be viewing the painting. A continuing challenge has been to find a cord for the pullies that is either flat or round (depending on the pullies) and does not stretch over time and lose traction on the pullies. Splicing, gluing or tying the ends of the cords to make a loop without creating a stiff bump at the junction is also a challenge. The splice bump tends to either stop the pulley or throw the cord off the pulley especially on small radius pullies. The selected motor sizes, power, and speeds, along with the pulley diameters, were educated guesses that seemed to work out fine.
As time passed on, so did our friend ÒFletch.Ó His collections were auctioned off, and I was able to purchase the painting I was interested in from his son. As I disassembled the painting I knew I was in real trouble. There were so many things wrong with it that I honestly questioned if it ever worked even when it was new. At the risk of devaluing the painting I decided that it was more important to me that it worked than trying to preserve any antique value of the painting. I assumed that the painting could be about 120 years old. It was brittle, frail and had to be handled very carefully. I ended up changing most of the pullies that had been powered originally by threads (of all things, I thought). From my experience with the automaton painting that I had built from scratch, I felt I needed as much friction as possible between the pullies and the power cords, so I started experiment.ing with different types of cording from leather to cotton. The larger cord solved the friction problem but created a new ÒbumpÓ problem again at the knots. I would not have believed that the ultimate solution was to use a Kevlar thread that, when tied, made practically no bump knots at all and is now working fine. In order to increase the cord friction with the pullies I ran the cords through a block of violin bow resin until it squeaked and got sticky (about 30 seconds). The resin is also soluble in acetone and can then be painted onto the running surface of the pullies if necessary for more fric.tion. It is possible to add one or two more threads to increase the friction if using one thread/cord results in some slipping. The antique painting is 2 feet wide, 19 inches tall and 6 inches deep. It weighs 13 pounds.
I find that sometimes I can derive better solutions if I get away from a particular problem, do something else for a while, and then come back to the problem later. I am also less reluctant to stay with an idea that isnÕt working well because it frees me up to think of something better or sometimes an improvement just comes to me while I am following the original plan.
For many reasons I knew I was way out of my comfort zone when it came to repairing the actual painting part. I checked with the experts at Balboa Park, where we had had a couple of our paintings cleaned, to see if they could touch up two spots on the background of the painting. They wanted a great deal of money just to evaluate the situation and they had a very high hourly rate to do any work. I politely declined since their bill would probably have exceeded the value of the painting. The background painting had originally been painted on a stiff paper and the paper was cracking. The edges of the paper had been glued to the wood of the box, so removing the painted paper was not possible. With a great deal of reluctance I used a small circular saw to open a large hole in the back of the wood frame. This gave me the access I needed to reinforce with tape all of the cracks and prevent any further cracking.
While friction was my friend in making the pullies work better, friction of any kind anywhere else on the paintingÕs systems was my enemy. I donÕt know how many times I took most of the painting all apart while looking for whatever was causing a problem. With it all together there was no visual access to certain problem areas, so the process of elimination had to take place by guessing at what might be the problem. Underneath the old wood buildings, the Òocean,Ó and other places, all the threads go in various directions while the trains and other things are passing close by. As a result, the painting has to be run in a vertical position or the trains that are dangling underneath the scene start running into things and get stuck.
I give a lot of credit to the music box main spring that runs everything and still plays a tune at the same time. It is stronger than I had hoped for and seems to do the job even if the running time is a bit short. The musical movement is located in the bottom right hand corner when looking at the front of the painting.Ê IÕm not sure what the music is that it plays but it is nice enough.
In the end, I was able to get everything running, it looks good, sounds good, and it was yet another good learning experience. I will admit, however, it was perhaps the ulti.mate test of my patience for a while.
The automaton musical painting is enclosed with mirrored window frames that can protect it when it is not in use.
The table is designed so that it will be at an easy viewing level for most standing adults.
The various layers and inner workings of the painting are easier to visualize when seen from the side.
During construction of the painting many iterations of pulley and cord combinations were tried to get the best functionality.
In this view of the left side of the painting, you can see the windmill, train track, water wheel and ship.
A mockup of the ship in wood and the sails in brass.
Some of the pulleys and cords that move the train back and forth.
On the right side of the painting is the clocktower in the castle.
Some of the pulleys and cords that manage the motion of elements in the painting.
The painting is made of 18 separate panels making it relatively easy to disassemble and maintain.
The antique automaton musical painting may be 120 years old or more. It features a moving hot-air balloon, train, windmill and ship. It is 2 feet wide, 19 inches tall and 6 inches deep. At left is one of the panels removed from the frame. Like the modern version of the painting, this one is constructed in layers.
A pulley and cord drive the motion of the windmill at the top left of the painting.
The main inner panel of the painting from behind showing the path of the train as it transitions from one side of the painting to the other.
A closeup view of the train cars and cord they are attached to.
Several of the various sizes of pulleys that drive different sections of the painting.
The painted sky is glued to the wood and difficult to repair.
The cords run in complex patterns behind the scenes.
This view shows the painting assembled but with the frame off.
Seeking your stories for …
The Hunt
Did you once spend time finding the perfect musical antique to round out your collection? What was it? How did you find it? Was it in ruins, or in perfect condition?
Was there a time you randomly ran across a unique instrument then found a way to acquire it and restore it so that you might display it and tell the story to all who visit your home?
Answer these questions and you will have the perfect story for ÒThe HuntÓ column in Mechanical Music.
Every mechanical music instrument has a story behind it and the readers of Mechanical Music love to read them all.
Editing help is available if you have a story, but you are not sure how to organize it or present it. The important thing is to get it down and pass it on for the enjoyment of others.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Email your story to editor Russell Kasselman at
editor@mbsi.org or mail a copy to:
MBSI Editorial Offices
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
A Tale of Two Pianos
By James Neuman
In 1963, as a young ensign just out of Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI, I received orders to the USS Cavalier, APA-37 assigned to duty in Vietnam, but stationed out of San Diego, CA. As members of the Òships companyÓ for four years, we often went as a group of officers to Mickey FinnÕs Pizza Restaurant and Speak.easy on University Avenue, between 10th and Vermont, in the Hillcrest Neighborhood of San Diego.
The food was edible, but the enter.tainment from the Dixieland Band, with Fred Finn at the piano, his wife (aka) Mickey and the ÒFlying Dutch.manÓ on banjo, was the highlight. My interest, on the other hand, was more in the small back room that housed a half dozen or so coin pianos. I would always Òsneak awayÓ from our group to sometimes drop several dollars worth of nickels into Òthem coin grabbers.Ó
When I was released from active duty in 1967, I resettled in Orange County, CA. Quite a few years after that, lost now to my memory, I found that Fred had moved his show from San Diego to several permanent engagements in various major casino hotels on the strip in Las Vegas, NV. Seeking out his show in Vegas, I was lucky enough to meet him and reminded him of the days when officers and enlisted men from various San Diego-based ships would frequent his show and eat his pizza. I inquired as to the fate of the piano collection and was told that he had opened an antique shop some.where down at the end of the strip, and that a few of the pianos were left there for the asking.
Rushing out to the store, I found two pianos were left and for sale. One was a Peerless 44-note and the other a National Selective eight-roll changer. I negotiated a deal and bought both pianos, which remain as part of my collec.tion to this very day. The National needed restoration, so I eventually (after having it for some years) sent it to George Baker, late of Costa Mesa, CA. The Peerless, luckily for me, was still in good working order. The Peerless still features the tax sticker, inside, from the city of San Diego, indicating that the last coin-op license was purchased in 1968. The irony of this story is the fact, as a young man I fed nickels into both these pianos to be entertained, and now more than 60 years later they are still entertaining me as part of my own collection. Although I cannot say for sure, the National may have been from the old KnottÕs Berry Farm Collection, since I recall as a child, seeing many of those old Nationals in the amusement parkÕs early barns. I recall playing them way back in the 1950s which I owe to the beginning of my lifelong interest in coin pianos. It is indeed a small world if that is also the case. Both pianos have recently (during the pandemic) received the TLC of Josh Rapier, a Southern California restorer, and will still be going strong, no doubt, for years to come.
The photos attached include the two pianos, a promo.tional show photo from the Mickey Finn Show, and a San Diego Fire helmet that was aways displayed prominently on the stage of the Mickey Finn Speakeasy in San Diego.
The Peerless 44-note automatic piano in the authorÕs collection.
Photos from the Mickey Finn show and other San Diego, CA, memorabilia collected by James Neuman and longtime business partner, Allan H. Lifson.
The tax sticker inside the Peerless from when it was operated as a commercial entertainment machine.
Making connections
with music boxes
By Nancy Fratti with Sadahiko Sakauchi
Sadahiko and Yuriko Sakauchi in their home with their collection of music boxes.
A customer in Japan, Sadahiko Sakauchi, wrote me a moving story of what he did with one of the music boxes he bought from me decades ago. His story is about how he took it and another disc box to a hospital and played them for the patients, and then for one very special patient.
ÒThank you very much for the history story about my Regina No. 9. [I had told him about how I acquired the box before he had it.] Let me also tell you that I have a story about the Regina No. 9, which is great.Ó
ÒI have brought music boxes as a volunteer to many hospitals, juvenile homes, schools and other places for concerts. I think it has been more than 30 years and more than 100 times as you can see in the photos I send you. A few years after I started such activities, I received a request from an institution for the physically and mentally challenged in the city to give a music box concert. At that time, I did not have a cylinder music box, so I brought a Polyphon 24-inch tabletop model, a Regina No. 9 and the neces.sary discs and gave a concert. When it was over, the head of staff asked me to play the boxes for a girl about a high school junior in age, who was bedridden in a room upstairs.Ó
ÒThe Polyphon was too heavy to fit into the small ward, so I took the lighter Regina No. 9 to her bedside. The girl was in bed unable to move her arms, legs and fingers. She was unable to speak and was blind, cut off from contact with the outside world. The only evidence that she was alive was the screen on the bedside heart monitor. She had never been to school and had never received music educa.tion. She has no knowledge of music history, musicology or musical nota.tion in her head.Ó
ÒHer father had hold of one end of the music box and put the other end on the bed. I think the sound of the music box and the vibrations were trans.mitted to her body through the bed at the same time. I played her a few simple melodic songs, such as lulla.bies and folk songs. Then the father and the staff said to me, ÔThis child is rarely happy. Now she is very happy!Õ In my mind, the question arose, ÔHow can we know that when she should have no means of communicating her intentions?Õ A staff member sensed this and told me, ÔShe expresses her joy and gratitude by moving her tongue!Õ He said for her, the only means of communicating with the outside world was her tongue. I never imagined that Regina No. 9 which I bought from you so long ago, would be so powerful that it would bring so much joy to people. She must have sensed the pure fundamental fascina.tion of music, unencumbered by any outside influence and felt the primor.dial attraction of music that cannot be heard by ears and minds. So, she used the last bit of communiquŽ she possessed to say with all her might, ÔThank you.Õ I was so grateful to her. When I heard that, I couldnÕt hold back the tears that were streaming down my face.Ó
ÒI come from a Samurai family, and my ancestors were in charge of managing guns in the countryside. I was educated by my grandfather that Samurai are not tearful. My grand.father also taught me that Samurai should be on the side of the weak, so I felt now that I could be a full-fledged Samurai successor.Ó
ÒThe following year I gave a concert at the same place, but there was no request for a concert for her. She must have left, with the soul of Regina No. 9 in her mind, for a place where she could be free from physical worries and where she could always listen to her music box.Ó
That story reminded me of a similar situation I experienced while exhibit.ing at an antique show sometime in the 1990s. The show was held in a large old Victorian home and each dealer had a room to themselves. A young man came into my room and stared at the 15-inch Regina I had on display. I asked if he would like to hear it and he explained he was partially deaf. He then asked permission to put his hands on the box to feel the vibra.tions. ÒOf course!Ó I replied. I played a few tunes for him and he said he had a friend in another room and would be right back. He left and came back with his friend, telling me she was totally deaf. He again asked permission for her to feel the box. I played a few discs for her and watched her eyes go wide with the first one, and her smile get bigger the more she Òheard!Ó I asked her friend to tell her to put her fingers under the box to see if it felt different. She did and started to laugh. She could feel the deeper bass notes!
They both thanked me profusely and were signing/talking to each other as they happily left the room.
Those two people never expected to have a new experience when they came to the show, but they definitely left with one that made them laugh with unabashed pleasure.
ÒMusic boxes entertain with their unique and beautiful sounds, but the pleasure is doubled if two people listen to them together, and quintupled if five people listen together,Ó Sadahiko said to me. ÒThat is why this hobby is so interesting and hard to stop.Ó
In these two simple but touching stories, how can we not see what a moving impact an act of kindness, like sharing our wonderful machines, can have on people?
The Polyphon 24-inch table model and Regina No. 9 along with other music boxes set up for a school performance.
The Regina No. 9 from Sadahiko SakauchiÕs collection that would make such a dif.ference for a young woman confined to her bed.
Sadahiko SakauchiÕs music boxes set up for a presentation in a hospital for patients.
MBSI/AMICA Annual Meeting
Nethercutt tour preview and ideas for expanding your trip
The Nethercutt Collection
(This tour is included as part of convention registration.)
J.B. and Dorothy Nethercutt are founders of the Nethercutt Collection and past owners/CEOs of Merle Norman Cosmetics.
Born in South Bend, IN, on Oct. 11, 1913, J.B. moved to Santa Monica, CA, in 1923 to live with his aunt, Merle Neth.ercutt Norman, who was the founder of Merle Norman Cosmetics. J.B. later left his studies at California Institute of Technology to go into business with his aunt. On Sept. 3, 1933, J.B. married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Sykes. The marriage lasted more than 70 years until Dorothy’s death on Oct. 8, 2004. It was during their early years together that J.B. and Dorothy began their love affair with old cars.
In 1956, J.B. purchased two cars, a 1936 Duesenberg Convertible Road.ster for $5,000 and a 1930 DuPont Town Car for $500, both needing total restorations. The DuPont restoration, which J.B. estimated would take a few weeks, instead took 18 months and cost more than $65,000. By 1958, his meticulously rebuilt project claimed its first prize Ñ the coveted ÒBest of ShowÓ award at the prestigious Pebble Beach, CA, Concours d’Ele.gance. By the summer of 1992, his cars had won the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance six times, more than any other individual. The Duesenberg and DuPont are still part of the Nethercutt Collection.
As the Nethercutt collection grew, J.B. was determined to share his masterpieces with the public. In 1974, he and Dorothy opened a museum in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, which has been free to the public since its opening.
J.B., who passed away on Dec. 6, 2004, at the age of 91, memorably stated: ÒThe recognition and preserva.tion of beauty has been a major focus of my life. It would suit me well if what people remembered me was, ÔWhere he went, he left beauty behind.ÕÓ
Current chairman of the board of the Nethercutt Foundation and vice chair.man of the board of Merle Norman Cosmetics Jack Nethercutt with his wife Helen now proudly carry on the work that J.B. and Dorothy began. Early on, Jack exhibited a fondness for cars and discovered his natural abilities on the race track. His sports car racing career from the 1950s and 1960s is showcased in the Nethercutt CollectionÕs Lower Gallery.
Jack hung up his helmet to help with the family business. A University of Southern California graduate, he served as vice president of marketing of Merle Norman Cosmetics and later as company president in 1973. He held this post for a number of years before leaving to explore other interests, including ownership of a Las Vegas, NV, restaurant.
In March 2002, Jack returned as president of Merle Norman Cosmet.ics. He and Helen continue to restore museum-quality cars, entering and winning at virtually every concours in which their stunning cars appear.
See more information at www.neth.ercuttcollection.org.
Jack and Helen Nethercutt
J.B. and Dorothy Nethercutt
A few of the restored antique automobiles in the grand salon of the Nethercutt Collection.
The music room in the Nethercutt Collection.
More ways to enjoy Southern California
From the Beaches to the Mountains Ñ Los Angeles Area
Pacific Coast Highway:
¥
Santa Monica Pier Merry-Go-Round
405 North:
¥
Six Flags Magic Mountain (Santa Clarita)
23 North of Agoura Hills:
¥
The Reagan Library (Many important world-changing events happened during Ronald ReganÕs administra.tion including the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, completing the first agreement for the reduction of nuclear weapons and the breakup of the Soviet Union. ItÕs still a meeting place for allied officials.)
Hollywood:
¥
GraumanÕs Chinese Theatre
¥
Pantages Theater (Built in the days of the beautiful theaters, now shows and concerts)
¥
Magic Castle
¥
Hollywood Bowl
¥
DisneyÕs El Capitan
¥
Hollywood Museum
Downtown L.A. Area:
¥
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
¥
Ahmanson Theatre
¥
Mark Taper Forum
¥
Walt Disney Concert Hall
¥
Los Angeles Coliseum (Built for 1932 Olympics. Jesse Owens competed here in 1935. In the 1940s promo.tional programs were held to collect metal and rubber, with speeches by Jimmy Doolittle and General Patton, and the war games were held here.)
¥
Natural History Museum and Science Center
¥
Griffith Park Observatory
¥
Los Angeles Zoo
¥
Peterson Auto Museum (across the street from La Brea Tar Pits)
¥
La Brea Tar Pits (Discovery of millions of prehistoric animals)
¥
Dodger Stadium
Other Attractions:
¥
Disneyland
¥
KnottÕs Berry Farm
¥
Long Beach Aquarium
¥
Huntington Library
Interesting Tidbits
For Christmas I was given the complete collection of the ÒOur GangÓ comedies. In one 1929 episode one of the kids has a Rollmonica, along with a novel way of playing it.
The first picture shows the Rollmonica lying open and the child loading in the roll. Then he takes an inflated balloon and attaches it to the mouthpiece. He turns the crank and the music begins! The soundtrack is an early one but the music does sound like a typical Rollmonica.
One never knows when a sighting will happen in old movies!
John Osborne
Stanton, CA
Golden Gate Chapter
Chapter Chair: Judy Caletti
Reporter: Judy Caletti
Photographer: Rob Thomas
Feb. 11, 2024 Ñ Corte Madera CA
On Sunday, Feb. 11, AMICA held a meeting at the lovely home of Bonnie and Bob Gonzales. MBSI Golden Gate Chapter members were invited to attend as guests. Bonnie and Bob were great hosts sharing the delightful music of their Coinola C2 Orchestrion, their Seeburg KT Special, a 1924 Weber Duo Art 6-foot grand piano, a 7-foot Yamaha C6 Disklavier, and a three-manual Conn theater organ! Live entertainment was provided by
Jared DiBartolomeo who played several pieces on the Yamaha grand piano.
Bob and Bonnie also have an incred.ible sheet music collection, lovingly sorted and cataloged into many binders, all alphabetically sorted. They fill two large bookcases with approximately 100 binders.
Good food, wonderful entertain.ment, great music and lively friendship was had by all! It was a truly fun afternoon.
Listening to the Weber Duo Art are John Kiszla, Jared DiBartolomeo, Bob Gonzalez and Bob and Judy Caletti.
Jared DiBartolomeo playing the Yamaha grand piano for Sandy Swirsky, Judy Caletti and Lewis Motisher
Bonnie Gonzalez, Julie Cole, Ron Brandon, Bob Gonzalez and Audrey Mahler enjoy a bit of fun during the meeting.
Meeting hosts Bonnie and Bob Gonzalez perhaps holding their lunch choices or could it be labels describing their personality traits?
Southeast Chapter
Chapter Chair: Jim Kracht
Reporter: B Bronson
Photographer: B Bronson
Mar. 1-2, 2024ÑÊSt. Cloud, FL
The Southeast Chapter joined with members of the Carousel Organ Association of America and enjoyed a nice weekend of mechanical music. Although the weather threatened to be stormy a couple of times, it turned out to be a beautiful couple of days. The snowbirds particularly savored the sunshine.
The fun began in St. Cloud at Bill and Cyndy HallÕs collection which consists of a wide variety of American and European organs and circus memora.bilia. While attendees sat in the main building, Cyndy gave some details and history of each instrument while Bill ran a couple of tunes on them.
The group was then invited outside to hear the wonderful sounding, recently restored Ruth model 37, in its own trailer. Andrew Pilmer and Russell Wattam, from England, were on hand to present this most recent addition to the collection. Andrew recounted its history and his and RussellÕs efforts to bring the organ back to life. After the concert, another building was opened which displayed some vintage autos, fun circus banners and more organs!
It had been some time since break.fast so most of the members then went to Krush Brau Park, in Kissimmee, FL, a sort of restaurant/hall for some delicious German food and beer. The waiters were entertaining and engag.ing, providing a good time for all. Following that, several of the group took a Sunset Cruise on Lake Toho on a Mississippi River-type paddlewheel boat.
The next morning, attendees were encouraged to visit the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City, FL. This was the 89th annual gala which included a midway with rides, parades, band concerts, a strawberry queen and of course, strawberries in every shape, form and concoction you could imagine.
The afternoon offered a guided tour of the ShowmenÕs Carnival and Circus Museum in Riverview, FL. Inside a four-story building was a full-size Ferris wheel and merry-go-round surrounded by two floors of midway games and vintage prizes. It also featured a scale model of a midway with rides and concession stands. The diorama stretches to more than 60 feet long and has more than 15,000 hand-painted miniature people!
The meeting concluded that evening at Mark and Christel YaffeÕs fantastic collection in Tampa, FL. This collec.tion includes American nickelodeons and reproducing pianos, European orchestrions, rare music boxes and large Belgian dance organs. It was a great ending to a very fun couple of days.
Thank you to all who helped make the meeting possible!
Chapter members enjoyed snacks and a presentation inside Bill and Cyndy HallÕs main collection building that is filled with organs and circus memorabilia.
Outside, Andrew Pilmer, Cyndy and Bill Hall and Russell Wattam showed off the Ruth model 37 organ that was recently restored and now is installed in its own trailer ready for adventure.
Inside Bill and Cyndy HallÕs second collection building with classic autos and more organs.
Bob Yates and Mary Lou Van Dorn dance to a tune played on the Limonaire Bolero Organ.
A merry-go-round and Ferris wheel inside the International Independent ShowmenÕs Museum. The exterior is below.
A carnival diorama inside the showmenÕs museum features more than 15,000 hand-painted miniature figures.
The diorama stretches for more than 60 feet along the museum show floor.
An Ideal Orchestre Marenghi orchestrion in the Yaffe collection.
An overview showing both Decap and Mortier dance organs among pianos and other mechanical music instruments in the Yaffe collection.
Christel Yaffe made visitors feel wel.come while viewing her collection.
Mark Yaffe and Bill Edgerton enjoy some friendly conversation among the instru.ments on display.
Jacob ÒJimÓ Ratsoy Ñ 1932Ð2024
Compiled from internet sources
Jacob ÒJimÓ Ratsoy of Richmond, B.C. Jim has passed away of natural causes.
Jim was born in Smoky Lake, Alberta, the only child of Pearl and Metro Ratsoy. In 1937 his parents lost their farm during the depression and moved into town. Pearl opened and successfully operated a general store, and Metro owned various car and tractor franchises.
Jim married Marcia Louise in 1954. In 67 years of marriage, they had four children and spent time in Edmonton, Wetaskwin, Winnipeg and eventually settled in Richmond, B.C. where Jim acquired a new car dealership. Jim eventually added three more deal.erships that would be known as the Landsdowne Auto Family.
Jim amassed one of CanadaÕs premier showrooms of vintage cars and memorabilia. His collection included some 130 classics from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. His team restored and brought life back to everything Jim bought. Jim then built a massive showroom that protected not only these classics but also his collection of player pianos, orches.trions, phonographs, juke boxes and hundreds of pieces of memorabilia. He held many fundraising events for charities and hosted MBSIÕs North.west International Chapter for several meetings.
Two websites cover JimÕs collection of cars, memorabilia and mechanical music. Find them at https://grand.pasoldmemories.space/ and https://grandpasoldcars.com/
A television interview Jim did with a Richmond station is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teUTd6x08hU
Dr. Howard S. Sanford ÑÊ1933Ð2023
By Julie Morlock
Howard Sanford, M.D., was born in Floral Park, NY, in 1933. A graduate of New YorkÕs Columbia School of Phar.macy, he went on to obtain his M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, IL. He completed his internship at Philadelphia General Hospital, in Philadelphia, PA, and then his residency at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. In 1962, he became a fellow in cardiology at Jack.son Memorial Hospital in Miami, FL.
Howard practiced internal medi.cine and cardiology in North Miami Beach, FL, for 30 years, which was interrupted by a 2-year tour of duty in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He served as a lieutenant colonel and cardiology consultant for the whole First Army. After retirement, he spent 19 years as a physician in the Student Health Service of Florida International University in Miami, FL. He also volunteered as a physician for the government on Indian reserva.tions and local medical clinics for the homeless.
His love of automatic mechanical music culminated in a large collection of self-playing organs and long-stand.ing involvement with the Musical Box Society International. On the national level, he served as trustee for several years and served on both the Member.ship and Nominating committees. He was a member of the Southeast Chapter, serving as chapter chair from 1994 to 1996 and as reporter/photog.rapher (with wife Margery) for many years. In 2001 he was awarded the Dr. Joe Bailey award for his outstanding leadership, contributions and service to the Southeast Chapter.
In his enthusiasm for classical music, he and Margery hosted many pianists performing locally as well as traveling musicians participating in the Chopin International piano competitions. Traveling was another favorite activity, including trips to India, China, Russia, and Israel, where Howard served with Sar El, the volunteer organization of the Israeli Defense Forces.
Howard passed away on Apr. 27, 2023. Besides Margery, his loving wife of 62 years, he is survived by two sons, Allan and Steven (Heather) Sanford; six granddaughters and his sister, Arlene Horlick. His greatest joy was spending time with his family. He is missed by all who knew him.
Howard Sanford at the 2017 Showfolks Clubhouse Organ Rally.
Howard and Margery Sanford participating in a 2014 Exhibit at The Villages, FL.
Howard Sanford with his Mortier organ during an open house for the 2014 MBSI Annual Meeting.
Howard Sanford displays his George Washington automaton with accordion during an open house for the 2014 MBSI Annual Meeting.
Barbara Ann Hildebrant Ñ 1952Ð2023
By Charles Hildebrant
Barbara Hildebrant was born in June 1952, and passed away on Sept. 22, 2023. She graduated from the Univer.sity of Bridgeport, in Bridgeport, CT, in 1974 with a degree in nursing. She served for 34 years as charge nurse in the coronary critical care unit of Overlook Hospital, in Summit, NJ. Barbara married Charles Hildebrant, a nurseryman (who happened to have a mechanical music collection) in Oldwick, NJ, in 1988.
Barbara had many interests, including but not limited to quilting, traveling, mechanical music and read.ing. (She devoured books constantly!) She was active in several quilting organizations, but her main member.ship was with the national Quilt Historical Society, a nationwide group devoted to the conservation of the art of quilting and fine quilts of the past. BarbaraÕs own quilts were outstanding and were exhibited many times. They were declared pieces of fine art.
Her interest in mechanical music curiously preceded her meeting her future husband, Charles. Barbara became fascinated with mechan.ical music during a surprise and unplanned visit to the Musical Wonder House, in Wiscasset, ME, in 1976. The Musical Wonder House was a mansion of 35 rooms packed with all manner of music boxes, pianos, and anything that could possibly create music by itself. Barbara later met Charles at a dance where Charles first asked for her telephone number, but Barbara wouldnÕt give it out. He was persistent, however, and the rest is history.
Both Barbara and Charles loved to travel. Their memberships in the Carousel Organ Association of Amer.ica, Musical Box Society International and Automatic Musical Instrument CollectorsÕ Association opened many doors for them. They visited places from the northernmost reaches of Canada to the very southern tip of New Zealand. New Zealand was truly interesting since there only were six mechanical music collectors in all of the country. These were spread over 1,000 miles but Barbara and Charles visited every one of them. Many of those wonderful collectors that Barbara and Charles met in New Zealand would visit the couple if they came to the U.S.
Barbara could operate every instrument in the coupleÕs collection, from music boxes to calliopes to band organs. The one she really loved was her Raffin crank organ. She was always right at the front cranking away at every ÒmeetÓ within driving distance. She took her organ to every.thing from Christmas carol singalongs to ladiesÕ quilting meetings, and every mechanical music club gathering.
Barbara and Charles hosted many East Coast MBSI picnics at their home. Sometimes there were more than 100 people attending. Barbara was ready to solve any problem. She and Charles counted Harvey and Marion Roehl, Murray Clark, and Jack and Mildred Hardman among their many friends.
Barbara passed away after a long illness, leaving a sad emptiness to a chair at all of our mechanical music gatherings.
Barbara and Charles Hildebrant with the center section of a Photo-Player during a tour of the Crankers Collection.
Barbara and Charles Hildebrant demonstrate their 20-note Raffin Organ at the Morris Museum.
Larry Reece Ñ 1950Ð2024
When Larry Reece arrived 74 years ago, a creative soul full of curiosity and adventure was unleashed. He was kind, fearless and focused until Jan. 16, 2024. Larry was a humble true friend to all generations making everyone feel important. You could count on Larry to listen, teach, and entertain.
He taught firearm safety, freely shared his tricks of the trade, and would call you, just because. All creatures were his friends, dogs were his love. As a teen he wrestled, played football, and turned wrenches. The creative Larry was an antique store owner, talented chef, theater patron, developer of his own black and white photographs, collector of century-old music machines, and a prankster, with an infectious smile. ÒLectricÓ was a downtown architecture history buff.
Travel to Asia, Europe, New Zealand and more fueled his curiosity of other cultures. His work took him to Prudhoe Bay for the Alaskan pipeline and to Antarctica with many stops in between to work on nuclear and coal-fired power houses. ÒLectricÓ had an uncanny ability to repair all electronic things. Remember LarryÕs smile every time you drop a coin into a music machine.
Survived by siblings Tana Hazen (Les), Debbie Reece, Dan Reece, and soul-mate Vicki Reece. Memorials to the Animal Humane Society.
Barbara Hildebrant at home.
Barbara Hildebrant plays her Raffin organ at the East Coast Chapter summer picnic at KnoebelÕs Grove Amusement Park, Elysburg, PA.
Barbara Hildebrant plays her Raffin organ at ShuppÕs Grove Antique Market in Adamstown, PA.
Tom Larsen Ñ 1941Ð2024
By Paul Senger
I am sad to announce the passing of Thomas ÒTomÓ Larsen on Feb. 1, 2024, at the age of 82. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Frances Larsen.
Tom started collecting mechanical musical instruments in 1972. His collection included pianos, organs, and music boxes. He was a member of the Automated Musical Instruments Collectors Association and the Musi.cal Box Society International as well as the National Capital Chapter for more than 40 years.
Tom, Frances and daughter, Kristin, were regular attendees at chapter meetings and at MBSI annual meeting workshops and site setups.
Tom attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and had a PhD in aerospace engineering. He was lead or principal engineer on several leading-edge national defense programs. For example, he served as the Air ForceÕs first principal engineer for Remotely Piloted and Autonomous Flight Vehicles, now called drones. Later, Tom was asked to relocate to Washington, D.C. to serve as the Deputy Technical Director and Deputy for Advanced Technology for the Joint Services Cruise Missiles Program Office.
In 2008, Tom was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, Myasthenia Gravis. He became an avid supporter for Myasthenia Gravis research and his team, TomÕs Rockets Ñ Blast Off for The Cure, raised more than $120,000 specifically for research into cures for Myasthenia Gravis. Tom went through extensive medical procedures to fight off the effects of the disease. During the COVID pandemic the Larsens became unable to participate in chap.ter activities due to his autoimmune disease. We missed seeing them at our meetings.
Tom was active in his church, singing in the choir, playing in the handbell choir and cooking for the monthly menÕs breakfast. During the pandemic, he participated in as many activities as he could through Zoom to stay in touch with his many friends.
He leaves Frances, sons Eric and Brian (Abigail); daugh.ters Kristin, and Catherine (Will) Coley; five grandchildren; two brothers and a sister.
Here is the link to TomÕs full obituary: https://tinyurl.com/NCC-Larsen-1
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given in TomÕs name designated for ÒResearch OnlyÓ to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA), 290 Turnpike Road, Suite 5-315, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 or https://tinyurl.com/NCC-Larsen-2 .
Our deepest sympathy goes out to Frances, Kristin and the rest of the family.
Tom Larsen with his TomÕs Rockets team walking to raise money for Myasthenia Gravis research.
Tom Larsen and Charlie Kratz enjoying a roll on the Duo Art in 2008.
Tom Larsen and Dick Hack in front of DickÕs BursenÕs CafŽ organ in 2018.
FOR SALE
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PAILLARD INTERCHANGEABLE CYLINDER Music Box with 6 bells, 6 13-inch brass cylinders, (8 songs each, so 48 selections) in burled walnut case with matching table. Excellent sound and condition. $17,500 JOSEPH SIGMON jkentsigmon@gmail.com North Carolina
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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,
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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.
MBSI Advertising Statement
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.
ORDER EXTRAS
Directory of Members, Museums and Dealers are $10 for members. (International shipping is extra).
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
Advertise in The Mart
Have some spare parts or extra rolls taking up the space where you should be installing your next acquisition? Get the word out to other collectors by advertising in The Mart, an effective advertising tool at an inexpensive price.
Email your ad to editor@mbsi.org or call (253) 228-1634 to place your ad for the May/June 2024 issue.
Add a photo to your ad!
Photos are only $30 extra per issue.
Email editor@mbsi.org or call (253) 228-1634 for more details.
ALL ADS MUST BE PREPAID
We accept VISA/MC and PayPal.
ADVERTISING SPECS:
Display ads may be submitted camera-ready, as PDF files, or with text and instructions. File submission guidelines available on request.
Errors attributable to Mechanical Music, and of a significant nature, will be corrected in the following issue without charge, upon notification.
Display Advertising Dimensions and Costs
Dimensions
1 issue
3 issues*
6 issues*
Back Cover
8.75Ó x 11.25Ó
$600
$540
$510
Inside Covers
8.75Ó x 11.25Ó
$450
$405
$382.50
Full Page
7.25Ó x 9.75Ó
$290
$261
$246.50
Half Page
7.25Ó x 4.5Ó
$160
$144
$136
Quarter Page
3.5Ó x 4.5Ó
$90
$81
$76.50
Eighth Page
3.5Ó x 2.125Ó
$50
$45
$42.50
Add a 10% surcharge to the prices shown above
if you are not a member of MBSI.
*Display Discounts shown above are calculated as follows:
3 consecutive ads
10% Discount
6 consecutive ads
15% Discount
Display Advertisers in this issue
2……….Renaissance Antiques
56……..StantonÕs Auctioneers
57……..StantonÕs Auctioneers
58……..American Treasure Tour
58……..Automata Magazine
58……..NAWCC
59……..Porter Music Box Company
60……..MBSGB
60……..Mechanical Organ and Clock Works
61……..Nancy Fratti Music Boxes
63……..Music Box Restorations
63 …….Cottone Auctions
68……..Marty Persky
OFFICERS, TRUSTEES & COMMITTEES of the
MUSICAL BOX SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL¨
OFFICERS
President
Matthew Jaro
24219 Clematis Dr
Gaithersburg, MD 20882
mjaro@verizon.net
Vice President
Bob Caletti,
605 Wallea Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025
bcaletti@pacbell.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
Mary Ellen Myers
Rick Swaney
COMMITTEES
Audit
Edward Cooley, Chair, Trustee
Bob Caletti, Vice President
Dave Calendine, Trustee
Endowment Committee
Edward Kozak, Treasurer, Chair
Edward Cooley, Trustee
Dave Calendine, Trustee
B Bronson
Executive Committee
Matthew Jaro, Chair, President
Bob Caletti, Vice President
David Corkrum, Immediate
Past President
Edward Cooley, Trustee
Rich Poppe, Trustee
Finance Committee
Edward Kozak, Chair, Treasurer
Edward Cooley, Trustee
Peter Both
Marketing Committee
Bob Smith, Chair
Edward Cooley, Trustee
Judy Caletti
Don Caine
John Miller
Meetings Committee
Rich Poppe, Chair, Trustee
Judy Caletti
Tom Chase
Cotton Morlock
Tom Kuehn
Membership Committee
Chair, Vacant
Richard Dutton, Trustee
Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee,
Southeast
Robin Biggins, Southern California
Judy Caletti, Golden Gate
Gary Goldsmith, Snowbelt
Florie Hirsch, National Capital
Judy Miller, Southeast
Rob Pollock, Mid-America
Dan Wilson, Southeast
Gerald Yorioka, Northwest IntÕl
TBD, East Coast
TBD, Lake Michigan
TBD, Sunbelt
Museum Committee
Sally Craig, Chair
Dave Calendine, Trustee
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
David Corkrum, Immediate
Past President
Bob Caletti, Golden Gate,
Vice President
Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee,
Southeast
Tracy Tolzmann, Snowbelt
Rob Pollock, Mid-America
Marc Pichla, Lake Michigan
Publications Committee
Bob Caletti, Chair,
Vice President
Richard Dutton, Trustee
Paul Bellamy
Steve Boehck
Christian Eric
Kathleen Eric
Publications Sub-Committee
Website Committee
Rick Swaney, Chair
B Bronson
Knowles Little, Web Secretary
Special Exhibits Committee
Mary Ellen Myers, Chair, Trustee,
Southeast
David Corkrum, Immediate Past
President, Golden Gate
Donald Caine, Southern California
Richard Dutton, Trustee, East Coast
Jack Hostetler, Southeast
Knowles Little, National Capital
Judy Miller, Southeast
Aaron Muller, Lake Michigan
Wayne Myers, Southeast
Rick Swaney, Trustee,
Northwest International
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)
MBSI Editorial Office:
Iron Dog Media
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
editor@mbsi.org
SUBMIT ADS TO:
MBSI Ads
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
(253) 228-1634
Email: editor@mbsi.org
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
May 17-19
AutomataCon
Morristown, NJ
Morris Museum
July 3-7, 2024
MBSI Annual Meeting
Los Angeles, CA
Southern California Chapter Joint with AMICA
Email event details to editor@mbsi.org by Jun. 1, 2024, for the July/August 2024 issue.
Ask your questions on our Facebook discussion group Ñ search for 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 $10.
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
No Dues in 2024
Roger Wiegand
281 Concord Road
Wayland, MA 01778
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: Cheryl Hack
(410) 757-2164
cahack@aacc.edu
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
Snowbelt
Chair: Tracy Tolzmann
(651) 674-5149
No Dues in 2024
Southeast
Chair: Jim Kracht
305-251-6983
Dues $5 to Bob Yates
1973 Crestview Way Unit 147
Naples, FL 34119
Southern California
Chair: Robin Biggins
(310) 377-1472
Dues $10 to Franne Einberg
10524 Blythe Ave
Los Angeles CA 90064
Sunbelt
Chair: Marty Nevel
currency33@AOL.COM
No Dues in 2024
CHAPTERS
Copyright 2022 the Musical Box Society International, all rights reserved. Permission to reproduce by any means, in whole or in part, must be obtained in writing from the MBSI Executive Committee and the Editor. Mechanical Music is published in the even months. ISSN 1045-795X
Have something to sell?
Looking to buy?
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 effective 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
Name Phone
Email
Text of ad