Mechanical Music
Journal of the Musical Box Society International
Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments
Volume 66, No. 6 November/December 2020
PuRchAse • sAles • consignment
of Quality Cylinder & Disc Music Boxes, Musical Clocks & Automata
For over forty years we’ve placed fine antiques in collections around the world.
Our reputation has been built upon appreciative buyers and satisfied sellers.
Pictured are a few of the musical antiques in our current and recent inventories.
496 First Street, California 93463 • Ron & Julie Palladino
Open Seven Days a Week 10-6 • 805-452-5700
www.renantiques.com
Visit the charming Danish Village of Solvang, half an hour above Santa Barbara in the beautiful Central Coast Wine Country
RENAISSANCE ANTIQUE S
Renaissance Antiques of solvang
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 The article will not be published with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 author’s
approval. All articles are considered to be the
author’s 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 Directory
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 2020. The Musical Box Society International,
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
Mechanical Music
Journal of the Musical Box Society International
Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments
Volume 66, No. 6 November/December 2020
MBSI NEWS
5 President’s Message
7 Editor’s Notes
8 Outreach Corner
11 Museum Committee
Report
12 Annual Trustee Meeting
Minutes
17 MBSI Financial
Statements
53 In Memoriam
Features
27 Nickel Notes
by Matt Jaro
33 Sacred music on cylinders
– Part 5
46 The Hunt – An Edison
Amberola 30
MBSI has replanted 117 trees so far as
part of the Print ReLeaf program.
On the Cover
Harold Wade’s Regina Style 66
featuring painted panels on mahog-
any. This upright 151/2-inch disc
box is quite the sight to behold.
Page 42.
A cylinder for the ages
James Brewer tells the story of a
uniquely-pinned cylinder that found
its way into his collection after
many years. Page 39.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 3
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
M
M
echanical music is a fascinating hobby! It
appeals to the artist, historian, craftsman, and
musician all at the same time. Play an automatic
musical instrument in a room full of people and all else
will stop as the machine enraptures the audience with the
sparkling melodies of yesteryear!
Mechanical music instruments are any sort of automatical
ly-played machine that produces melodic sound including
discs and cylinder music boxes that pluck a steel comb;
orchestrions and organs that engage many instruments at
once using vacuum and air pressure; player and reproducing
pianos that use variable vacuum to strike piano wires; pho
nographs; and self-playing stringed, wind, and percussion
instruments of any kind.
The Musical Box Society International, chartered by the
New York State Board of Regents, is a nonprofit society
dedicated to the enjoyment, study, and preservation of
automatic musical instruments. Founded in 1949, it now
has members around the world, and supports various
educational projects.
Regional chapters and an Annual Meeting held each year
in different cities within the United States enable members
to visit collections, exchange ideas, and attend educational
workshops. Members receive six issues of the journal,
Mechanical Music, which also contains advertising space
for members who wish to buy, sell, and restore mechanical
musical instruments and related items. Members also
receive the biennial MBSI Directory of Members, Museums,
and Dealers.
The only requirements for membership are an interest in
automatic music machines and the desire to share information
about them. And you’ll take pride in knowing you
are contributing to the preservation of these marvelous
examples of bygone craftsmanship.
More Information online at www.MBSI.org, or
Call: (417) 886-8839, or
Email: jbeeman.mbsi@att.net
Copy this page, and give it to a potential new member. Spread the word about MBSI.
Last name First Name Initial
Last Name First Name Initial
Address
City State / Zip Postal Code / Country
Phone Fax E-mail
Sponsor (optional)
Membership Dues
US members (per household)……………………………………….$60
Student Membership $20
(online journal access only)
Canada…………………………………………………………………………$70
Other International………………………………………………………$75
(Add $20 for International air mail.)
Join online: www.mbsi.org/join-mbsi
Check or Money Order Payable to: MBSI Treasurer (US Funds Only)
Mail to: New Member Registration – MBSI
PO Box 10196
Springfield, MO 65808-0196
Visa/MasterCard
Exp. Date CCV
Signature
4 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
By Tom Kuehn
MBSI President
I hope you all are continuing to enjoy
our hobby as we progress through
these challenging and uncertain times.
According to my Webster’s Dictionary
of the English Language (yes, I still
have the dictionary given to me as a
high school graduation gift), “hobby,
n., a spare time interest or occupation,
esp. one taken up just for pleasure.”
As mentioned in a previous message,
because there was no annual business
meeting this year, the election of officers
was conducted by letter ballot.
Thank you to all who returned your
ballots. The unanimous results were as
follows: David Corkrum to serve one
more year as vice president, Edward
Kozak to serve another one year term
as treasurer, and Linda Birkitt to serve
another one year term as recording
secretary. Dave Calendine was also
elected to a four-year term as a
trustee. All the society officers, board
members and committee chairs are
working especially hard these days
because of the disruptions caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic and deserve
your unfailing support.
August 2020
Stephen Backiel & Terry Vanderplas
Knoxville, TN
September 2020
Kazuo Matsumoto
Odawara-shi, Kanagawa-ken,
Japan
Robert Fox
Parker, CO
Sponsor: Stephen Fox
Peter Danzig
Salt Lake City, UT
Welcome new
members!
All members should have received
the 2020-2021 Mechanical Music
Directory of Members, Museums and
Dealers by now. Our editor, Russell
Kasselman, has done an outstanding
job along with numerous pairs of eyes
who carefully proofread the content.
Of course, this is a snapshot in time of
our membership and contact information
that is also available on our web
site 24/7. Members can update their
information at any time by logging
into the members only section.
The trustees held their annual
board meeting on Friday, Sept. 4, via
teleconference. This was the final
board meeting for Sally Craig as she
completed two four-year terms as
an MBSI Trustee. Members of the
board thanked Sally for her dedicated
service and wished her well. She will
continue to serve the society as chair
of the Museum Committee. Considerable
effort has been made to resolve
the upcoming annual meeting schedule
that was disrupted this year. The
plan is to meet in Florida next year
as originally scheduled and then hold
the meeting in Northern California
the following year, a two-year delay
from the original plan to hold it there
this year. The minutes of this meeting
are published in this issue starting on
Page 12.
Virtual meetings are being discussed
as a mechanism for chapters
to hold meetings and for the society
to provide its membership with alternative
modes of information. These
could include workshops, collection
tours, interviews, or a variety of other
formats. It opens up the possibility
of seeing world class collections in
Japan and Europe that many of us in
the U.S. would never be able to visit
personally. Zoom has become a widely
used platform although others are
being considered. To accomplish this,
however, we need a few volunteers to
help lay the groundwork. Matt Jaro,
chair of our Meetings Committee, has
taken the lead in this initiative. Please
contact Matt if you have ideas or
expertise to share.
Some emergency changes to the
society bylaws and policies and pro-
cedures documents were instituted by
the trustees at the May 22 meeting this
year. With all the disruptions to our
normal operations, however, I have
formed a Presidential Committee to
carefully review both documents
and bring recommendations to the
board at the mid-year meeting to be
held next March. The committee is
chaired by Immediate Past President
Clay Witt, with Vice President David
Corkrum and Trustee Wayne Finger as
members.
As I write this, our maple trees are
in full glory with brilliant yellows,
oranges and various shades of red.
Colder weather is definitely approaching.
My grandmother used to say,
“Minnesota has nine months of winter
and three months of poor sleighing.”
Be safe, stay well.
★
★
★★
®
(INTERNATIONAL)
ORGANIZED IN 1949
DEVOTED TO ALL MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
★
★
★★
®
(INTERNATIONAL)
ORGANIZED IN 1949
DEVOTED TO ALL MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Musical Box Society International
P.O. Box 10196
Spring eld, MO 65808-0196
Phone/Fax: (417) 886-8839
Musical Box Society International
P.O. Box 10196
Spring eld, MO 65808-0196
Phone/Fax: (417) 886-8839
MBSI MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
EACH ONE/REACH ONE NEW MEMBER
MBSI is always interested in increasing its membership and is pleased to offer new members a $15
discount off their rst year’s membership. You are considered a new member if you have not been a
member in the past three years. This discount is also available on our website, www.mbsi.org.
Current MBSI members who sponsor a new member will receive a $5 discount off their next year’s
MBSI membership renewal for each sponsorship. Attach a copy of the discount voucher below to a
copy of the membership application form on Page 4 of this issue of Mechanical Music. Place your
name as “sponsor” on the application form.
Please make copies of these forms as needed and send the completed forms with checks to the MBSI
administrator at the address listed below.
Dues Voucher – $15
New U.S. members may join MBSI for one year at $45 (instead
of $60); Canadians $55 (instead of $70; and, other International
members at $60 (instead of $75). This certi cate must accom-
pany payment and a copy of the completed membership
application from page 4 of this issue of Mechanical Music.
New Member Name(s):
Authorized by MBSI Administrator
NEW MEMBER
GIFT CERTIFICATE
New members are those who have never been members of MBSI
or those who have not been members for three years prior to
submission of this voucher.
New members are those who have never
been members of MBSI or those who have
not been members for three years prior to
submission of this certi cate.
Gift Membership Name
Sponsor
Address, City, State, ZIP
Phone Email
Please mail this form together with your check made payable to “MBSI” to the MBSI Administrator at the address listed
above. Memberships are $45 for U.S. residents, $55 for Canadian residents, and $60 for other International residents.
SPECIAL OFFER: Purchase one or more rst-year MBSI gift
memberships at $45 each U.S., $55 Canadian, or $60 other Interna-
tional and you will receive $5 off your next year’s MBSI membership
renewal for each “New Member” gift.
★
★
★★
®
(INTERNATIONAL)
ORGANIZED IN 1949
DEVOTED TO ALL MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
★
★
★★
®
(INTERNATIONAL)
ORGANIZED IN 1949
DEVOTED TO ALL MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Musical Box Society International
P.O. Box 10196
Spring eld, MO 65808-0196
Phone/Fax: (417) 886-8839
Musical Box Society International
P.O. Box 10196
Spring eld, MO 65808-0196
Phone/Fax: (417) 886-8839
MBSI MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
EACH ONE/REACH ONE NEW MEMBER
MBSI is always interested in increasing its membership and is pleased to offer new members a $15
discount off their rst year’s membership. You are considered a new member if you have not been a
member in the past three years. This discount is also available on our website, www.mbsi.org.
Current MBSI members who sponsor a new member will receive a $5 discount off their next year’s
MBSI membership renewal for each sponsorship. Attach a copy of the discount voucher below to a
copy of the membership application form on Page 4 of this issue of Mechanical Music. Place your
name as “sponsor” on the application form.
Please make copies of these forms as needed and send the completed forms with checks to the MBSI
administrator at the address listed below.
Dues Voucher – $15
New U.S. members may join MBSI for one year at $45 (instead
of $60); Canadians $55 (instead of $70; and, other International
members at $60 (instead of $75). This certi cate must accom-
pany payment and a copy of the completed membership
application from page 4 of this issue of Mechanical Music.
New Member Name(s):
Authorized by MBSI Administrator
NEW MEMBER
GIFT CERTIFICATE
New members are those who have never been members of MBSI
or those who have not been members for three years prior to
submission of this voucher.
New members are those who have never
been members of MBSI or those who have
not been members for three years prior to
submission of this certi cate.
Gift Membership Name
Sponsor
Address, City, State, ZIP
Phone Email
Please mail this form together with your check made payable to “MBSI” to the MBSI Administrator at the address listed
above. Memberships are $45 for U.S. residents, $55 for Canadian residents, and $60 for other International residents.
SPECIAL OFFER: Purchase one or more rst-year MBSI gift
memberships at $45 each U.S., $55 Canadian, or $60 other Interna-
tional and you will receive $5 off your next year’s MBSI membership
renewal for each “New Member” gift.
Editor’s Notes MBSI Editorial / Advertising
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
editor@mbsi.org
Editor’s Notes MBSI Editorial / Advertising
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
editor@mbsi.org
By Russell Kasselman
MBSI Editor/Publisher
Welcome to another fantastic issue,
packed with news of the society and
good content to entertain you during
this crazy season. I can’t tell you how
much I’m looking forward to the
holidays this year even if we all have
to celebrate from our own homes
connecting only through computer
screens. I’m ready to get back to a
focus on the things we love, family,
friends and music.
A new column called Outreach Corner
debuts this issue providing useful
tips for chapters and individuals to
share their love of mechanical music
with the public when that becomes
possible again. Written by Mary Ellen
and Wayne Myers, it’s a great kick off
for a new feature that I look forward
to reading regularly. Sally Craig,
Museum Committee chair, also has
an informative column this issue with
some updates on where things stand
with the MBSI collection.
Matt Jaro, in his regular Nickel
Notes column, takes us on another trip
through history via musical press clippings
to tell the story of the Duo-Art
piano. I hope you find it as fascinating
as I did reading about the beginnings
of this new idea, something born of
innovation and iteration that never
existed before and went on to change
the state of music for generations.
David Worrall concludes his five-
part series on sacred music pinned to
cylinders with a thorough discussion
of the one-offs, the odd ball cylinders
that are not commonly found. I’m
truly grateful for David’s contribution
of thorough research on this subject
and glad to know it’s now part of the
society’s official record.
James Brewer and Harold Wade
each sent in accounts of items in
their respective collections with great
pictures to enjoy. No matter whether
these are machines you’ve seen a
hundred times, or are just seeing for
the first time, I’ll bet you’ll admit it’s
great to see members sharing their
stuff with each other and putting it
down on paper for future generations
to enjoy via the MBSI archives. (Got
something you want to share? Send it
in! Email and postal address above.)
First-time contributor Robert
Uhrhammer adds his story of finding an
Edison Amberola 30 and then building
a collection of cylinders with all types
of different music. Read about it in our
column, The Hunt, then write us about
something interesting you found.
Wrapping up, big thanks go to Judy
Caletti for the word-search puzzle
below. Make a copy, share it with the
grandkids, and have fun talking about
what these words mean.
J C Y P I A K L M U R D
K S D I O N O R R C A R
P I A N O G I E E R J O
A D O J R O D K G E A R
D I N K D N M R I A N E
P A J O I C Y L N M B U
B A N L Y D M G A A K G
A C Y M B A L Y J A I E
N C R J K R I G O I L N
J Y C O R O N A J Y N O
O L J O N A K N A B E A
CYLINDER
CYMBAL
DISC
REGINA
GEAR
LINK
OAK
DRUM
PIANO
REUGE
BANJOx2
CORONA
OIL
KNABE
Words can be
found horizontally
and diagonally,
forwards and
backwards.
Answer to the
puzzle is on
Page 54.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 7
Outreach Corner Outreach Corner
By Mary Ellen Myers
Special Exhibits Committee Chair
Welcome to our “corner,” a new
recurring space reserved for reports,
stories and chats related to exhibiting,
demonstrating and teaching people
about mechanical music machines and
other mechanical curiosities of other
times. Since my first encounter with
these “magic machines” my thoughts
have always been, “this is too special
not to share!” Twenty years later, my
thoughts are the same.
I am excited to continue in this
direction with some very enthusiastic
Special Exhibit Committee members.
All are committed to the goals of
sharing and promoting awareness
and interest in mechanical music.
This year brings the committee three
new members; Knowles Little from
the National Capital Chapter, Donald
Caine from the Southern California
Chapter, and Aaron Muller from the
Lake Michigan Chapter. Since local
chapters reach far and wide, each
one holds special resources and
diversities. It would be great to for all
chapters to be represented. We learn
so much from each other.
Since the pandemic is currently
setting limits on possibilities for
exhibiting mechanical music, I have
asked committee members to use
this down time to reflect and share
some of their past experiences and
presentations (in part or in entirety)
with MBSI members via this special
column. Successful experiences generate
fresh ideas, and light the spark
for new horizons.
My husband, Wayne, has agreed to
write this inaugural article.
Enjoy and learn!
What’s in the Box
By Wayne Myers
Several years ago, members of the
Southeast Chapter developed a show
A hands-on kit featuring different sizes of combs, gears, levers, damper wires and
even an original repair manual is helpful when explaining the working pieces of a
music box. Why the feather? The quill was the original damper before the steel wire
was used.
and tell learning experience for visitors
to our events. We brought with us
various restored instruments from our
collections to show and play. These
are beautiful cylinder boxes and disc
boxes that sound fantastic and draw
people to our booth wherever we are.
While this approach does inspire some
excitement about mechanical music
from visitors, we found that few people
wanted to become new members
of the society via these venues.
I realized that in order to hold a
person’s interest in the society and
encourage them to become members,
we needed to do something more. In
my experience conducting the show
and tell sessions, one of the most
8 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Consider using a severely damaged music box that would
be difficult or costly to restore to help explain what types of
repairs are often needed and how a restoration effort might be
started. A box like this can be touched frequently without fear,
unlike a restored box that could be damaged with too much
handling.
difficult things to communicate to people simply watching
a music box play is that there are exciting and interesting
things happening unseen below the cylinder and comb. It’s
hard to explain the size of damper wires, or a worm gear
(endless screw), or to demonstrate how a comb’s teeth are
tuned with lead weights, etc.
So, in an effort to make our presentations more interesting,
David Beck and I collaborated on another approach.
We made a hands-on kit that includes all of the components
of a cylinder box so that we can show each piece separately
and explain what’s happening behind the scenes while the
music box is playing.
Another part of our hands-on kit is an un-restorable
cylinder box, purposefully left in disarray, that we can use
to demonstrate how someone might start undertaking the
restoration of an instrument. Our un-restorable box (circa
1850) has teeth broken off the comb, missing cylinder pins
and other problems that many current MBSI members
are probably very familiar with and might even have
experience repairing themselves. People who are being
Having combs and pinned cylinders available for people to
touch helps increase interest in how music boxes are con-
structed, tuned and repaired. Pieces like these help start
conversations that can lead to new members joining the
society.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 9
introduced to the hobby for the first
time, however, will likely never have
seen such interesting things before.
Our thinking was that by introducing
new people to the individual pieces
of a cylinder box and explaining how
each piece works and can be repaired
or restored, their interest might grow
beyond just a simple appreciation of a
restored box playing a delightful tune.
I piloted our new approach at the
Villages, FL, Christmas show last
December with positive results. We
have a potential future venue at the
Orlando Science Center, which draws
thousands of people a day. I hope by
the time this article is published we
might have a program and schedule for
that event, but it all depends on what
happens as current events unfold.
David and Carol Beck have been
restoring cylinder boxes for decades.
They have mentored me over the
years, not teaching me their restoration
techniques, but rather how to
draw new members to MBSI by sharing
and showing mechanical music to
those who have never seen it before.
I encourage each chapter to build its
own show and tell kit and develop a
sheet of paper that chapter members
can use to help explain each of the
individual pieces of a music box, be
it a cylinder, disc, crank organ, band
organ, or whatever else might be available
for display. In this way, you might
find that exhibiting mechanical music
brings new interest to your displays
and may even earn your chapter a new
member or two.
I will provide updates from our
experiences with the hands-on show
and tell kit when we are able to bring
it out into the public. Keep following
the Outreach Corner for new ideas
on spreading the joy of mechanical
music.
Displays like this that label the parts and pieces of a music box can be very useful
when conducting a presentation for the public.
Allowing people to touch and see a worm gear (or endless screw) can really make it
easier to explain what the piece is doing when the music box is playing.
A cardboard roll wrapped with damper
wire helps illustrate how fine the wire
must be in a music box.
10 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Museum Committee Report Museum Committee Report
By Sally Craig
Museum Committee Chair
I am happy to report the Guitarophone has been restored
by Gerald Wright to the best it could be considering it had
been in poor shape prior to restoration. The instrument has
been returned to the American Treasure Tour for display
and play. This is happy news as this has been a multi-year
process to complete.
A major new donation was completed this year. No.
2 of 10 of the Papa Jano, an original automata made by
Darlene Mirijanian, was added to the MBSI collection. I
had the pleasure to meet with Darlene’s family and get to
know her daughter and granddaughter. It was a wonderful
chance to renew thoughts of Darlene with her husband Jan
Mirijanian.
This original piece is of importance as MBSI has an award
in Darlene’s honor that rewards members for creativity in
music box making. When I visited with the family, I found
Darlene was more widely known than just to MBSI. She
did art work for Dept. 56, Enesco, and other commercial
companies. Her Papa Jano piece was later mass produced
by Enesco.
It was recently discovered when adding several new
items to the society’s online asset database that the instructions
for managing the society’s inventory and recording
new donations needed a bit of clarification as they had not
been updated since 2004. Working with Russell Kasselman,
the editor of the journal, who is currently managing the
database, a set of steps was outlined and is presented here.
When a donation request is received by MBSI, legal
forms authorizing MBSI to accept the donation are signed
by the Museum Committee chair, the MBSI president, and
the person donating the item(s).
Next, an inventory form is filled out for each item of the
donation. Each form should include:
• Donation Date
• The name(s) of the person(s) donating the item
• A name for the item (e.g. Regina 15-inch disc box)
• A description of the item, including any repairs that
need to be made
• A value for the item
• A location where the item will be stored or displayed
(this information should be available only to MBSI
members and not the public)
A copy of the inventory form is then sent to the asset
database manager along with photos of the item that clearly
identify it as the item matching the description on the form.
The asset database manager enters information from the
inventory form into the asset database and assigns an item
identification number for each piece of inventory.
The asset database manager then makes information
The original Papa Jano automaton produced by Darlene
Mirijanian that was recently donated to MBSI by her husband
and family.
about the item available online to MBSI members and the
public via the MBSI website. Members are able to see more
information about each asset than the public.
Periodically, the asset database manager will produce a
spreadsheet showing all the item identification numbers in
the system, descriptions of items, status of items (sold, on
display, in storage, etc.) for the Museum Committee chair
to review.
The asset database includes records of the last-known
location of each item in inventory, and records of any moves
or status changes for each item. The Museum Committee
chair is charged with communicating any status changes
for items currently in the database to the asset database
manager who will record the move in the asset database.
The asset database manager position is currently in need
of a volunteer. Training is available for anyone willing to
serve in this capacity.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 11
71st Annual Trustees Meeting
Held via Teleconference on Friday, Sept. 4, 2020
The meeting was called to order at 9
a.m. by President Tom Kuehn, presiding
via Teleconference. The following
board members were present: David
Corkrum, Bob Caletti, Ed Cooley,
Sally Craig, Wayne Finger, Mary Ellen
Myers, Clay Witt and Matt Jaro. (nine
of nine, a quorum). Linda Birkitt was
in attendance as the MBSI recording
secretary as was Dave Calendine. Ed
Kozak joined the group mid-meeting.
President Kuehn recognized Sally
Craig’s retirement as trustee of MBSI.
Mary Ellen had sent a decorated thank
you card to Sally acknowledging her
long years of service to the organization.
Ed Cooley gave Sally a virtual
hug for her service.
1. The minutes of the MBSI May 22,
2020, meeting were approved with the
correction of the adjournment time
of 10:49 a.m. Trustee Witt moved to
approve the corrected minutes with
trustee Craig seconding the motion.
Motion carried.
2. Secretary Birkitt presented
the Board Actions. Vice President
Corkrum recommended that Section
VII Administration/Accountant
should also be included in the Policies
and Procedures (P&P) under
Marketing. Vice President Corkrum
recommended that the subsection on
monitoring membership certificates
will continue and should also be
included in the P&P. The report was
received as presented.
3. Vice President Corkrum reviewed
his report stating that all award
recipients have received their awards,
although there was some difficulty
regarding a duty charge for Paul
Bellamy’s award. Five of the six
award recipients sent in their photos
documenting their receipt with Paul
Bellamy’s photo to follow. Vice President
Corkrum noted that the brass
plaques for literary achievement and
the trustees’ award have been sent to
the museum committee chair.
Two motions were made and
approved by the Executive Committee
since the mid-year meeting: 1. Jun.
10, 2020 – Unanimous approval of
revisions to the P&P as passed by
the trustees on May 22, 2020. 2. Jun.
15, 2020 – Unanimous approval of
the revisions to the bylaws as passed
by the trustees on May 22, 2020. The
report was received as presented.
4a. Ed Kozak, treasurer and chair of
the Finance Committee presented the
committee’s report. The total balance
for MBSI increased by $22,208 for the
year 2019, compared to $30,545 in
2018. However, the 2019 dues revenue
continues to decline from $78,583 to
$74,771. Membership numbers have
declined by 6 percent with corresponding
decreased revenues. The
2019 convention income of $84,530,
exceeded convention expense of
$78,442. Publishing revenues were
$17,115 with publishing expenses
totaling $65,193. Total tax preparation,
accounting and administrative costs
totaled $25,452 in 2019. A renewed
contract with Russell Kasselman
continues until Oct. 31, 2023 with no
increase in publication costs.
Per the Board of Regents, University
of the State of New York requirements,
MBSI must have a review
of its financial statements for the
year ending Dec. 31, 2019. Maturing
CDs continue to be reinvested in the
MBSI’s laddering investment strategy.
As of Dec. 31, 2019, MBSI had operating
investments of $381,599 and
restricted investments of $319,779
with a cash balance of $96,178. An
independent CPA conducted the
review and submitted a report stating
that no material modifications need
be made to the financial statements
in order to conform with generally
accepted accounting principles. Total
fund balances for 2019 increased by
$22,208. Net assets totaled $767,197 as
of Dec. 31, 2019.
A proposed 2021 MBSI budget was
developed and sent via email to all
trustees and committee chairs on
Aug. 12, 2020 requesting input and
comments for the 2021 budget. After
requested responses, the proposed
budget was revised with minor
changes and completed. The trustees
have now received the proposed 2021
budget for their perusal. The proposed
2020-2021 budget contained
minor adjustments with a net deficit
of approximately $21,000.
As of Dec. 31, 2019 MBSI had
$193,178 of financial assets available
within one year of the statement of
financial position consisting of cash
of $95,634, a short-term bond fund
of $15,000, a money market account
of $544, and certificates of deposit
of $82,000 available for liquidity
purposes. The 2021 budget has been
approved by the trustees including
an additional $2,000 designated
for the Marketing Committee. A
motion to accept the amended budget
including the additional $2,000 for the
Marketing Committee was made by
Trustee Witt and seconded by Trustee
Craig. Motion carried. The report was
received as presented.
4b. The Endowment Committee
chaired by Ed Kozak obtained financial
statements as of Dec. 31, 2019
which were compiled by Shaw, Faulkner
& Werner Financial Group, Inc. The
Endowment Fund balance, which is a
donor restricted asset was $155,505.
The Fund balance increased by $2,340
from Dec. 31, 2018 with 36 donations.
As of Dec. 31, 2019, the portfolio fund
is composed of two certificates of
deposit that mature in August 2020
and May 2021, respectively. The par
value of certificates total $152,000.00
12 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
with interest rates ranging from 1.9
percent to 2.9 percent. Also, the fund
has a money market account with a
balance of $7,717 as of Dec. 31, 2019.
An ongoing concern is that society
membership continues to decline. B.
Bronson, committee member,
received a request from the Herschell
Carousel Factory Museum for a donation
to support their endowment fund,
although no specific dollar amount
was requested. Trustee Craig stated
that $15,000 requested by B. Bronson
appeared to be a great deal of money.
We could consider $10,000 with a contingency
of what they particularly do
with their endowment funds. Two program
requests were received with an
estimated total of $13,000 which have
been submitted to the trustees for
approval. The trustees have requested
additional information for the $10,000
non-society program request and are
awaiting that response. At this time,
no funding has occurred for either
project. This report was received as
presented.
5. The Administrator’s /Accountant
Report was presented by President
Kuehn. As of the end of August 2020,
there were 1,130 family memberships
which was a decrease from the previous
year of 1,204. As of Dec. 31, 2019,
there were 1,079 family memberships
(per minutes of the 2020 mid-year
trustee meeting). Two packets have
been mailed out by Jacque Beeman
for web discounts. During 2019, five
Gift Membership /Sponsor programs
were initiated and five new members
joined via the voucher program. For-
ty-seven new members joined via the
website in 2019 who received the New
Member Web Discount of $15. For the
period Jul. 1, 2019 to Jun. 30, 2020 Bill
Wineburgh is the “dealer” recipient of
a free renewal for sponsoring three
new members and Don Caine and
Robin Biggins are the “member” recipients
of a free renewal for sponsoring
two new members each. The report
was received as presented.
6. Trustee Cooley presented the
Audit Committee report. He is pleased
to report that Trustee Jaro will remain
on the Audit Committee. He will be
joined by new Trustee Dave Calendine
who replaces Trustee Finger. As
required by New York statutes and
regulations, annual MBSI financial
statements must be reviewed by an
independent CPA. As of Dec. 31, 2019,
the year end report was in accordance
with generally accepted accounting
principles used in the United States
of America. Cinda Rogers, CPA, of
Springfield, MO, continues to function
as the independent CPA for MBSI.
The Independent Accountant’s Report
will be available in its entirety on the
MBSI website.
The Compilation Report of Salable
Items is being eliminated by the Audit
Committee as the monetary value of
the items appears to be no more than
$190. The time required to perform
this audit is not worth the committee’s
efforts.
The 2019 revenue analysis includes
the journal’s, printing, and mailing
expenses as developed by Ed Kozak,
treasurer. The net MBSI revenue for
2019 was $74,771. Using 2019 membership
data of 87.6 percent U.S., 1.91
percent Canadian, and 10.42 percent
representing other international members,
the total estimated revenue given
these assumptions would be $75,645.
This -$840 difference amounts to a
-1.16 percent difference which is considered
an acceptable variance. The
average membership for January to
October 2019 is 1,204. The decrease in
average number of members is 72 with
an estimated decrease membership
revenue of $4,320. The net membership
revenue for 2019 is $74,771 and
for the year 2018 was $78,763 resulting
in a decrease in membership revenue
of $3,992.
Vice President Corkrum reminded
the group that we have no Membership
Committee chair, so Rick Swaney will
be contacted to obtain the C-O-I from
Gerald Yorioka. Matt Jaro stated that
Mary Pollock’s name shall be removed
from the C-O-I list due to health issues.
The report was received as presented.
7. The Marketing Committee
Report was presented by Trustee
Wayne Finger for Bob Smith. The
Marketing Committee is in process
of creating four to five one-minute
videos to advertise MBSI on the
MBSI website and other locations.
The committee requests $1,000 for
targeted marketing to mechanical
music related groups on Facebook.
Also, $1,000 for print advertising is
requested. The MBSI organization
should query the 71 new members
for 2019 as to how these members
came to join MBSI. President Kuehn
requested a motion to be made for
these projects. Trustee Finger moved
that $2,550 be made available to the
Marketing Committee for these two
projects and the ongoing marketing
budget. Trustee Witt seconded the
motion. The motion carried.
Trustee Myers suggested “Marvels
of Mechanical Music” on YouTube
would be another venue for MBSI
advertising. Trustee Finger noted
that the video has broad vs targeted
advertising. Trustee Jaro noted that
“Marvels of Mechanical Music” fails
to attract entry level people who don’t
have loads of money to spend on collecting
since the video focuses mainly
on very rare and expensive items,
such as Welte Orchestrions. Trustee
Craig suggested that music schools
could be a potential pool of new MBSI
members. Trustee Jaro also suggested
that Mechanical Music Digest (https://
www.mmdigest.com/ aka MMD) be a
potential contact to develop further
MBSI members. The report was
received as presented.
8. The Meetings Committee report
was delivered by Trustee Jaro. With
regrets, he informed the group that
Mary Pollock will be unable to further
serve on the committee due to health
issues.
The following is the recommended
future meetings schedule:
• 2020 Golden Gate 71st Annual
Meeting was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2021 Southeast 72nd Annual
Meeting is to be held at the
Crowne Plaza in Fort Myers, FL
from August 30- September 4,
2021. Hotel rates are $109 King/
sleeper and $119 for a double
with an expected attendance of
200.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 13
• 2022 Golden Gate 73rd Annual
Meeting as a joint meeting
with AMICA from August 30 to
September 5, 2022.
• 2023 Snowbelt 74th Annual Meeting
will be hosted by this Chapter
with a planned attendance of 75.
• 2024 Lake Michigan will host
the 75th Annual Meeting in the
Chicago area. This event should
be well attended as it is MBSI’s
diamond anniversary.
• 2025 Southern California Chapter
will host the 76th Annual Meeting
jointly with AMICA which will
take the lead.
Trustee Jaro moved to adopt the
meetings schedule and was seconded
by Trustee Cooley. The motion
carried.
Due to the cancellation of the 71st
Annual Meeting, the purchase of video
equipment will be postponed until
normal meeting schedules return
so that the latest technology may be
obtained. Rich Poppe will be responsible
for purchasing video equipment.
A motion by Trustee Witt was made
to have Trustee Jaro investigate a
Zoom subscription. A second was
made by Trustee Craig. Motion
carried. The report was received as
presented.
9. Chair Craig presented the
Museum Committee report. The
Guitarophone has been restored to
the best level possible considering its
initial condition. As of yet no bill has
been presented for the repair, nor has
the Guitarophone been returned to
the ATT.
The donation #2/10 of the PAPA
JANO original automata by Darlene
Marijanian is now concluded. As
Darlene was well known for her creativity,
an MBSI award was devised in
her honor. As COVID-19 issues closed
the ATT., this automaton has not yet
been placed in the museum.
MBSI needs clarification of rules to
manage inventory. Some donations
were numbered out of sequence
before the Barry Johnson inventory
numbers were completed. The current
editor and Museum Committee
chair will correct the numbering
system via a policy/procedure to refine
how donated items will be handled
going forward. A proposed Museum
Committee inventory procedure has
been written which will be brought
to the appropriate body for approval.
A revised pamphlet for Guidelines
and Suggestions for Planned Giving
to Benefit the Musical Box Society,
International was presented to the
Board. Trustee Witt moved that the
Guidelines for Planned Giving be
reviewed by the Finance Committee
and word smithed. The motion was
seconded by Trustee Myers. Motion
carried. President Kuehn accepted
the museum acquisition form. The
report was received as presented.
10. The Nominating Committee
was presented by Judy Caletti from
chair Dan Wilson’s report. The usual
compliment of committee members
is eight, however, one slot remains
unfilled currently. Each chapter has
a two-year term to complete, and now
Japan is included in the rotation. The
following comprises the Nominating
Committee: Dan Wilson, Chair; Immediate
Past President Clay Witt; Trustee
Bob Caletti; Judy Caletti, Mary Ellen
Myers, Arron Muller, Robin Biggins
and one open position. The Piedmont
Chapter is slated to fill the eighth
committee member, however, at this
time it is recommended that the slot
not be filled.
The Nominating Committee presented
the following slate of officers
and trustees at the mid-year meeting:
Vice President Dave Corkrum to serve
second one-year term; Dave Calendine
to serve first four-year term as trustee;
Treasurer Ed Kozak to serve another
one-year term; Recording Secretary
Linda Birkitt to serve another one-
year term. The report was received as
presented.
11. Chair Mary Ellen Myers presented
the Special Exhibits Report
for the committee. Due to restrictions
caused by the pandemic, a hold has
been placed on public exhibits and
displays so no exhibits have been
held since the mid-year meeting. Due
to the elimination of social activities,
some chapters have employed
Zoom to resume meetings. Zoom
meetings provide a safe modality for
maintaining social distancing. Both
Zoom and YouTube could be used
for educational programs as well as
MBSI meetings. Since the Marketing
Committee is in progress of creating
a short promotional video, they might
consider using footage from previous
special events displays. Russell
Kasselman has graciously offered to
provide space in the journal for Special
Exhibits outreach articles. Trustee
Mary Ellen Myers is preparing an
introductory lead for a journal column
called Outreach Corner. Wayne Myers
will write the initial article under this
heading, targeted for the November/
December issue. Trustee Myers is
requesting the approval of three new
committee members. The report was
received as presented.
12a. Chair Bob Caletti presented the
Publications Committee Report. He
is most appreciative of Terry Smythe
for converting the present Presto and
Music Trade Review (MTR) publications
on our web site from a multipage
to a single page/word searchable PDF.
In their present form the search will
only find the whole publication where
the search item is located, not the
page where it is located. Mechanical
Music is word or phrase searchable to
the page of a journal where the word
or phrase is found which is more
convenient and faster while searching
for data. This makes it possible to
convert the scans Terry did with new
descriptive titles that are consistent
with the naming convention we need
for the searches. The next steps will
be done by Russell which will then
appear on the society web site.
We are trying to use a text version
of the journal and convert it into an
HTML format that can be posted
to the web site and subsequently
translated by the apps that are there
into different languages. This means
non-English speaking people would
receive the journal and then go to the
web site and translate the text version
without pictures so they can read it in
their language. This feature would be
on the members only portion of the
website.
14 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Proposed P&P changes.
Page 11, section XVII, D 3
3. The book loan term period is
three months with one renewal. Up to
two titles may be borrowed by members.
A $10 (U.S.) fee per book will be
charged. (Trustees 3/28/14; Trustees
revised 3/18/16; Trustees 8/29/17)
Books can be loaned to members
outside the U.S. provided the cost
of international shipping is covered.
Items must be returned within three
months from the date of receipt by
Priority Mail and insured at borrower’s
expense.
Trustee Caletti recommended that
the board approve the change in wording
in the P&P as stated above.
Current website text states, “The
Lending Library books and pamphlets
are available for borrowing by MBSI
members. Books (up to two titles)
may be borrowed by members for not
more than 30 days by paying a $10.00
(U.S.) fee per book. This fee covers
the cost of postage by Priority Mail,
packing materials and insurance.
Items must be returned within 30 days
from date of receipt by Priority Mail
and insured at borrower/s expense.
Items that are not returned promptly
may result in the borrower losing their
MBSI membership privileges. Books
can be loaned to members outside the
U.S. provided the cost of international
shipping is covered.”
Suggested website text for lending
library:
“The Lending Library books and
pamphlets are available for borrowing
by MBSI members. Books (up to two
titles) may be borrowed by members
for not more than 3 months by paying
a $10.00 (U.S.) fee per book. This fee
covers the cost of postage by Priority
Mail, packing materials and insurance.
Please print this form and enclose
with your payment made payable to
MBSI. Items must be returned within
3 months from date of receipt by Priority
Mail and insured at borrower’s
expense. Items that are not returned
promptly may result in the borrower’s
membership being revoked until the
book is returned or a $200.00 fine is
paid.”
Books can be loaned to members
outside the U.S. provided the cost of
international shipping is covered.
Trustee Caletti recommended that
the board approve the change in
wording on the MBSI web site about
our lending library as stated above. A
motion was made by Trustee Caletti
that MBSI books may be loaned for a
period of three months with up to two
titles on loan by a member at one time.
A $10 (U.S.) deposit will be required
per book which will be returned after
the book has been returned. Priority
Mail must be utilized. Trustee Jaro
seconded the motion. The motion carried.
It was noted that the directory
and the website must be consistent
with the wording in the P&P. The
report was received as presented.
12b. The Editor/Publisher report
was presented by Trustee Caletti.
Even though MBSI chapter meetings
and the annual meeting have been
canceled, the usual 68 pages of the
Mechanical Music journal were filled
as usual. Forty-seven writers contributed
to the journal this year compared
to the 43 contributors from last year.
Russell is most grateful to all contributors
who have submitted articles
with such appealing content for publication.
Restoration and maintenance
articles are especially welcome in
order to provide ongoing care and
maintenance for our mechanisms.
Russell is making a special request for
articles focusing on pianos, clocks,
band organs and other less typical
items in your collections.
Advertising percentages have continued
at the same level. In 2019 an
average of 18.66 percent of journal
pages is well within the target range
of 15 percent to 25 percent advertising
per issue. As advertisers choose
to buy online ads or self-market,
Mechanical Music now posts copies
of every print advertisement which
appears in the journal on a dedicated
page of the society website. Each ad
on the page links to the advertiser’s
website so visitors can easily connect
with them.
The society does not have a
database administrator to maintain
the MBSI Asset Database. Russell
has added 49 new items to the database.
Trustee Craig in the capacity
as Museum Chair and Russell have
discussed a process for adding new
items going forward. Therefore, a volunteer
from the Museum Committee
is being sought who would function
as an Asset Database Administrator to
keep the database current. This task
can be performed from any internet
connected device. Russell will train
any volunteer for this post. This report
was received as presented.
13. The Website Subcommittee
Report was presented by Trustee
Caletti. There have been no significant
changes to the website since the midyear
meeting. An announcement about
the convention cancellation is on the
home page. The original provisional
MBSI Charter (1967) has been added
to the members-only page. Previews of
the journals appear in the MBSI news
section. The preview is also posted to
Mechanical Music Digest.
The new category on Organettes has
been added to the instrument gallery.
Nine images, each with a sound clip,
were provided by member Harold
Draper. Six new images from Chair
Rick Swaney’s collection were added
to the Phonograph gallery.
Total view count for the website is
up 15,558 since the mid-year meeting
averaging 98 views per day. Just
over 2,100 referrals to our site came
from Google and Bing. Pinterest and
Facebook came in at 38 each. The
Facebook Forum has now grown to
180 members. The frequency of posts
is still low. The report was received as
presented.
New Business
14. President Kuehn reported that
due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the
election of officers and trustees were
presented to the membership as paper
ballots in their July/August issue of
the Journal. Recording Secretary,
Linda Birkitt, thanked all who voted in
this election. The 413 ballots received
were all cast in the affirmative. David
Corkrum will serve his second term
as vice president; David Calendine
will serve his first four-year term as
trustee; Ed Kozak and Linda Birkitt
will serve a one-year term as treasurer
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 15
and recording secretary, respectively.
The report was received as presented.
15. Bylaws and P&P Amendment
update was presented by Trustee
Witt. Per President Kuehn, the bylaws
allow the MBSI president to set up a
Presidential Committee to look at the
bylaws and the P&P. Trustee Witt is
chair of that committee along with
Trustee Finger and Trustee Corkrum.
Per Trustee Witt the Bylaws are 95
percent completed which was accomplished
via Zoom meetings. Only
remaining items are for changes which
allow the directory and the bylaws to
conform with the P&P. Report was
received as presented.
16. Trustee Matt Jaro presented the
Special Report on the Digital Lending
Library. Terry Smythe received the
David Q. Bowers award last year
and as a “thank you.” He purchased
a new book scanner with which he
has already scanned 29 books from
the MBSI Lending Library. Just like
a traditional library, a borrower may
borrow the “scanned” book. However,
no one else can borrow the scanned
book until the initial scanned book is
returned to the Lending Library. This
process is known as Controlled Digital
Lending (CDL). Currently there is
a lawsuit against the Internet Archive
to block this practice. If MBSI had a
Digital Lending Library, it might have
to shut down if the Internet Archive
loses the suit. MBSI owes Terry
Smythe a response which has yet to
be generated. Trustee Jaro responded
to Terry Smythe by stating he would
approach the board during the annual
meeting for a response. Trustee Jaro
thanked him for his efforts and recommends
that the board formulate a
position and draft a formal response.
The report was received as presented.
17. President Kuehn presented the
current board appointments for committees.
The Executive Committee
comprises three ex officio members
and two additional trustees who serve
terms that coincide with the president.
Trustee Finger will continue the second
year of his term. Mary Ellen Myers
has agreed to be appointed as the second
trustee and begin a one-year term.
The board approved these selections.
Trustee Matt Jaro was appointed to a
two-year term as board representative
on the Museum Committee to replace
Sally Craig. Standing committee chairs
and their members were appointed for
one-year terms. Trustee Witt moved,
seconded by Trustee Craig to accept
the appointments for the standing
committees. The motion passed.
18. President Kuehn started a discussion
about having virtual trustees’
meetings via Zoom. There was some
discussion about whether all the trustees
could participate in this manner.
All trustees indicated that they had
cameras and could easily participate
in a Zoom meeting. President Kuehn
will coordinate with Trustee Jaro on
setting up the next mid-year meeting
using this feature.
A motion was made by Vice President
Corkrum to adjourn the meeting
which was seconded by Trustee Craig.
The motion passed. The meeting was
adjourned at 2:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Birkitt
Recording Secretary, MBSI
Oct. 4, 2020
16 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 17
18 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 19
Award Presentations for 2020
By David Corkrum
MBSI Vice President
Trustees’ Award
This year’s 2020 Trustees’ Award
was presented to Mary Pollock via the
U.S. Postal Service. It is unfortunate
for all of us that COVID-19 interfered
with both our regular annual meeting
and the always entertaining award
presentations. Hopefully, this will not
happen in 2021 or later.
I believe I first met Mary when she
and Betty Toth were bus captains on
an MBSI tour bus. Mary is the ultimate
society member. If something that
needs doing, Mary will be first to step
forward. In 2011, Mary was asked if
she would consider working for the
society as a trustee. Of course, she
accepted and promptly proved to
not only be an excellent trustee but
a proficient parliamentarian as well.
Mary’s term expired in 2019 and the
trustees were sorry to see her leave.
The trustees and officers are proud of
Mary and we thank her for all she has
done for the society.
Darlene Mirijanian Award
The Darlene Mirijanian
Award for 2020 was presented
to Jonathan Herz.
Many of you may not recognize
his name but he has been
making new musical boxes
for many years. His musical
boxes are created from the
ground up. He makes the
clockworks, combs from
carbon tool steel, pinned
cylinders which contain the
same type of sand and rosin
cement used in cylinder
music boxes of the 19th century. His boxes contain a 13-inch cylinder with 8
tunes and he is working on an instrument that will play 12 tunes. The cases are
made in his workshop using most of the same techniques used in early musical
boxes. Jonathan does all of this in the basement of his home in Vermont. He is a
very gifted musician and the members of the Musical Box Society International
extend their congratulations to Jonathan.
Mary Pollock
Johnathan Herz
Sachiya Sasaki
President’s Award
The 2020 President’s Award was
presented to Sachiya Sasaki. Sachiya
was previously a member of the Japanese
International Chapter until its
unfortunate demise. Not satisfied with
simply remaining a member of the
national organization, Sachiya, along
with 20 other MBSI members in Japan,
made plans for and ultimately formed
the new Japan Chapter of MBSI.
The new local chapter was officially
recognized this year. Although I do
not know Sachiya personally, I have
seen him at many of the past MBSI
annual meetings and I know that we,
as a society, are fortunate to have him
as a member. I am sure we will hear
more from him from time to time
about the further exploits of this new
chapter. The president, officers and
trustees extend their congratulations
to Sachiya.
20 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Q. David Bowers Award
The Q. David Bowers Award for
2020 was presented to Paul Bellamy.
Most members have seen and read his
numerous articles on cylinder boxes
but this award was made because of
his most recent book, The Cylinder
Musical Box, A Collector’s and Restorer’s
Handbook. This is an extremely
well composed and well written book
for the amateur enthusiast to learn
basic as well as advanced skills in the
repair of musical boxes. If a person is
skilled with clock and watch making
or related skills in woodwork and metalwork,
this is the book that you need
in order to affect repairs to a musical
box. I, for one, have some basic skills,
but I refer my repairs to a more skilled
repair person. The society congratulates
Paul for this book as well all
those he has authored or co-authored.
Congratulations Paul!
PAUL’S RESPONSE: When David
Corkrum wrote to me earlier this year
informing me of the Q. David Bowers
Award my disappointment in not being
Roehl Ambassador Award
The Roehl Ambassador Award for
this year was presented to Dwight Porter.
Many of us have gone to antique
and gift shops and come across a Porter
Disc Musical Box. I do not doubt
that some of you have even purchased
one or became so intrigued by hearing
the music on one that you ended up
joining the society and starting your
own collection. Dwight’s musical
boxes can be seen in almost every
major city and town and have served
to educate the public on the wonders
of mechanical music. I know that
many of you have moved on to collect
many of the larger instruments. I, for
one, love the music that they produce
so my collection has stayed with this
type of instrument. Dwight’s musical
boxes are not only a treat for those of
us who appreciate them, but also to
those who have never seen or heard
one. He and his company are truly
ambassadors of mechanical music.
The society and the board congratulate
Dwight on all of his achievements.
Juliet Fynes, Chris Fynes, Paul Bellamy, Ted Brown and Don Busby at the informal
presentation ceremony.
able to attend our annual meeting this
year was to a large extent countered
by my delight in the award.
We have all suffered from the
constraints and impositions of the
coronavirus pandemic that has deeply
affected our lives. Having spent eight
Dwight Porter
months on my own under virtual
coronavirus house arrest, the award
was a ray of sunshine. Its journey
from the USA to the UK took many
weeks. Tracking was lost but at last it
arrived, just at a time when lockdown
was being eased a little but on the day
before further constraints were to be
imposed. Thus the team who helped
me to write the “Collector’s and
Restorer’s Handbook” had a window
of opportunity to gather at the home
of MBSI member Ted Brown. Ted
conducted the formalities of presentation
on behalf of MBSI. So, please
forgive the necessary social distancing
requirements that allowed limited
near contact for a very short duration
to pose for the photograph.
“The Collector’s & Restorer’s Handbook”
would not have been possible
without others. From left to right is
Juliet Fynes (proof reader), Chris
Fynes (photography and formatting,)
me, Ted Brown and Don Busby
(graphics).
Just as important was the MBSI
committee, not just for their support
but also for the contributions of
Bob Caletti and Robin Biggins who,
amongst others such as David Evans,
Chris Fynes and the work of the late
HAV Bulleid and John Powell, contributed
to the appendices of the book..
My thanks to everyone.
Sincerely,
Paul
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 21
Award Presentations for 2020
Unsung Hero Award
This year’s Unsung Hero Award was presented to Dianne
Lloyd. I don’t have a lot of first-hand knowledge about
Dianne and her husband, Bob, but her chapter sure knows
the couple well and, as the saying goes, they sing Dianne’s
praises. Dianne is a member of the Southern California
Chapter and has served as the chapter’s secretary and
treasurer for the past 26 years. Most of what she does for
the chapter takes place in the background and many of us
are not aware of all that she is doing to keep their group
functional. Dianne exactly represents what an Unsung
Hero does and the society is proud to present her with this
award. Congratulations Dianne!
Award Nominations
Keep your eyes peeled between now and July 2021 for
members you think deserve an award for their hard work
to benefit the society or promote the mechanical music
hobby. Send in your award nominations to the vice president
of MBSI and the nominations will be considered.
Awards are presented each year during the MBSI annual
meeting. Find descriptions of each award and winners of
past awards at www.mbsi.org on the about page.
Dianne Lloyd
Seeking your stories for ….
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 “The Hunt” 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.
The Hunt
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
22 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
2020 chapter report summaries
East Coast Chapter
Chair: Elise Low
Vice Chair: Vacant
Secretary: Claudia Molinari-Weiler
Treasurer: Roger Wiegand
Registrar: Bruce Low
The East Coast Chapter officially
covers nine states but has members
in many other locales who once lived
within our area. Currently, ECC has
214 members from 140 households, a
decrease from last year.
We gathered together in person only
one time during this reporting year.
That was back in October for guided
tours of the New England Carousel
Museum and the American Clock &
Watch Museum in Bristol, CT. After
dinner in Thomaston, CT, we enjoyed
the vintage silent film, “Phantom of
the Opera” at an old opera house,
complete with organ accompaniment.
The next day’s agenda included a
business meeting, a workshop presentation
about carousels, their organs
and their music, and a brief show and
tell session. An article with photographs
covering our weekend events
appeared in the March/April issue of
Mechanical Music.
As most other chapters have done
during the coronavirus pandemic, we
arranged for an online meeting this
Spring. On Jun. 20, some 17 members
and one guest connected via Zoom,
first to vote on our main business item
– amending our bylaws to streamline
some language and operations – and
then to enjoy five members’ presentations
of special pieces from their
collections, including the two in the
attached photos.
Plans for immediate future meetings
include joining members of COAA and
an AMICA chapter on Zoom for various
tours and “workshop” presentations.
Our final virtual chapter meeting of
the calendar year will include election
of officers for new two-year terms.
Given our chapter’s large geographic
area, it is proving to be much easier
to arrange for and attract members
to virtual meetings: perhaps this will
continue to be the way of the future,
even after the coronavirus pandemic
is over.
— Elise Low, ECC Chair
Golden Gate
Chair: Jonathan Hoyt
Vice Chair: Vacant
Secretary/Treasurer: David Corkrum
Reporter: Jenny Hoyt
Summary of activities from August
2019 to August 2020
The Golden Gate Chapter has
approximately 40 household memberships
Members are primarily located
within the San Francisco, CA, Bay
Area. Typically, about 20-25 individuals
gather for meetings each quarter,
and joint (MBSI and AMICA) meetings
grow to about 40 in attendance! The
chapter held three meetings this past
year, which is one fewer than normal.
The chapter’s summer 2019 meeting
was held at the home of Richard and
Julie Hughes in Belmont, CA. Notable
pieces in their collection include a
Johnson 125 Military Band Organ,
Seeburg L Nickelodeon, Polyphon
151/2-inch disk upright music box,
Regina 151/2-inch disk changer music
box, Stella 151/2-inch disk music box,
Nicole Freres cylinder music box,
L’Epee Bell & Drum 131/2-inch cylinder
music box, Paillard 21-inch cylinder
music box, Mermod Freres Peerless
long case music box, several musical
bird cages, and various other smaller
music boxes. Organs are another
passion of the Hughes! Visitors to
the home found several, including an
Arther Prinsen Dutch monkey organ,
Schneider monkey organ, and Allen
Pell Harmonette street organ. And
that’s not all. There were several
jukeboxes, a Wurlitzer 1015, 1800,
and Rockola 1422, as well as various
Victrolas, Victor, Edison and Colombia
were all on display. The Hughes’
home was an ideal location to enjoy
our summer meeting, not only for the
fantastic collection but to enjoy their
back patio and amazing views of the
San Francisco Bay.
The autumn meeting was held at the
home of Greg and Chris Hopwood.
Guests enjoyed the incredible view
from the Morgan Hill, CA, home which
is situated hillside and overlooks a
reservoir. Relaxation and time with
friends were the very goal of this gathering,
which included a small mart
and show-and-tell time.
And finally, the San Francisco
Chapter of AMICA kicked off the new
year by hosting our chapter in a joint
gathering at the home of Bob and Bonnie
Gonzalez. The home is in beautiful
Corte Madera, CA, which is just about
15 miles north of San Francisco.
The Gonzalez’s collection includes
a Yamaha C-6 Piano equipped with a
Disklavier reproducing midi player
action, a Weber Duo-Art reproducing
grand player piano, Seeburg KT Special
coin-op piano using G-rolls, and
a Coinola Style C-2 solo flute coin-op
piano using O-rolls. The highlight
of the afternoon was a live concert
played on the Yamaha.
Business and committee meetings
this period were heavily focused on
preparing for the 2020 annual meeting,
which was scheduled to be held
in Redwood City, CA, this September.
The event planning was a collaborative
undertaking between the Founding
Chapter of AMICA and the Golden
Gate Chapter of MBSI. Unfortunately,
the meeting was canceled due to the
pandemic. Nevertheless, the joint
committee had a great time preparing
for the event.
Chapter members are hopeful to
resume our quarterly gatherings in
the near future, and as circumstances
improve further, even begin scheduling
in periodic field trips to local
musical attractions.
–Jenny Hoyt
National Capital Chapter
Chair: Matt Jaro
Co-Vice-Chairs: John Wells & David
Burke
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 23
Co-Secretary/Reporters: Donna &
Gene Borrelli
Treasurer/Membership: Florie
Hirsch.
Musical Notes Editor: Paul Senger
Newsletter Publication: John Wells
& David Burke
Chapter Website: Knowles Little
The National Capital Chapter (NCC)
has 71 memberships as of August
2020 (including five comps), down
nine members from last year. We lost
a few last year due to moving out of
the area, and some are late in paying.
We draw our members mainly from
about a three-hour driving radius
around Washington, DC, and welcome
members from other regions to join
the chapter. The NCC chair or membership
chair contact any new MBSI
members in our area. We welcome
them, make them complimentary
members for that year, and send them
copies of our “Musical Notes” listing
our meeting times and places and
encourage them to join the NCC. Dues
continue at the $5 per year level.
Two meetings were held in total.
These meetings were official regular
meetings with business conducted.
The chapter hosted the 70th MBSI
Annual Meeting in Rockville, MD, last
August-September. The convention
was a success and made money for the
national organization. The chapter did
an excellent job in assuring that the
meeting went smoothly, and everyone
enjoyed themselves.
In October, we had a meeting at
Vince Holter’s house. We presented
awards to all those that significantly
helped with the annual meeting. We
had the annual Christmas Party at Dick
and Cheryl Hack’s home. After this, all
chapter activities were canceled due
to the coronavirus pandemic.
Each of our meetings has an educational
component and they are
described in the Mechanical Music
Reports. The C&O Canal meeting is
designed to educate the public about
mechanical music. It gives us access
to an estimated 3,000 visitors at the
canal. Both children and adults are
amazed that such items were enjoyed
100 years ago. Shupp’s Grove also
provides an educational opportunity
for the general public.
The National Capital Chapter was
approached by the chairperson of the
steering committee of the Old Bowie
Arts and Heritage Festival (in Bowie,
MD) and the director of Economic
Development for the city (who is an
MBSI member). They requested an
“organ grind” at their festival on May
16, 2021, and the chapter enthusiastically
agreed. We have added this to
our calendar for 2021. It is an excellent
way of extending our educational
outreach.
Our newsletter, “Musical Notes”
regularly announces upcoming meeting
details, reports member news, and
provides previous meeting highlights.
Photos feature instruments and NCC
members. We also announce non-
MBSI activities that may be of interest
to our members. The newsletter is
distributed at least four times per
year. The newsletter is also available
to members in electronic form.
We also e-mail meeting and activity
announcements from the newsletter
to give early information ahead of the
printed copy and also e-mail reminders
ahead of the meetings. About
88 percent of our members receive
email. Email inquiries from non-MBSI
members generated from the web
site are answered via email. We have
a chapter website, https://nationalcapital.
mbsi.org/ that is hosted by the
MBSI website. Since it is accessible on
the public MBSI site, it is designed to
acquaint non-members with our chapter
activities. It features recent color
photographs of our members and
instruments at chapter events. Since
the site is public, information such as
collection details, meeting locations,
and people’s names are not included.
Northwest International Chapter
Chair: Rick Swaney
Vice-Chair: Vacant
Co-Secretaries: Larry & Terry Cardy
Treasurer: Kathy Baer
True to our name, the Northwest
International Chapter extends beyond
the border, drawing members from
both the United States and Canada.
Specifically, the chapter’s region
encompasses Washington, Oregon,
Idaho, and British Columbia. We are a
relatively small chapter. There are 28
members representing 16 families.
We meet four times a year. There
are Spring, Summer and Fall regular
meetings, plus a holiday luncheon and
cookie exchange in December. Our
regular meetings are usually two-day
events. On the first day we meet in the
early afternoon at some place of interest,
often a museum or public event.
That evening we have dinner at a local
restaurant. On the following day, the
host holds an open house with brunch
or lunch. That is where we hold the
business meeting, show-and-tell session,
and presentations.
Our meeting hosts have done a good
job finding varied and interesting
places to visit for the meetings. Here
is a sampling:
• Boeing Museum of Flight
• SPARK Museum of Electrical
Invention
• Vintage car show and sand
sculpture competition
• Raptor Center (predatory bird
preserve)
• Salmon cannery tour
The most recent event for our chapter
was a holiday luncheon hosted by
Annie Tyvand. This was a special event
because it was a joint activity between
our chapter and the Pacific Can-Am
AMICA chapter. This is not the first
joint meeting we’ve had, and we hope
to make this a frequent occurrence.
Piedmont Chapter
Several things have transpired this
year that may make it very unlikely
that this chapter will be able to
recover from many years of declining
membership and participation.
First, Vernon Gantt, who had been
serving as chair since 2006, died
suddenly in the spring of this year.
Vernon and Penny Gantt and myself
had been pretty much handling all
of the arrangements of any chapter
events, mostly in conjunction with and
attendance by the Southeast Chapter.
Attendance at, and participation in,
these meetings by folks within the
24 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Piedmont coverage area, other than
open house hosts, was limited.
Then came the pandemic with
restrictions on safe travel and gathering.
We had scheduled our next
meeting to be in Raleigh, NC, in
October, and had sent out a plea at the
beginning of the year to MBSI members
within the Piedmont Chapter
region to make an effort to attend and
possibly rejuvenate the chapter. This
could not happen.
We do have many great collections
and collectors within our coverage
area, and continue to invite any MBSI
members to visit when circumstances
allow. In the meantime, I would
encourage those within the Piedmont
area to join and participate in other
available chapters.
– Respectfully, Dan Wilson
Snowbelt Chapter
Chair: Tracy Tolzmann
Treasurer: Gary Goldsmith
The Snowbelt Chapter of MBSI
held a meeting on Aug. 17, 2019, at
the rural Big Lake, MN, home of Alex
Stolitza and chapter Treasurer Gary
Goldsmith. The gathering was a joint
meeting with the Northern Lights
Chapter of Automatic Musical Instrument
Collectors’ Association (AMICA)
and the Land O’ Lakes Chapter of
the American Theatre Organ Society
(ATOS). This was our chapter’s first
visit to their home, and despite being
relatively new to the hobby, Gary and
Alex’s aggressive interest in musical
boxes has found them building an
impressive collection. Gary’s large
workshop has numerous projects
awaiting restoration, both large and
small instruments.
The chapter’s annual Christmas
party was held on Dec. 8, 2019, at the
Belle Plaine, MN, home of Ralph and
Carol Schultz. The Schultz’s are no
strangers to the chapter or society
members as they have been hosting
meetings for many years in addition
to open houses and tours during MBSI
annual meetings in 2007 and 2016.
Ralph always tries to put a unique
twist on gatherings that he and Carol
host, and the Christmas event was
no exception. As Ralph played his
Prinsen crank organ, local merchant
Craig Kotasek accompanied him on
the banjo!
As a small and aging chapter,
finding hosts for meetings can be
difficult. Gary Goldsmith volunteered
to spearhead a meeting in conjunction
with the Phipps Center for the Arts in
Hudson, WI, as our first event of 2020.
The Phipps is a regional headquarters
for all aspects of the arts as its name
implies and features a wonderful
vintage Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ.
The Phipps’ sponsors an annual organ
concert series, and Gary arranged for
lunch at a neighboring restaurant and
a block of seats for Snowbelt members
for organist Dave Wickerham’s
appearance. With the coronavirus
pandemic gripping the world in the
middle of the month, the Mar. 22, 2020,
concert was canceled.
The Snowbelt Chapter is aware of
similar difficulties in arranging meetings
and maintaining membership in
our sister organizations, AMICA and
ATOS. There is already a considerable
shared membership base in these
organizations, and we have found that
having joint events has been a way to
stage successful meetings, and see
it as a means of keeping the chapter
alive. At one time, there were many
differences in the collecting interests
between MBSI and AMICA, but as
the field of collecting has expanded
to encompass every possible aspect
of automatic music, including phonographs,
our organizations are more
united than ever. The non-collector
members of the theater organ enthusiasts
(ATOS), are less-inclined to join
either group, but their added presence
at events has been beneficial in
expanding interest and conversation
about these fascinating hobbies.
With the ongoing coronavirus situation,
no further chapter activities
have been scheduled. The majority
of members in the Snowbelt Chapter
are retired people who would be considered
at higher risk of coronavirus
infection due to age or pre-existing
conditions. Those members who are
still working have been greatly affected
by the disruption caused by the pandemic.
The Snowbelt officers have
no plans to reconvene until health
authorities suggest the risk is over.
As chapter chair, I have made
telephone contact with many of our
members to check in with them on
how they are faring, and plan to continue
these calls, touching base and
wishing them well as we all await a
happy reunion gathering.
The Snowbelt Chapter is very proud
of our history in hosting the annual
meeting and staging events. We are
delighted that MBSI President Tom
Kuehn is an active local member and
former chapter chair of the Snowbelt
family. We look forward to our continued
future involvement with the
society, and will do all that we can to
perpetuate the preservation and promotion
of musical boxes of all kinds.
Sincerely,
–Tracy M. Tolzmann
Southeast Chapter
Chair: Jack Hostetler
Vice Chair: John Leuenberger
Secretary: Julie Morlock
Treasurer: Clay Witt
Chair Emeritus: Mary Ellen Myers
Committee Leaders:
Librarian: Wayne Finger
Membership: Julie Morlock
Newsletter: Mary-Ann Hostetler
Reporter: Howard Sanford
Webmaster: Clay Witt
The South East Chapter of MBSI
represents Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,
and Alabama. Some MBSI
members from the far north also
belong to our chapter because they
have homes both up north and in
Florida, and spend a good part of the
year down here. Currently we have
101 memberships.
In October 2019 we held our regular
annual chapter meeting in Tampa, FL.
In December 2019 we presented our
8th annual Christmas Show in The
Villages, a special exhibit event, and
we had our 5th annual Summer Camp
Special Exhibit event for children to
make their own music box. We had
three chapter meetings that year.
Our only chapter meeting in 2020
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 25
was in January in Pensacola, FL. It
was very well attended and entertaining.
On Friday evening we enjoyed a
Charley Chaplin Movie, “The Circus.”
On Saturday and Sunday, we attended
open house tours of collections of
Bob Wingard and John Leuenberger.
Photos from the two collection visits
are attached.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic we
have not been able to schedule more
chapter meetings or special exhibit
events in 2020. We are planning to
have a meeting in January 2021, joint
with COAA, pandemic permitting. We
are still preparing for the 2021 annual
meeting we are hosting in Fort Myers,
FL.
Respectfully submitted,
– Jack Hostetler
Southern California Chapter
Chair: Robin Biggins
Treasurer: Dianne Lloyd
Membership: Linda Birkitt
We have 96 paid memberships, and
unfortunately, because of the corona-
virus we have not had any meetings
since our Christmas joint meeting
with AMICA at the home of Frank Nix.
The report on that meeting was published
in the March/April 2020 issue of
Mechanical Music, Volume 66, No.2,
page 34.
Since then, we have contacted a
number of our most vulnerable elderly
members to see if they need any
assistance. Several email messages
have been sent to all members via the
chapter roster with some interesting
YouTube videos about mechanical
music. We have several potential meeting
venues lined up, waiting for the
pandemic recovery.
Respectively submitted,
— Robin Biggins
A reminder on viewing etiquette when visiting collections
Most of us know what to do,
and what not to do when visiting a
collection. Although we may own
similar pieces, some instruments can
be unique in the way they operate. Of
course there can be various stages
of restoration or operating order so
remember these common-sense rules
when visiting collections:
• Always ask the host if photographs
or video may be taken.
If you intend to publish these
photographs/videos, please get
the host’s permission to do so and
ask whether the host wants the
collection identified.
• Do not smoke inside the home
and ask permission to smoke
outside the home on the owner’s
property.
• Never bring food or drink near
any of the instruments.
• Hands Off is the best policy and
beware of belt buckles and other
objects that could cause damage.
• Do not play any instrument unless
given permission by the host to
do so. It is always best if the host
turns on the instrument – some of
them can be pretty finicky.
• Never try to adjust or repair an
instrument unless asked to do so
by the host.
• Do not ask the host or instrument
owner the value of an instrument
or how much it would cost to
purchase one. Several mechanical
music dealers are listed on the
MBSI web site and they could be
contacted for guidance about a
particular instrument.
• Unless an instrument is marked
“For Sale” don’t ask the host if
a particular instrument can be
purchased. After attending a
meeting, please send a note of
appreciation. In the note you
could express admiration for a
particular instrument and advise
the host of your potential interest
should it ever become available.
• Meeting hosts generously open
their homes and collections to
members. Be sure to introduce
yourself to them and sign any
guest book. Thank the hosts
when you leave and a thank you
note would be most welcome.
• When instruments are being
played, please refrain from
talking. This is especially true
when softly voiced instruments
(such as musical boxes, bird
boxes, etc.) are being played.
WE WANT YOUR STORY!
Every mechanical musical instrument has a tale to tell. Share the history of people
who owned your instrument before you, or the story of its restoration, or just what
makes it an interesting piece. Send stories via email to editor@mbsi.org or
mail your story to Iron Dog Media, 130 Coral Court, Pismo Beach, CA 93449
26 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Nickel Notes
By Matthew Jaro
A music trade press reader’s history of the Duo-Art
Several months ago I wrote a column
about the history of the Ampico
piano system, so it is only natural that
I write a column about the Duo-Art
reproducing pianos. In order to begin,
I would like to quote from that mainstay
of mechanical music literature,
the Wikipedia:
The Duo-Art mechanism was introduced
by the Aeolian Company in
1913. It was most commonly installed
in piano brands manufactured by
Aeolian such as Weber, Steck, Wheelock
and Stroud. Most notably, it was
also available in Steinway pianos
under an exclusive agreement. Aeolian
had been under pressure to make
the mechanism available in Steinway
pianos, but Steinway had no interest
in pursuing a relationship with a
company they saw as a competitor.
In order to satisfy Steinway, Aeolian
agreed to stop promoting its Weber
brand as a premium brand and stop
sponsoring concerts by Paderewski
as well as other great pianists. The
agreement also stipulated that Aeolian
purchase a certain number of
Steinway units each year regardless
of whether or not they were able to
sell them. This contract eventually
became a huge financial burden after
the Wall Street Crash of 1929. In
1925, its peak year, Aeolian produced
more than 190,000 instruments but
the crash, the electric phonograph and
the “talkies” all combined to drive the
business into a terminal decline.[1]
Now that we have some background
let us take a magic carpet ride to
the distant past. The founder of the
Aeolian Organ and Music Company
(eventual manufacturers of the Duo-
Art system) was William B. Tremaine.
According to the Pianola Institute:
In July 1887 the Aeolian Organ
and Music Company was founded in
Meriden, Connecticut, as a merger
between the Mechanical Orguinette
Company of New York and the
Automatic Music Paper Company of
Boston, with substantial extra capital
from a number of Meriden businessmen,
notably Horace Wilcox, who was
also the main investor in the Wilcox
and White Organ Company. A new
factory was built, directly across the
street from Wilcox and White, and for
the first time both instruments and
rolls were manufactured on the same
premises.
Founder of the Aeolian Organ and Music
Company, William B. Tremaine.
I could write a lot about the old
orguinettes but that would be a divergence
from our main topic. Let’s just
say that Aeolian manufactured player
reed organs (The Angelus Symphony,
The Aeolian Orchestrelle and later
the Aeolian Pipe Organs, which
could reproduce performances by
organists).
The Pianola (a pneumatic player
piano), invented by Edwin S. Votey
An example of a Duo-Art mechanism in a 1920s Steinway piano.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 27
in 1895 became very popular. In
1897, Votey joined Aeolian. In 1903,
Tremaine (Aeolian) absorbed the
Weber Company and became the
Aeolian, Weber Piano and Pianola
Company.
The Metrostyle
The Music Trade Review (MTR) of
Apr. 4, 1903 reports
The Themodist
In 1906, the Themodist
was introduced and it was
almost instantly sold out
as evidenced by the clip
from MTR at right
Puccini wrote the letter
on the right to the Aeolian
Company regarding the
Themodist.
The basis for the Themodist
was a patent from
1900 by Ernest M. Skinner
as seen to the right.
Al Pulis wrote a series
of articles for the AMICA
Bulletin (Volume 25,
number 6 and following
issues), entitled Origins
of the Duo-Art. He talks
about Skinner’s invention
and how that formed the
basis of the later Duo-Art
system. It was 13 years
from the time of Skinner’s
invention until the Duo-
Art was marketed.
The Steinway-Aeolian Agreement
The agreement between Steinway
and Aeolian in 1909 was very important
and would have a number of
ramifications. The following information
about the nature of the agreement
is from William Alfring, who wrote a
history of the Aeolian Company in
1937. The agreement stated that Aeolian
would have the exclusive right to
incorporate their Pianola mechanisms
in Steinway instruments. Steinway
agreed not to enter the player-piano
market and Aeolian agreed not to
exploit straight pianos (particularly
the Weber. Another stipulation was
that Aeolian would buy and pay for a
minimum of 600 new Steinway pianos
per year for the installation of the
Pianola.
The contract with Steinway was a
valuable asset for Aeolian until 1927,
when sales began to fall off. More on
this later.
It is interesting to note that there
exist Steinway pianos fitted with
the Welte mechanism. These were
obtained in one of four ways: 1) the
piano predates the agreement with
Steinway; 2) a customer would buy a
straight Steinway piano and had the
Welte company fit a mechanism to it;
3) a customer would buy a Duo-Art
Steinway and Welte would keep the
Duo-Art stack and replace the Duo-Art
mechanism with a Welte mechanism;
4) the German Steinway pianos were
excluded from this agreement and
could therefore be fitted with Welte
mechanisms.
28 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
The Mar. 7, 1914, announcement in MTR introducing the Duo-
Art Pianola.
The Duo-Art
Finally, on Mar. 7, 1914, the important announcement
arrived (see image above).
Full page advertisements were placed in the newspapers
to promote the Duo-Art (see facing page).
The following week, a notice was printed (see image at
right).
The following notice appeared in the Apr. 18, 1914 issue
of MTR.
The notice above, printed one week after the Duo-Art Pianola
was introduced, describes how it can be used to help pianists
improve performances, or simply to accurately reproduce a
performance on the piano where the Duo-Art is installed.
An article reproduced in the “Encyclopedia of Automatic
Musical Instruments” (page 300) and in “The Player Piano
Treasury” states that the Duo-Art was introduced to the
public in the fall of 1913. However, I can find no reference
to the Duo-Art in the trade press before March 1914. Do
any of our readers know where the aforementioned article
appeared and if there is factual evidence to back it up?
The Steinway Grand Duo-Art was introduced in the Dec.
5, 1914 MTR.
A number of famous musicians produce Duo-Art rolls. (Apr.
10, 1915 MTR)
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 29
A full-page advertisement for the Duo-Art Pianola that appeared in the Mar. 14, 1914, New York Sun.
30 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Harold Bauer and the Duo-Art
Even though the next clip (Mar. 25,
1916 MTR) is fairly long, it presents
some really important points: First,
as early as 1916 there was a Duo-Art
recording piano. Just as modern
musicians have tape recorders or
digital recorders to listen to their own
performances, Bauer remarks that by
means of the Duo-Art he can hear and
improve his own performances. This
would be much better than listening
to phonograph records, since the
quality of an actual piano is much
better and there are more dynamics
than was possible with the acoustic
recording techniques of the time – and
the roll would allow Bauer to review
the performance one note at a time.
Was this the first time something like
this was done? I have never seen any
other earlier reference to an artist
editing his own roll, and improving his
performance by doing so. In the Aug-
Sep, 2007 AMICA Bulletin, there is an
article by Julian Dyer that explains the
recording process in detail.
Aeolian Hall
One of the great attributes of the
Aeolian company was their devotion
to fine music. They built Aeolian Hall
which was a venue for concerts for
many years. Aeolian Hall was built in
1912 and sold in May 1924 (in order to
move to a new building).
According to Time Magazine:
The Schulte Cigar Stores Co.,
runner-up of the omnipresent, ubiquitous
United chain, has invaded the
musical field. It has bought Aeolian
Hall, Manhattan’s most delightful
first-rank concert auditorium. With
the hall itself goes the entire 17-story
skyscraper structure, extending clear
across from 42nd to 43rd Street, complete
with pipe organ, radio station
and numerous offices for concert
managers, retired business men
who wish to retain dignified New
York business offices, and Christian
Science practitioners.
The Aeolian Co., however, will
remain in charge of the site for five
additional years, until May…
A clipping from the Mar. 25, 1916, MTR describing pianist Harold Bauer using the
Duo-Art system to critique his own playing and learn from mistakes.
Technology
The Duo-Art is the only reproducing
system that remained fully compatible
over its entire lifetime. Differences in
coding existed between the English
and American rolls, but the basic
mechanism could play any roll from
1913 until the end of production.
There were technical changes in the
expression controls and valves. In
1930, the Concertola, a 10-roll changer
was introduced. Later Duo-Art pianos
had the spool box in a drawer instead
of on top of the fall board. There were
10 Duo-Art systems built into Steinway
Concert Grand pianos.
Maturity
The Duo-Art mechanisms were
placed in Steinway, Weber, Steck,
Wheelock, Stroud, Stuvesant and Aeolian
pianos (all Aeolian brands except
Steinway). Weber was acquired by
Aeolian in 1903. It seems that the
straight piano manufacturing business
was going great. Consider this Jan. 25,
1913 announcement in the MTR:
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 31
Aeolian Hall, built by the Aeolian company in 1912, served as a concert hall until 1924.
I noticed that Weber pianos were
only advertised as a small notice
talking about the international prestige
of Weber, until 1922 (the 70th
birthday of Weber). Then there is a
full-page ad signed at the bottom by
the Aeolian Company. I wonder if this
was a violation of Steinway’s agreement
with Aeolian. It is possible that
Steinway only cared about concert
pianos and concert artists and did not
view smaller pianos as competition.
In 1925, Aeolian announces decorative
cases for the Weber Duo-Art.
On Feb. 5, 1927, business was so
good that the company declared a
stock dividend.
The year 1928 represented a loss
for Aeolian. There were a number of
problems, the new Aeolian Hall cost
Aeolian excessive rent. The Steinway
contract was now a burden with
inventories of unsold Steinways piling
up. They were forbidden to sell the
Steinways as straight pianos. In 1929,
the American Piano Company went
into receivership and the Mason and
Hamlin Company (owned by American)
was purchased by Aeolian in
1930. Also in 1930, Aeolian had to shut
two of its four plants.
In August, 1932 a combination was
formed with the American Piano
Company (which made Knabe and
Chickering. The new Aeolian-American
Corporation was formed. In 1933,
the contract with Steinway was terminated
“with friendship and good will
continuing between both companies.”
(from William Alfring’s account of the
Aeolian Company, published in the
Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical
Instruments, Q. David Bowers).
The last Duo-Art roll catalog was
dated 1932 and the final roll was
issued in 1939 in England. A question
I can’t answer is when the last Duo-
Art piano was produced. Maybe
some knowledgeable reader(s) could
resolve some of the quandaries posed
today.
The Aeolian-American Company
collapsed in bankruptcy in 1985 and
all the assets were sold off.
It is my sincere hope that this article
generates comments and answers
from our readers.
Email Matt Jaro at mjaro@verizon.
net if you would like any information
about style “A”, “G”, “4X”, “H” or “O” rolls.
Also, comments and suggestions for this
column will be appreciated.
Reprinted with permission of the
author and The Automatic Musical
Instrument Collectors’ Association
(AMICA). Originally printed in the
March-April 2015 issue of The AMICA
Bulletin.
32 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Sacred Music On
Cylinder Musical Boxes
Part 5: Hybrid, Interchangeable and Unusual Programmes
By David Worrall
Musical Boxes with Hybrid Pro-
grammes of Sacred Music.
A total of 240 musical boxes have
now been identified as having mixed
programmes of sacred music. This
reflects the diversity of music that
was available to suit a customer’s
tastes at the time the musical box
was made. The programmes of these
hybrids typically bridge at least two
of the three groups of sacred music
identified earlier. The Tune Sheets
reproduced at Fig. 1 in Part 1 of this
series of articles, and also in Fig. 7
below, are both typical examples of
this type of programme. The tune
sheet seen in Fig. 7 comes from a
late Nicole Freres musical box, Serial
No. 43666, a 10-Air (two per/turn)
Forte-piano musical box made circa
1868 and pinned with five items from
oratorios. Tunes one and three being
arias and tunes two, four and seven
are choruses. The remaining five tunes
are standard hymns that would have
been found in church hymnals of the
time under the tune title given on the
tune sheet, except that for tune six
which happens to be the first line of
a hymn sometimes set to be sung to
a version of the tune “Old Hundredth
(Old 100th)” It is an arrangement of
this tune that is pinned on this particular
musical box.
Another similar hybrid example of
interest came to light recently. This
was a 12-Air, 6-bell box by Junod of
Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, Serial No.
Fig 7: A 10 Air Nicole with oratorio items and hymn tunes.
Thoughts and
Background Notes
This series of articles was first
published in 2017-2018 in The
Music Box, the Journal of The Musical
Box Society of Great Britain. It
arose from research prompted by
the extracts from Mechanical Music
Digest (www.mmdigest.com). Originally,
it was intended to be short
and so published in one edition of
The Music Box. As the research progressed,
however, the scope gradually
increased to the extent that necessitated
publication in five parts over
five consecutive editions, the scope of
each part being explained in the text
of the article itself.
By its nature, such research
becomes outdated as new or additional
material is found on surviving
musical boxes that continue to come
to light. The article is therefor now
republished in Mechanical Music
with all changes necessitated by this
new material as of Sept. 30, 2019.
Throughout this article, the use
of the term “sacred” is used entirely
with reference to the Christian faith
and then in relation to the music
identified and referred to herein.
Parts 1-4 of this article gave the
background to the article, defined
sacred music, gave overall statistical
details of its extent on cylinder
musical boxes and discussed results
from the analysis of classical sacred
music, hymns, evangelical and
gospel songs. Part 5 of the article
addresses hybrid and interchangeable
programmes of sacred music
and a summary and conclusion of
the research.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 33
Table 13: Musical Programme from Junod Serial No. 16249
Item Notes
1. The Messiah: Hallelujah Chorus. Handel.
2. Elijah: Israel [Baal] We Cry To Thee Although the word “Israel” is used, this almost certainly should be “Baal”; the
chorus from Part 1 of “Elijah” in which the Israelites attempt to invoke their
god, Baal to light a sacrificial fire for them opens with the repeated words
“Baal! We cry to Thee.”
3. Judas Machabee: Chorus. Handel. Most probably “See The Conquering Hero Comes” – the tune being used for
the Eastertide hymn “Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son”
4. The Creation: In splendour bright. Haydn. Uriel’s Recitative at the end of Part 1; sung immediately prior to the final
chorus.
5. Hymn: Old Hundred.
6. The Messiah: Thou that tellest. Handel.
7. The Creation: The Heavens are telling.
Chorus. Haydn.
Chorus sung at the end of Part 1; this has proved to be the most popular sacred
air, not only in its category of Classical Sacred Airs, but overall.
8. Elijah. Lift thine Eyes. Mendelssohn. Semi-chorus for Sopranos 1 & 2 Contralto voices.
9. Kyrie Eleison de la messe. Mozart.
10. Hymn: Morning Hymn. Glory to thee.
11. The Creation. With verdure clad. Haydn.
12. The Messiah. He shall feed his flock. Handel.
16249, registered as an oratorio box.
Its musical programme, listed above
in Table 13, consists of nine arias
and choruses intermixed with two
standard hymns and “Kyrie Eleison,”
probably that from the 12th Mass,
formerly attributed to Mozart. See
discussion below for more. This is
an interesting programme in that
it includes no less than three items
occurring for the first time in the
research for this series of articles.
The chorus “Baal! We Cry to Thee”
and the semi-chorus “Lift Thine Eyes,”
are both from Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,”
then, most intriguingly, from “The
Creation” by Haydn, the recitative, “In
Splendour Bright rises now the sun,”
immediately precedes the chorus
“The Heavens are telling the Glory of
God.” It is unusual to find recitatives,
often not the most melodic of music to
listen to, pinned on a cylinder musical
box. In this case, it would have been
more appropriate, perhaps, if the two
items had been pinned, and so played,
as consecutive tunes, as they are in
the oratorio itself. For each of these
three items, this is the only recorded
occurrence and, unless and until
evidence is found to the contrary, the
inevitable conclusion is that they were
included to meet a customer’s request.
Musical Boxes with
Interchangeable Cylinders.
Generally, maker’s tune list catalogues,
produced to advertise the
availability and choice of cylinders for
their interchangeable musical boxes
have not been included in the research
undertaken for his series of articles for
several reasons. First is because of the
lack of availability of the catalogues in
question. Then, there is uncertainty
as to how many of these advertised
cylinders were actually made and
sold. Finally, of those cylinders that
were made and sold, it is possible that
these tune cards are already in The
Register and thus would be duplicated
material.
Nevertheless, the research generally
has highlighted some interesting
instances of sacred music pinned on
cylinders for interchangeable boxes.
A most unusual, and perhaps extreme
example, can be seen at Tune Sheet
No. 424 in H.A.V. Bulleid’s work
“Musical Box Tune Sheets.” This
particular tune sheet is from a large
interchangeable cylinder box made
with three, 6-Air cylinders which,
in Bulleid’s view “Nicole must have
asked Cuendet to make in 1879 as by
that date their own Geneva production
had come to an end.” The cylinders
are numbered one, two and three and
together present a hybrid programme
of sacred music. The programme for
cylinder one is hymn tunes. Cylinder
three is classical oratorio items whilst
cylinder two does have a more eclectic
mix of tunes of which at least one is
of a more secular origin. The tunes on
all three cylinders are arranged to be
played on two combs tuned to Gamme
No. 3355. The image in the booklet
is of insufficient clarity to reproduce
here and in several cases, to identify
the tune titles. Those that can be identified
are listed in Table 14. Although
entire programmes of sacred music
are not unknown for single cylinders,
both fixed and interchangeable, it
must be very unusual for a single,
interchangeable musical box to have
been commissioned specifically with
three cylinders, the musical pro-
grammes for each of which consist
34 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Table 14: Sacred Music Pinned for Cuendet/Nicole Interchangeable Serial No. 47648
Cylinder Tune Title Notes
1
1 Old Hundredth – sometimes Old 100th Hymn Tune Title – usually set to either the words “All People that on
Earth do Dwell” or “Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne”.
2 Abide With Me Hymn Title – words by HF Lyte usually set to the Tune “Eventide” by
WH Monk.
3 Eternal father, Strong to Save Hymn Title – words by W Whiting usually set to the tune “Melita” by
JB Dykes.
4
Art Thou Weary Hymn Title – of words translated from the original Greek by JM Neale;
may be found set to several hymn tunes most notably “Stephanos”
by HW Baker, “Christus Consolotor” by JB Dykes or “Cuttle
Mills” by W Griffith.
5 Evening Hymn Hymn Tune Title – usually set to the words “Father, in High Heaven
dwelling” by G Rawson.
6 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Probably pinned with the tune “Berlin” by Mendelssohn
2
1 Hark, My Soul Hymn Title – usually found set to the Tune “St Bees” by JB Dykes.
2 Low at Thy feet.- 1st part Hymn
3 Low at Thy feet – 2nd part. Hymn
4 Rock me to Sleep, Mother Setting to music of a poem by Elizabeth Akers Allen; not a Sacred
Air!
5 Unidentifiable ???
6 The Heavens are Telling Chorus from Haydn’s Oratorio “The Creation”
3
1 O Rest in the Lord Aria from Mendelssohn’s Oratorio “Elijah”
2 Gloria in Excelsis Vivaldi
3 Glory to God Chorus from Handel’s Oratorio “The Messiah”
4 Unidentified Unidentified chorus from Handel’s Oratorio “The Messiah”
5 Unidentified Unidentified, but possibly “The Hailstone Chorus” from Handel’s
Opera “Israel in Egypt”
6 Dead March Symphonic music from Act III of Handel’s Oratorio “Saul”
almost entirely of sacred music.
Unusual Items.
Of note under this heading are
four examples of commissioned
programmes of special sacred music.
The first concerns the Roman Catholic
Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes situated
at Lourdes in the Hautes-Pyrenees in
southwestern France. For Catholics,
this is the scene of pilgrimage, with
pilgrims gathering there from all over
the world for more than 100 years.
Towards the end of the 19th century,
musical boxes were commissioned
and retailed by the agent F-X Thomas
as a souvenir for a pilgrimage undertaken
to Lourdes. The tune sheet for
one of these can be seen at No. 438
in H.A.V. Bulleid’s book “Musical Box
Tune Sheets.” It is from a 6-Air box
by an unattributed maker and bears
images of the two sites of pilgrimage,
the Cave of Massabielle and of the
Rosary Basillica. The latter is one of
the largest churches in the world with
a capacity of 20,000 people. Tune one
of the box is an arrangement of the
music played by the carillon of the
Rosary Basillica. Tune two is the Bach/
Gounod “Ave Maria,” while tunes three
through six relate to the ceremonies
at Lourdes. See Fig. 8 (Page 36, with
apologies for the rather poor quality
of the original.) It is from a 6-Air box
sold as a souvenir of a pilgrimage to
Lourdes in France. Note that although
a 6-Air box, seven tunes are listed; in
fact tune seven is just a suggestion to
the owner to repeat playing tune one,
the Basillica’s carillon, at will.
The second example is from what
must have been an extreme request
for a musical programme of sacred
airs to be pinned on a cylinder musical
box.
The tune sheet is shown in Fig. 9
(Page 36) but as the image, the best
that is available, is rather blurred,
the tunes are listed in Table 14 (Page
36). It is a complete programme of 12
sacred airs, all previously unrecorded,
possibly from a complete Mass.
Just what the cost would have
been to have all this music specially
arranged for this 12-Air, two per turn
box made by L’Epee circa 1862 is unrecorded.
It illustrates, however, the
importance attached to a musical box
in the mid-19th century as a means of
providing music for those who lacked
the skills to play a musical instrument
themselves.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 35
Another, and even more extreme
example of this practice of hybridizing
cylinders, also relates to a musical
box with a significant sacred air pro-
gramme. It is a massive Plerodienique
interchangeable located in the Pitt
Rivers Museum in Oxford, England
– Serial No. 24190 by an unknown
maker from the Sainte-Croix region,
but almost certainly to have been
made by Paillard. The programme is
pinned on six cylinders and is stated
to be Mozart’s 12th Mass (see the
silvered plaque at Fig. 10). Although
very popular in the early part of the
19th century, contemporary music
scholars doubted then that this setting
of the Mass was the work of Mozart.
This thinking solidified in 1862 when
the authoritative catalogue of Mozart’s
works was published by the Austrian
musicologist, Ludwig Ritter von
Koekel in which the Mass is consigned
to an Annex and attributed to another
composer. Additional research in
the 20th century supported this and
musical authorities today consider
this Mass to be the work of Mozart’s
contemporary, Wenzel Müller [17671835],
an Austrian theatre musician,
conductor and composer.
The silver-plated tune plaque on the
inside of the lid gives details of the
programme (see Fig 10). Considering
the low quality of the image, the
details are repeated in Table 15 below.
Such a massive work must have
been by special commission. Unfortunately
for us, research to date has
not uncovered any definitive records
to give evidence as to who and/
or why and when such a work was
commissioned. Nor are we able to
learn anything about the costs of both
arranging the music and the making
of such a musical box. If the box was
indeed made by Paillard, then the
Bulleid Dating Charts would place
No. 24190 as having been made circa
1884/5. Research into these aspects of
the history of this particular musical
box is ongoing.
A final example of an unusual sacred
music is more modern in its origin.
During the research for this series of
articles, it was of interest to discover
that a series of small musical boxes,
mostly 2-Air boxes with about 40 teeth
Fig 8: Echoes of Massabielle – Tune sheet at #438 of “Musical Box Tune Sheets” by
H.A.V. Bulleid.
Fig 9: Tune Sheet for L’Epee Serial No. 20930, a 12 Sacred Air 2 per turn box – circa
1862.
Table 14: Musical programme of L’Epee Serial No. 20930
1. Domine Salvum fac 7. Veni Creator.
2. Pange Lingua de Mozart 8. Adoremus pour les Sts Sacrements.
3. Vexilla Regis 9. Adoro te.
4. Priere de Salieri – Cantique a la Croix 10. Gloria in Excelsis.
5. Silence Ciel! Silence Terre! 11. O Salutaris hostia.
6. O Roi de Cieux. 12. Tantum Ergo.
in their combs, were produced in the of the Christian Science movement,
late 1930s by Lador of Sainte-Croix, attributed to its founder, Mrs Mary
Switzerland. The musical programmes Baker Eddy. These are described in
of these were specifically the hymns more detail in an article by Robin
36 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Fig 10: The Silvered Plaque of Serial No 24190 giving details of the parts of the Mass
pinned on each of the 6 Air cylinders of which there are six; note that the number
of turns required of each cylinder for each part of the Mass is given – see Table 15
for details. NB This Mass, formerly attributed to Mozart is now considered by the
musical authorities as being the work of a contemporary of Mozart, Wenzel Mueller.
Table 15: The Musical Programme of Serial Number 24190
Cylinder Number Part of the Mass Number of Cylinder Turns
1 Kyrie 6 Turns
2
Gloria 4 Turns
Qui Tollis 2 Turns
3
Quoniam 41/4 Turns
Cum Sancto Spiritu 13/4 Turns
Credo 11/4 Turns
4 Et Incarnatus Est 2 Turns
Et Resurrexit 23/4 Turns
5
Sanctus 1 Turn
Benedictus 5 Turns
6
Agnus Dei 21/4 Turns
Dona Nobis 33/4 Turns
Biggins that appeared in Mechanical
Music, Journal of The Musical Box
Society International in its September/
October 2007 edition.
In Conclusion –
Some Final Thoughts.
Although this article has been
written with cylinder musical boxes
produced in the 19th century specifically
in mind, sacred music from
each of the three groups identified
was arranged by the makers of other
forms of mechanical music, notably
disk musical boxes, barrel organs and
organettes. Many of the sacred airs
identified above and others will be
found on the disks and rolls and barrels
produced by the makers of these
types of instruments over the latter
years of the 19th and the early years of
the 20th centuries.
As musical boxes were discovered
and added to the research, the inescapable
conclusion has been that many, if
not most, were pinned either in part
or in whole to meet specific requests
from customers. The evidence for
making this rather bold assertion lies
in three observations that have come
to stand out during the research and
analysis for all three categories of
sacred music, but more particularly so
in respect of both hymns and evangelical
and gospel songs:
The number of tunes for which only
one or two instances have been found
64 hymns occurred once and 17
only twice – over 50 percent of the 152
hymns identified altogether;
25 evangelical songs occurred once
and eight more only twice – slightly
less than 50 percent of the 74 identified
altogether.
The number of makers identified
for whom only a single musical box
with an item or items of sacred music
is only 18 (or 37 percent) of the 49
makers identified overall.
The obscure nature of many of the
tunes and/or words associated with
them. An example of this came to light
during the latter stages of the research.
The hymn “A few more years shall
roll,” by the Rev’d H Bonar, was found
on two musical boxes from different
makers, P.V.F of Sainte-Croix and
S. Troll of Geneva. The words were
written in 1844 and are very doleful
and to my mind very 19th century as
they involve looking forward to death
to end life’s miseries and a better life
in the hereafter. The tune pinned on
the cylinder is “Chalvey,” composed in
1868 by Dr. L.G. Hayne, that is named
after a village then near, and now a
suburb of, Slough in the UK.
It is difficult to accept that Swiss
and French makers on their own could
have identified such items of music as
ones that would stimulate the sale of
their musical boxes; and, having done
so, then commit to the dual expense
of commissioning an arrangement
and the pinning of the cylinder for
this music unless otherwise assured
beforehand of a sale for the finished
item.
In addition to the main objective
of the research behind this series of
short articles, to identify the extent
to which sacred music was pinned
on cylinder musical boxes, it is hoped
that in doing so, it has served also to
illustrate how the Arthur D. Cunliffe
Register of Cylinder Musical Boxes
has been developed now to a point
where it is a very useful and powerful
tool for undertaking research of this
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 37
Table 16: The Musical Programme of Nicole Freres Serial Number 31138 – an 8 Air Oratorio
Musical Box.
Tune Title Oratorio Composer Style
1 In Native Worth Creation Haydn Tenor Aria – Part 2
2 Thanks be to God Elijah Mendelssohn Chorus – End of Part 1
3 Glory to God Messiah Handel Chorus – Part 1
4 He shall feed his flock Messiah Handel Alto and/or Soprano Aria – part 1
5 O rest in the Lord Elijah Mendelssohn Contralto Aria – Part 2
6 If with all your hearts Elijah Mendelssohn Tenor Aria – Part 1
7 Rejoice Greatly Messiah Handel Soprano Aria – Part 1
8 Pastoral Symphony Messiah Handel Orchestral Interlude – Part 1
nature. Furthermore, the hope is that
it will encourage or stimulate those
who have not yet registered their
musical boxes with the registrar to
do so. Such a step can only increase
the register’s usefulness as a valuable
research tool.
Earlier in this series of articles, I
referred several times to the inappropriate
and indiscriminate use of the
term “oratorio” and “hymn box” for
describing the musical programmes
of cylinder musical boxes pinned with
sacred airs, perhaps belabouring the
point to boredom for some. I make
no apologies, however, because incidences
of such inappropriate use still
come to light, including most recently
one of the worst I have encountered.
This was on the tune sheet of Nicole
Freres, Serial No. 31138 Gamme 1093,
an 8-Air key-wind Oratorio music
box made circa 1854. It now has a
replacement Tune Sheet gloriously
entitled “8 Old English Hymns.” The
musical programme concerned, set
out in Table 16 below, shows items
that form this programme come from
three Oratorios of which only for “The
Messiah” was the original libretto in
English whilst those for “Creation”
and “Elijah” were in German. Thus,
whilst four of the eight items could be
said to have an “English” origin, none
of them can be described as hymns;
they are arias, choruses and, indeed,
an orchestral interlude from the three
oratorios shown, truly an oratorio
musical box.
Finally, to conclude on a more philosophical
note; this series of articles
began with two intentions:
• to show that “Sacred Music”
[Musique Sacré] is the appropriate
and descriptive generic term
for use rather than “hymn box,”
or indeed “oratorio box”; and
• to provide an answer to the two
questions posed by the collector
who asked through MMD, “Can
anyone tell me what is the
difference between a Hymn
playing box and an Oratorio box?
Is there indeed a difference?”
Hopefully both goals stated above
have been met. First, to establish that
“sacred music” is the most appropriate
overall generic term and second that
there is indeed a difference between
an “oratorio box” and a “hymn box.”
Where musical boxes with complete
programmes of oratorio and hymn
tunes are identified, collectors and
others will be encouraged to use of
their respective and more appropriate
generic terms.
There is an old, old adage, however,
that says, “You can lead any horse to
water, but you cannot make it drink.”
Therefore, I expect “hymn box” and
“oratorio box” will continue to be
applied and used as inappropriately as
they have been hitherto -but should
we be concerned? As long as interest
in cylinder musical boxes continues
and their programmes of music are
enjoyed by fellow enthusiasts, then
perhaps not.
Credits and Further Reading.
• Most of the statistical information in this
article has been obtained from the Arthur
D. Cunliffe Register of Cylinder Musical
Boxes [The Register] and is used with
the kind permission of the Registrar; it
illustrates how powerful and useful The
Register is now as a source of information
when writing articles of this nature. Those
readers who own cylinder musical boxes
who have not registered them with The
Registrar are encouraged to do so and
thereby extend the value of this powerful
research tool.
• “Musical Box Tune Sheets” by H.A.V. Bulleid
and its four Supplements, published
2000 by MBSGB.
• “The Musical Box” by AWJG Orde-Hume,
published in 1995 by Schiffer Publishing
Ltd. of Atglen, Pennsylvania U.S.A.
• “Abide With Me – The World of Victorian
Hymns” by Ian Bradley Published in 1997
by SCM Press ISBN 0 334-02703-9
• The Internet Web Sites, “Hymnary.Org” &
“Wikipaedia” have been used to crosscheck
and verify tune titles and words
appearing on musical box tune sheets and
also the brief biographic notes and anecdotes
relating to Evangelical & Gospel
Songs and their composers and authors.
38 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
A cylinder for the ages
The Sublime Harmonie Piccolo musical box with a custom made base that was constructed in Ontario, Canada, most likely in
the 1950s or 1960s to hold this instrument.
By James Brewer
Sitting here rewriting my original
draft of this article about a special
Mermod Freres 18-inch music box cylinder,
I’m enjoying a YouTube channel
streaming soft relaxing music in the
background.
Enjoying any kind of music on
demand at little or no cost has become
second nature in our lives and I think
we’ve lost sight of what a luxury it
is. All you have to do is look back to
the time when the music boxes we
now collect were new. An 18-inch,
six-tune cylinder for a Sublime Harmonie
Piccolo music box could be
procured at a cost of $55 in 1895. An
entire programme on this size cylinder
plays in sequence for a little over five
minutes before repeating. Using the
relative value calculator at www.
measuringworth.com that $55 in 1895
would be worth about $1,730 in 2019
dollars. Can you imagine paying more
than $1,700 for five minutes of music
today?
Before I dive into any more of
this article, my good friend Steve
Ryder suggested I give the link to
my YouTube video of the exceptional
Mermod cylinder this article is in
reference to. Steve thought the link
should appear early on in my piece so
that if the reader desired, they could
listen while reading. I thought this
was an excellent idea, www.youtube.
com/watch?v=VtSGqAfMv4s (My
apologies that the audio quality is not
up to professional standards as it was
shot using my phone. Music boxes are
notoriously difficult to record.)
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 39
How things have changed since I
joined the MBSI in 1971!
In the late 1970s when Bill Endlein
acquired his Mermod Freres Sublime
Harmonie Piccolo music box, from my
first exposure hearing it, I admired it
as a jewel in his collection. I never in
my wildest dreams imagined I would
ever possess such an instrument. Fate
has a strange way of evolving life in
ways you never would have expected.
I was bequeathed a Mermod Sublime
Harmonie Piccolo musical box, which
I picked up in May 2015. The saga
behind this box involves a number
of early MBSI members, legal drama,
and a memorable international border
crossing into Canada. It is quite an
involved story which may work into a
future article.
Ruth Bornand, a founding member
of MBSI, liquidated her remaining
parts and tools to Nancy Fratti in the
early 1980s. The inventory included
a simple wooden case holding two
18-inch Mermod cylinders. Nancy sold
those cylinders to Bill.
One of the cylinders had some of the
most intricate and complex musical
arrangements I’ve ever heard on a
music box. Ruth related to Bill how
her husband, Adrian, would use this
particular cylinder as a “test cylinder”
when performing repairs to calibrate
dampers etc.
In my nearly 40 years of road trips
to Bill and Linda’s home, I would often
ask to have that cylinder played for
Using a smartphone?
Scan the QR code above to be
taken directly to the YouTube
video featuring this cylinder.
me. I knew the music was composed
by Beethoven but I could not identify
the tunes.
I had the opportunity in the fall of
2019 to purchase those two “Bornand
cylinders” from Bill. On my road trip to
attend the Southeast Chapter meeting
in Plantation, FL, the deal was sealed
and the cylinders were picked up.
When the coronavirus pandemic
shut-down the much of the nation,
I took the opportunity of this “down
time” to do some serious tune
research. Finally, after all these years,
I nailed this cylinder as being the
second movement of Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony.
Operatic overtures had long been a
staple in the high-end cylinder music
box trade as musical box movements
evolved from musical watches and
small snuff boxes. Programming a
symphony to a music box is a whole
different story. The interplay and
dynamics between instruments trading
musical themes back and forth in
complex arrangements is beyond the
scope of transposing to a musical box
comb.
With the exception of this cylinder,
I’m not aware of any symphonies
ever being programmed to music box
cylinders or discs.
When working on an article such
as this, reaching out for help and
information is critical. Steve Ryder
answered my email, “Jere (Steve’s
brother) agrees that because of the
volume and rapidity of tooth-plucking,
this would have made a very good
cylinder for use in testing and making
adjustments during the redampering
of similar model, Sublime Harmonie
Piccolo boxes by Mermod. While Mer-
mod and their New York agent, Jacot,
did entertain custom cylinder-orders,
something of this nature would have
been frightfully expensive. It is at least
equally likely that this may have been
purpose-made for ‘showing what they
can do’ at an exposition in the hope of
taking orders right there from visitors
with refined musical tastes and pocketbooks
to match.”
I think Jere Ryder nailed it in that
this cylinder may have been made up
specifically for an exposition display.
Q. David Bowers in the March/April
2012 issue of Mechanical Music wrote
Number 1058 stamped onto what should be a 500 series
cylinder.
The exterior of the cylinder shipping box where the cylinder is
still stored is rough and has the initials RCB (perhaps for Ruth
Bornand) written on it.
40 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Packing case for three cylinders. Identical pieces of the bottom supports slip into the side tracks and hold the cylinders firmly
in place when the lid is closed and fastened.
an excellent in-depth article on the
history of Mermod Freres titled, “For
The Parlors of the Millionaire.” This
piece has pictures and a detailed
description of the Mermod exhibit at
the 1893 Columbian Exhibition.
The only reference I’m aware listing
the different cylinders offered for
Mermod Music Boxes is the reprint
catalogue of Heerer Bros. & Co from
the 1895-1896 season. My copy was
purchased from Ruth Bornand more
than 45 years ago. There was no mention
of this elusive “Bornand cylinder”
stamped with No. 1058 being a stock
item. To add to this mystery: Mer-
mod 18-inch cylinders for this style
box were numbered in a 500 series.
The 1000 series belongs to the Ideal
Quatuor Soprano box which played a
20-inch cylinder.
All my research really raises even
more questions. Was this a special-order
cylinder for a wealthy customer
or a “one off” used for exhibition display?
Did Mermod Freres ever issue a
complete Beethoven 9th Symphony on
cylinders?
We can only speculate and continue
to enjoy this glorious music.
WE WANT YOUR STORY!
Every mechanical musical instrument has a tale to tell. Share the history of people
who owned your instrument before you, or the story of its restoration, or just what
makes it an interesting piece. Send stories via email to editor@mbsi.org or
mail your story to Iron Dog Media, 130 Coral Court, Pismo Beach, CA 93449
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 41
42 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
A tale of two Reginas
By Harold Wade
purchased two Regina music
boxes at a Stanton Auction in Hasting,
MI, in November 2018. Doing some
research, I found that my Regina
Style 66 is Serial No. 78193 and was
shipped on Nov. 21, 1907. I found it
interesting that it still featured a five-
digit serial bedplate since seven-digit
serial numbers started appearing in
early 1905. The other Regina, a Style
67, purchased at the same auction
is serial number 6700006 and was
shipped Dec. 22, 1905.
Both music boxes played quite well
for being more than 100 years old. The
main problem I found with them was
that the glue joints on both cabinets
were loose and previous repairs were
less than professional. The problem
seemed to be that it is hard to glue
vertical wood pieces, (side panels and
leg parts) to horizontal (front and rear
panels) pieces of wood. Also, the Style
67 cabinet finish was quite light due to
fading from sunlight on the outside.
The top panel had been misused
which is common for the tops of disc
music boxes. People from the early
1900s liked to set flower pots on the
nice flat surface at the top of the music
box. I had the top panels on both the
Style 66 and Style 67 repainted by
a woman in Vermont on the recommendation
from Dwight Porter of the
Porter Music Box Company. I found
it interesting that the paintings and
mahogany of inside panels were intact
beautifully and retained that full rich
deep color that was shown originally
on the outside of Regina music boxes
as well.
Both Regina music boxes are
151/2-inch disc music boxes with
Rookwood cabinets. The Style 66 is
a table top style having a top lid that
opens for disc changing and playing.
It features a disc storage rack on the
bottom part of the open cabinet with
dividers for vertical disc storage. The
The Regina Style 67 with a disc loaded and disc storage below. Note the rich
mahogany color of the inside panels and the vividness of the painting on the storage
compartment as compared to the exterior (pictured on the facing page) that faded
and needed to be restored to represent what they might have looked like new.
disc rack pulls out for easy storing of Music Instruments,” both written by
the 151/2-inch discs. The sides of the Q. David Bowers. In fact, I’ve never
base cabinet are open. This disc music seen a picture of a Regina Style 66 disc
box is not pictured in either “The music box in any publication. It seems
Encyclopedia of Disc Musical Boxes” to me to be a quite rare Regina disc
or the “Encyclopedia of Automatic music box and only built for a couple
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 43
years by the Regina Company starting
in 1905.
The Regina Style 67 is a vertical cabinet
with two full-length doors that are
interlocked and swing out together
to show the disc 151/2-inch bedplate
horizontally mounted at the top with
a disc storage bin that pivots out for
disc storage on the bottom. There are
Rookwood paintings on both front
doors, upper and lower, both sides of
the cabinet and the front of the disc
storage bin as well as the top of the
cabinet.
Both the Style 66 and Style 67 bed-
plates, combs, star wheels and motors
showed minimal wear so that part
of the restoration was the easy part.
Dwight Porter took both cabinets completely
apart to remove excess glue on
the panels and alignment pins. While
completely apart, Dwight cleaned the
wood panel, legs, moldings, side and
back panels. He said that when the
machine was in pieces, it was much
easier to restore the front doors and
side panels and any wood work that
was required on the mouldings, which
had ding marks in several places. In
my opinion, Dwight did a beautiful job
of refinishing both music boxes which
look absolutely gorgeous. I feel they
are excellent examples of Regina disc
music boxes and I enjoy listening to
them.
The interior of the Regina Style 67 showing the restored bedplate.
Flowers on the top panel of the Regina Style 67 needed
repainting where many a potted plant had left its mark. The exposed bedplate of the Regina Style 66 after restoration.
44 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Seeking your stories for ….
The disc storage cabinet for the Regina Style 66 featuring
slots to hold extra discs and a restored top panel.
The interior of the Regina Style 66 with distinctive gold lettering
on the interior of the pop-up lid and a disc loaded and
ready to play for guests.
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 “The Hunt” 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.
The Hunt
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
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 45
The Hunt
Story and Photos By Robert Uhrhammer
An Edison Amberola 30
There it was, a surprise! At a local estate sale, in an old
cardboard box, a mechanical phonograph and a stack of
cylinder recordings were found. I purchased the box for
$100 dollars.
After some web browsing, I learned I had purchased
an Edison Amberola 30 (an acoustic phonograph with
no electrical components) along with about four dozen
Blue Amberol 4-minute cylinder recordings. All Edison
phonographs with an internal horn were called Amberolas,
“Amberol” after the new celluloid records and “ola” for
the de facto designation of an internal horn product. This
model was called, Amberola 30, because it sold for $30
dollars.
My special “find” was protected in an old oak case. It
was essentially in perfect condition, just in need of some
cleaning and polishing. Beautifully-grained oak made the
case a stand-out. The mechanical mechanism was in very
good condition. With a little cleaning and tender loving
care, it was playable.
After listening to few recordings, it became apparent
the horn was bumping the sides of the cabinet. The horn
support spring, which supports the horn and allows it to
swing freely as the stylus moves across the record, was
missing. Judging from online reports, a broken or missing
horn support spring is a common problem. Fortunately, I
was able to locate an original spring and install it, fixing
that issue.
Once repaired, the phonograph played the cylinder
recordings with good fidelity. This indicated that the
reproducer (an Edison Diamond C Reproducer), which
converts the mechanical energy picked up by the stylus to
acoustic energy or sound waves, was in good shape and
would not have to be rebuilt. The reproducer has a permanent
diamond stylus which does not have to be replaced.
It is designed to play only the 4-minute cylinder records.
The cylinders are played at a speed of 160 revolutions
per minute as the carriage assembly moves the stylus
and reproducer across the cylinder at a pitch of 200 turns
per inch. The maximum playing time is 4 minutes and 45
Column Graphic by Mary Clegg
Front view with the lid in the open position.
seconds.
The brass plate located inside the cover, on the left
side of the case, identifies this phonograph as Serial No.
SM-145844. The “SM” stands for “spring motor.” The reproducer
is nickel plated and its serial number, found on the
bottom of the reproducer, is 65754.
There were three series of Amberola 30s made from 1915
until 1925 and sold until 1929. To determine when it was
made, I had to do more research. There is no known list of
serial number and dates for the Amberola 30 model. This
46 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Right side view showing the beautiful grain of the oak case.
The crank is for winding the spring motor.
instrument has some characteristics of the second series
which ended in 1917 and some characteristics of the third
series which began in 1918. In October 1916, during the
second series production run, the nickel plated reproducers
were phased out. They were replaced with black painted
reproducers as a cost saving measure. My Amberola has
a brass stamped dataplate on the upper left side of the lid
which indicates it is in the third series which began in 1918.
Thus, it probably has a reproducer that is not original to the
instrument. Another approach to dating the instrument is
to estimate when it was made from the production figures
for the Amberolas in the Edison Archives.
The Amberola sales for fiscal years ending February 28th
are:
Year Sales Number Sold Cumulative Number Sold
1916 $641,000 21,000 21,000
1917 $769,000 25,600 46,600
1918 $1,081,000 36,000 82,600
1919 $1,223,000 40,800 123,400
1920 $1,430,000 47,700 171,100
1921 $1,134,000 37,800 208,900
1922 $112,000 3,700 212,600
Brass serial number plate stamped with model “30” and serial
number “SM-145844.”
Assuming sales were
due to the Amberola
30s ($30 each) and the
cumulative number sold
were proxy for the serial
number, my “find,” No.
SM-145844, would have
been produced no earlier
than October 1919.
After finding the
Amberola 30, I kept looking
for more 4-minute
celluloid Indestructibles
and Blue Amberol cylinder
recordings. At
a second estate sale, I
found 60 cylinders which
I purchased for $30.
Then, at a third sale, I hit
the jackpot with a find
of 250 cylinders. They
wanted $220 but they
took my offer of $150 for
the lot. The 4-minute cylinder
recordings came in
several different colors,
with flat title rims on
the Indestructibles and
the 1912 Edison Blue Amberols. Starting in 1913, Edison
changed to beveled title rims on the Blue Amberols. Both
types used an inner core to support the outer celluloid tube
to counteract the known shrinkage problem, where the
celluloid cylinder would no longer fit on the phonograph
mandrel. Exposure to temperature fluctuations (especially
very cold) and to moisture can cause celluloid to shrink.
The Indestructibles were manufactured from 1908 until
1922 by several companies on several different types of
cores. Albany Indestructibles had a thick cardboard core
and metal reinforcing rings. The Blue Amberols were
manufactured by Edison from October 1912 until 1929 with
celluloid on plaster cores. The Blue Amberols were very
robust and capable of handling thousands of playbacks
without degradation.
After sorting through the cylinders and removing the
broken and/or cracked ones, I found that I had 321 recordings
with only nine duplicates for a total of 312 unique
Bottom view of Diamond C
reproducer serial number
65754.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 47
Title rim of a Blue Amberol cylinder which gives the record
number ”3229,” title “Hawaiian Butterfly” and artist “Jackson.”
The lettering at the top states “Thomas A. Edison PAT’D.” The
plaster core is seen in this view.
cylinders. The collection includes a number of foreign
language recordings, marches, waltzes, medleys, gospel
songs, Hawaiian songs, plantation songs, and comical
stories. The eclectic mix of these cylinders are listed in
numerical cylinder number order in Table 1. Additionally,
the lot also included five tan colored wax cylinders (all
are recording blanks) and seven 2-minute cylinders which
can’t be played on the Amberola 30.
The University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB)
Cylinder Audio Archive (http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/
history-blueamberol.php) lists Blue Amberol cylinder
numbers: 1501-5719, issued between 1912 and 1929, which
featured everything from popular and band music to light
classics; 9425-9462 featuring Swedish and Danish recordings;
22535-22539 featuring Hawaiian recordings; and,
28101-28290 featuring concert and grand opera.
Primary sources for this article are: The Edison Cylinder
Phonograph Companion by George L. Frow edited by Robert
W. Baumbach, First Digital Edition 2014; The Antique
Phonograph Society (http://www.antiquephono.org); The
UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive (http://cylinders.library.
Example of a Blue Amberol cylinder record. The cylinder is
approximately 41/4 inches long and approximately 13/4 inches
in diameter with approximately 1/8 inch taper to fit snugly on
the phonograph mandrel.
edu); and, The Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov)
History of the Cylinder Phonograph; The Talking Machine
Forum (forum.talkingmachine.info) Amberola 30 model
differences; List of Edison Blue Amberol Records (http://
en.wikipedia.org). I thank my wife, Joan, for encouragement
to write this article and for numerous editorial
improvements.
Dr. Robert “Bob” Uhrhammer is a retired research seismologist. His
lifelong hobby has been ham and historical radio operation and repair.
In 2015 he joined the Golden Gate Chapter of MBSI and started his
collection of mechanical phonographs.
WE WANT YOUR STORY!
Every mechanical musical instrument has a tale to tell. Share the history of people
who owned your instrument before you, or the story of its restoration, or just what
makes it an interesting piece. Send stories via email to editor@mbsi.org or
mail your story to Iron Dog Media, 130 Coral Court, Pismo Beach, CA 93449
48 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Table 1 – Listing of records in cylinder number order.
# – 1912 Blue Amberol (Flat Title Rim)
C – Columbia
% – Indestructible
S – Swedish & Danish
H – Hawiian
No Symbol – 1913-1929 Blue Amberol (Beveled Title Rim)
No. Title
27 Tenor Belle Brandon
193 Arrah Wanna
218 I’ve Got Rings on My Fingers
232 Dream of the Tyrolienne
243 The Old Rustic Bridge by the Mill
284 When the Bell in the Lighthouse Rings
288 How She Gets Away With It
302 Carnival of Venice
379 Nearer My God to Thee
456 You Taught Me How to Love You
502 Put on Your Slippers, Your in for the Night
519 Dancing on the House Top
565 My Old Girl
602 Asthore Werrenrath
604% Manhattan Beach March
643 Somewhere
676% The Holy City
705% El Miserere From Il Trovatore
744% When You Steal a Kiss or Two
753% March Comique
810# Invercargill March
993% Feed the Kitty
998% Hail to the Stars and Strips March
1020% Uncle Josh and the Sailor
1021% Broncho Bill March
1076% Heine Waltzed on His Hickory Limb
1094% Policeman’s March
1101% Wise Old Indian
1134% Die Wacht am Rhein
1135 Im Mer An Der Wand Lang. Traube.
1144% I am awful glad I met you
1149% Quartette Liza.
1176% El Capitan March
1225% A. Frangesa March
1260% Hunting Song
No. Title
1262% American Aerial Triumph March
1288% Gold and Silver Waltz
1325% Business is Business With Me
1342% Kaiser Friedrich March
1345 Daddy Has a Sweetheart
1346% String Quartette
1350% Red Clover
1356% The Jolly Coppersmith March
1382% The Grasshoppers Dance
1413% Silver Bell Duet
1415% When You Mary a Girl for Looks
1422% When the Bloom is on the Heather
1431% The Coquettes
1438% The Rosary
1506# Over the Waves Waltz
1511# My Uncles Farm
1516# Just Before the Battle
1547# Silver Threads Among the Gold
1550 Casey Jones
1552# Are You Going to Dance
1558# Menuet
1560# The Preacher and the Bear
1561# The Glory Song
1569# Norah Acuchla
1583 Uncle Josh Buys an Automobile
1587# Everybody Two-Step
1596# Good-Night Farewell
1600# Home Sweet Home the World Over
1601# The Holy City
1609# Don’t Turn My Picture
1612# Spirit of Independence March
1626# Patriotic Songs of America
1638# Belle of New York
1642# St Mark 4: & Peace! Be Still!
1644 Unlucky Mose
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 49
No. Title
1648# Dixie Band
1650# Menuett -Gavotte
1719# When the Midnight Choo Choo
1737# That Old Girl of Mine
1743# The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
1750 Blue Danube Waltz
1758# Till the Sands of the Desert Grow Cold
1779# Happy Days
1781# My Hero
1787# As I Sat Upon
1792 You’re a Great Big Blue Eyed Baby
1795# Dream of the Tyrolienne
1796# Snookey Ookums
1802# My Little Persian Rose Medly
1812 Aloha Oe
1817 She’s My Daisy
1819# Just a Wee Deoch an Doris
1822 A Wee Hoose ‘Mang the Heather
1838# I Love You, California
1857 Memories of Home
1861 Wedding of the Winds Waltz
1879 Put on Your Slippers, Your in for the Night
1887 The Prettiest Little Song of All
1912 Show Troupe at Pumpkin Centre
1926 Serenade
1930 Way Back Home
1933 Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming
1960 Boston Cammandery March
1961# The Lighthouse by the Sea
1966 The Kiss
2034 Gold and Silver Waltz
2042 Face to Face
2061 Sweet Longing
2063# Virginia Reel Band
2066 Come on Over Here Elizabeth
2068 When Dreams Come True
2069 I Wish That You Belonged to Me
2078 The International Rag
2080 Maria Padilla
2083 Farewell Marguerite
2084 ‘Aisha’ Indian Intermezzo
2088 The Girl in the Gingham Gown
2093 Musical Wizard and the Bell Boy
No. Title
2097# Cradle Song
2102 Romance From L’Eclair Venetian
2114 Southern Dream Patrol
2121 When I Dream of Old Erin
2125 Where is My Wandering Boy Tonight
2126 My Mothers Old Red Shawl
2131 When I Lost You
2144 From Maine to Oregon March
2150 When the Twilight Comes to Kiss
2151 Sweet Anna Marie
2155 Would You Take Me Back Again
2192 Aunt Mandy
2196 There’s a Girl in Arizona
2203 Columbian Exposition March
2206 Dreaming Waltz
2223 Lullaby
2238 When the Bloom is on the Cotton
2241 Unknown
2251 Trallen
2262 In Dreams My Own
2272 An Afternoon in June
2300 In the Valley of the Moon
2310 She’s Dancing Her Heart Away
2368 A Perfect Day
2371 Kathlyn Waltz
2392 All on Account of You
2399 Kentucky Babe
2400 Lorena Metropolitan Quartet
2402 Over the Alpine Mountains
2449 Let’s Grow Old Together Honey
2453 Somewhere a Voice is Calling
2457 In the Evening by the Moonlight
2473 Spring of Love
2477 The Music of Love
2487 It’s a Long Long Way to Tipperary
2509 Come Back to Me
2609 Lucia
2634 Canadian March
2672 Some Little Girl Named Mary
2685 Medley of Hawaiian Hula’s
2714 Climbing Up the Golden Stairs
2715 The Birds and the Brook
2717 There’s a Little White Church in the Valley
50 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
No. Title
2719 Daisies Won’t Tell
2724 My Pretty Firefly
2738 Mother Machree
2752 The Blue Paradise Waltz of the Season
2772 Dominion of Canada March
2773 Till the Boy’s Come Home
2803 The Nightingale Song
2817 Love Moon
2893 Railroad Jim
2899 I Seem to Hear You Gently Calling
2916 Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula
2941 Medley of Hawaiian Airs No. 2
2945 Serenade
2971 On the Beach Medley
3010% The Star of Bethlehem
3015% Medley of Plantation Songs
3020% The Arkansas Traveler
3036 Christmas Eve
3045 Kamehameha March
3050% A Semper Fidelis March; B-22 No Reg’t
March
3065 Hawaiian Hula Medley
3070 The Tales of Hoffmann Barcarole
3077 The Rose of No Man’s Land
3117% Then You’ll Remember Me
3122% I’ve Got the Time
3136% I’ll Lend You Everything
3176 Napoleon Have a Heart
3180 Aloha Sunset Land
3221 American Patrol
3229 Hawaiian Butterfly
3241 Canary Cottage
3251% Alexander’s Ragtime Band
3264 For You a Rose
3269 Wiliwili Wai
3292 Buzzin’ The Bee
3310 Aida Selection No. 2
3321 Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France
3361 Medley of Irish Jigs
3367 We’re Going Over
3400 Spanish Fandango
3408% Maui Aloha
3409% Wailana Waltz
No. Title
3424 When You Hear That Raggy Refrain
3433% Smiles
3434% Missouri Waltz
3437 Someone is Waiting for You
3473 Says I to Myself, Says I
3497 A Submarine Attack
3498 K-K-K-Katy
3502 I’m Sorry I Made You Cry
3504 Just a Baby’s Prayer at Twilight
3554 Jazbo Jazz
3587 Ev’rything ‘s Funny to Me
3646 I’m Always Chasing Rainbows
3649 Ja-Da (Ja Da Ja Da Jing Jing Jing)
3653 That Dreamy Dreamy Lullaby
3670 Till We Meet Again
3688 L’Ardita Magnetic Waltz
3726 How ‘Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Dow on the Farm
3742 Bring Back Those Wonderful Days
3798 I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles
3821 Memories of You in Dear Hawaii
3833 The Ambassador Polka
3841 I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles Medley Waltz
3862 Uncle Josh and the Honey Bees
3932 In Tyrol Yodel Song
3936 Flanagan’s Real Estate Deal
3939 Pretty Dick Polka
3954 Pretty Little Rainbow Waltz
4023 A Spring Morning Intermezzo
4121 Wailana Waltz
4365 Mindin’ My Bus’ness
4419 Dreamy Hawaiian Waltz
4581 I Want You Back Again
4617 If a Picture Could Paint
4761 Puritani Sound Now
4762 Mother in Ireland
4863 That Old Gang of Mine
4872 Land of My Sunset Dreams
4887 Pal of My Dreams
5140 Always
5720 My Wild Irish Rose
7199 Edison Record Patented molded on side of
cylinder
7498 I Left Because I Love You
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 51
No. Title
8033 Victorious America March
8072 TAE Patented molded on side of cylinder
8207 Second Reg’t N.G.N.J March
8250 U. S. Army Lancers, 1st Half Last Figure
8416 TAE Patented 5 molded on side of cylinder
8475 Parody of Hiawatha
8501 Always in the Way
8590 TAE Patented 4 molded on side of cylinder
8709S Du Du Lichs Mir Im Herzen
8715 Listen to the Mocking Bird
8729 Invitation to the Waltz
8825 Royal Italian March
8841 I’ve Got a Feelin’ For You
8854 Ring the Bells of Heaven
8870 I’m Trying So Hard to Forget You
8920 Minstrels
8956 A Summer Dream
9014 An Autumn Evening
9083 Washington Greys March
9096 Sing Me the Songs of Dixie Land
9098 Selection From Chimes of Normandy
9122 Hungarian Fantasia
9144 When the Evening Breeze is Sighing
9148 The Golden Wedding
9160 Nigger Loves His Possum
9192 The Jolly Blacksmiths Quartet
9194 Caprice Militaire
9199 God Be With You ‘Till We Meet Again
9271 Keep on the Sunny Side
9286 Bells Pretty Pond Lilies
9357 I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m on
my Way
9369 Sisseretta’s Visit to the North
9382 Belle of the East
9426S Norrlandingens Hemlangtan Asplund
9430S Ny Fiskar Vals
9433S Bref Fran Lina Parson
No. Title
9434S Grisarnas Far
9435S Karlenkens Besvarligheter
9437S Tiggaren
9438S Vart Land
9447S Moder Svea No. 2
9448S Min Lilla Vra Bland Bergen
9450S The Bird on Nellie’s Hat
9455S Finska Rytteriete March
9456S Karolinas Trakigheter
9459S Hyllning Till Sverige
9492 All in Down and Out
9527 Flanagan on a Broadway Car
9550 Stand For Jesus
9622 Red Wing
9642 Brother Noah Gave Out Checks for Rain
9665 Medley of Straight Jigs
9847 Just Some One
9974 It’s the Pretty Things You Say
9994 Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming
10037 Honey Lou
10114 I’m Looking for a Sweetheart
10473 There’s a Light in the Window
12277 Breakfast in Bed
15067C Santiago Waltz
22535H Ninipo Paka’s Hawaiians
22539H Akahi Hoi
28012 Beloved, It is Morn
28104% One Sweetly Solemn Thought
28172 Good Bye, Sweet Day
28233 Whispering Hope
28249 Stille Nacht! Heilice Nacht
32236C St. Patrick’s Day at Clancy’s
32277C No Title Information
32394C Little Street in Heaven
32588C ‘Because’
32688C Dainty Little Ingenue
52 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
In Memoriam In Memoriam
Ruth Pontius (1939 – 2020)
By Hope Rider
Ruth Pontius of Hartford City, IN,
passed away August 25, 2020. She and
her husband, Kim, raised three sons
and have an extended family. Over the
years, friends and those who shared
a love for mechanical music visited
their music collection and marveled at
Kim’s orderly workshop.
Ruth shared the love of the music
and helped Kim demonstrate their
instruments such as a Regina table
model music box on a matching
cabinet.
They also were proud of a Seeburg
automatic piano that Kim restored,
which is next to their Aeolian Orchestrelle
with more than 100 rolls. Ruth’s
favorite tune was “The Jolly Student
March.”
Kim and Ruth were regulars at MBSI While in the shop working, Kim worked in the Blackford County
meetings and the Mid-Am Band Organ cut off the tip of one finger. Ruth, School System as the School Nurse
Rallies. They always had an organ who received her Registered Nursing and after she retired she went to work
on a trailer to show, rotating through Degree from Ball State University, for Blackford Home Health Care.
various machines including a couple patched him up and he continues to Ruth will certainly be missed by her
built by Kim, himself. pursue the hobby to this day. She family and many friends.
Kim and Ruth Pontius at Mid-Am Rally.
Rhonda Grimes Bryant (1949-2020)
Rhonda Grimes Bryant passed
peacefully in her sleep at home on
Aug. 1, 2020.
Born Aug. 7, 1949, to Wayland and
Dorothy Grimes of Palestine, AR, she
was the oldest of seven brothers and
sisters.
She attended Memphis State University,
now known as the University of
Memphis, where she met her husband
of 51 years, John Mathis Bryant Jr.
Once married, she joined John’s family
as a beloved fourth sister to Jimmy,
Margaret, Faye, and Betty.
Rhonda started work in the
industrial pipe business as a secretary
and worked her way up to owning her
own company, Interstate Pipe Supply.
She was a female entrepreneur in
a male-dominated industry. After
retiring from her career in the pipe
business, she transitioned to John
Bryant Estate Sales and was beloved
by many in the industry who knew
her. She was a resident of the Central
Gardens community for 42 years.
Rhonda was a loving mother to John
Mathis Bryant III, whom everyone
knows as Tiger. Even though she only
had one child, she cooked for an army.
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 53
Her son recalls, “My house was a hub. them feel as though they had been someone everyday she loved them
Friends would come into town know-friends all along. She’d invite anyone because she knew it made them
ing they had a second mother ready to to join their family for a meal, and in happy, and it made her happy. She was
greet them.” her quiet way she made everyone feel involved with the Women’s Guild at St.
She cherished her role as grand-welcome. Peter’s Church, Quota club, and was a
mother to her three grandkids. She cared about her family, people, frequent donor to Memphis Humane
She could talk to anyone, making and friends. She said she tried to tell Society.
Condolences Answers to the puzzle on Page 7
MBSI has learned the following members have recently
passed away: Dave Miner on July 13; Dick Bagwell, on
Sept. 6; Betty Toth on Sept. 13; and John Field, on Oct
7. Our most sincere condolences are extended to their
families and friends.
J C Y P I A K L M U R D
K S D I O N O R R C A R
P I A N O G I E E R J O
A D O J R O D K G E A R
D I N K D N M R I A N E
P A J O I C Y L N M B U
B A N L Y D M G A A K G
A C Y M B A L Y J A I E
N C R J K R I G O I L N
J Y C O R O N A J Y N O
O L J O N A K N A B E A
54 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 55
2000 N. READING ROAD | DENVER, PA 17517 | 877-968-8880 | INFO@MORPHYAUCTIONS.COM
MORPHYAUCTIONS.COM
Accepting Consignments for
Spring 2021
COIN-OP & ADVERTISING
SOLD $83,000 SOLD $61,500
SOLD $72,000
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 55
2000 N. READING ROAD | DENVER, PA 17517 | 877-968-8880 | INFO@MORPHYAUCTIONS.COM
MORPHYAUCTIONS.COM
Accepting Consignments for
Spring 2021
COIN-OP & ADVERTISING
SOLD $83,000 SOLD $61,500
SOLD $72,000
The Organette Book
ISBN 978-0-9557869-5-2
colour throughout;Additional Illustrations of Models; Additions to Lists of The Organette Book
ISBN 978-0-9557869-5-2
colour throughout;Additional Illustrations of Models; Additions to Lists of
The Musical Box Society of Great Britain announces the publication of two new books
Published in September 2018
100pp Hard Back ISO A4 format [8.27” × 11.70”; Profusely illustrated in
Supplement to
colour throughout with Additional Illustrations of Models, 89 Additional Lid
The Disc Musical Box Pictures Additions to Lists of Models, Patents, Tune Lists & Serial Numbers;
Combined Index of Images in the original book and its Supplement.
Compiled and Edited by
Kevin McElhone
Originally published in 2012 and still available The Disc Musical Box
ISBN 978-0-9557869-6-9
is a compendium of information about Disc Musical Boxes, their Makers and
their Music; profusely illustrated in colour throughout with Illustrations of
each Disk Musical Box Model, and with Catalogue Scans, Lists of Models,
Patents & Tune Lists.
************************************************************************************************************************
For all MBSGB Publications, please refer to the Musical Box Society of Great Britain website for further details including latest
availability, discounted prices and information on how to order. -www.mbsgb.org.uk
Supplement to
Compiled and Edited by
Kevin McElhone
100pp Hard Back ISO A4 format [8.27” × 11.70”; Profusely illustrated in
Patents, Tune Lists & Tuning Scales; A New Section on Trade Cards;
Combined Index of Images in the original book and its Supplement.
The Organette Book is a compendium of information about Organettes,
their Makers and their Music. Originally published in 2000 but now out of
print although second-hand copies are occasionally available in online
auctions.
56 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
Ben’s Player Piano Service
Repair and restoration of air powered mechanical music
devices of all description.
Player pianos
Reproduing pianos
Dance organs
Fairground organs
Nickelodeon pianos
Original historically
Correct techniques
And materials used
Throughout in the
Rebuilding process.
Benjamin R Gottfried
464 Dugan Road, Richfield Springs NY 13439
Bensplayerservice.com 315-858-2164
WWW.REEDERPIANOS.COM • 517-886-9447
Specializing in the Restora on and Retail of Fine Pianos
Available Reproducing Pianos:
Chickering •Marshall & Wendall •George Steck
Mason & Hamlin •Knabe •Aeolian
»QRS & AMPICO MUSIC ROLLS«
“Where Fine Pianos
Are Reborn”
Fine Art & Antique Consignments
The highest level of customer service plus private,
professional and confidential transactions.
120 Court Street, Geneseo, NY 14454 cottoneauctions.comAdvertise 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. Or, go to www.mbsi.org and place your ad online!
Name Phone
Email
Text of ad
Ben’s Player Piano Service
Repair and restoration of air powered mechanical music
devices of all description.
Player pianos
Reproduing pianos
Dance organs
Fairground organs
Nickelodeon pianos
Original historically
Correct techniques
And materials used
Throughout in the
Rebuilding process.
Benjamin R Gottfried
464 Dugan Road, Richfield Springs NY 13439
Bensplayerservice.com 315-858-2164
WWW.REEDERPIANOS.COM • 517-886-9447
Specializing in the Restora on and Retail of Fine Pianos
Available Reproducing Pianos:
Chickering •Marshall & Wendall •George Steck
Mason & Hamlin •Knabe •Aeolian
»QRS & AMPICO MUSIC ROLLS«
“Where Fine Pianos
Are Reborn”
Fine Art & Antique Consignments
The highest level of customer service plus private,
professional and confidential transactions.
120 Court Street, Geneseo, NY 14454 cottoneauctions.comAdvertise 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. Or, go to www.mbsi.org and place your ad online!
Name Phone
Email
Text of ad
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 57
SAVE THE DATE
August 30 -September 4, 2021
(Tuesday through Saturday)
Things to do
in 2021
Fort Myers, Florida
MBSI is bringing the
1. Thank God that 2020 is over.
2. Get a Covid vaccine shot.
3. Make plans to attend the
Fall MBSI convention
4. Lose 15 pounds …
Lose 5 pounds …
Try not to gain more weight
Get up before noon.
6. Attend the MBSI convention
in Fort Myers, FL and
5. Wake up and exercise daily …
have great fun with
friends and
music machines
fun back in 2021
• Amazing instruments!
• Workshops!
• Collection tours!
• The Mart!
• Entertainment!
• Experts, fellow collectors and friends
from all over the world!
• Food, fun and fellowship!
Guaranteed to be the best
MBSI Annual Meeting
of this decade so far!
Registration details will be printed in a spring issue of Mechanical Music.
Stanton’s FALL MUSIC MACHINE AUCTION
To be held in the Barry Expo Center, on the Barry County Fairgrounds at 1350 N. M-37 Highway, Hastings, Michigan
– go 4-1/2 miles northwest of Hastings on M-37 to the sale site OR approx. 20 miles southeast of Grand Rapids on
Beltline/M-37 to the auction location on:
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, November 19, 20 & 21, 2020
Thursday Sale begins at 1:00 P.M. following the Complimentary Luncheon
Friday & Saturday’s Sessions begin at 9:00 A.M.
AUCTIONEERS & REALTORS STANTON’S Stanton’s Auctioneers,
Appraisers, & Realtors
144 S. Main, P.O. Box 146
Vermontville, MI 49096
Phone: (517) 726-0181
Fax: (517) 726-0060
E-mail: stantonsauctions@sbcglobal.net
Website: www.stantons-auctions.com
Steven E. Stanton
(517) 331-8150 cellular
(517) 852-0627 evening
E-mail – stevenEstanton@gmail.com
Michael C. Bleisch
(517) 231-0868 cellular
E-mail – mcbleisch@gmail.com
An excellent event with collections
from the Loyd Davis Estate (Session
1), the Robert Kolba Collection of
Arizona, Bogantz Estate of North
Carolina, Buehler Estate, Ohio
and lots more. The sale includes
Edison Ideal, Columbia K, Edison
Home Banner type with Polyphon
attachment, Tournaphone floor
model Paper roll organ; other roller
organs; Rare Regina Console music
box, Reginaphone lion’s head model
and other Regina, Symphonion,
Polyphon, & Stella examples; Edison
Operas, 3 Regina Hexaphones
(various models), Victor “fighting
dogs”, music boxes, phonographs,
coin-ops, lots and lots of parts,
reproducers, Zon-o-phone A (glass
side), Circassian walnut Victor XVI,
plan on attending our Fall Event.
Watch our website for pictures and
additional information. Another
fantastic offering.
We are still accepting additional collections and machines for this event, call us early
to get your items listed and properly advertised.
Call Steve Stanton, 517-331-8150 • Email – stevenEstanton@gmail.com
FOR SALE
your copy today for $99 plus S/H. MECHANI
THE MART
CAL MUSIC PRESS-M, 70 Wild Ammonoosuc
Display Advertising Dimensions and Costs
Dimensions 1 issue 3 issues* 6 issues*
Back Cover 8.75” x 11.25” $600 $540 $510
Inside Covers 8.75” x 11.25” $450 $405 $383
Full Page 7.25” x 9.75” $290 $261 $246
Half Page 7.25” x 4.5” $160 $144 $136
Quarter Page 3.5” x 4.5” $90 $81 $77
Eighth Page 3.5” x 2.125” $50 $45 $43
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
CLASSIFIED ADS
• 47¢ per word
• ALL CAPS, italicized and bold
words: 60¢ each.
• Minimum Charge: $11 per ad.
• Limit: One ad in each category
• Format: See ads for style
• Restrictions: Ads are strictly
limited to mechanical musical
instruments and related items and
services
• MBSI member’s name must
appear in ad
• Non-members may advertise at the
rates listed plus a 10% surcharge
PLEASE NOTE:
The first two words (or more
at your choice) and the member’s
name will be printed in all caps/bold
and charged at 60¢ per word.
Mechanical Music
Mechanical Music is mailed to all
members at the beginning of every
odd month — 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 business
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 business
dealings with said advertisers.
RESTORED MUSICAL BOXES Offering a
variety of antique musical boxes, discs,
orphan cylinders, reproducing piano rolls &
out of print books about mechanical music.
BILL WINEBURGH 973-927-0484 Web:
antiquemusicbox.us
THE GOLDEN AGE of AUTOMATIC MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS By ART REBLITZ.
Award-winning classic that brings historical,
musical, and technical information to life
with hundreds of large, vivid color photos.
We guarantee you’ll find it to be one of the
most interesting, inspiring, informative books
you have in your library–or your money back.
Everyone has been delighted, and some
readers have ordered several copies. Get
Rd., Woodsville, NH 03785. (603) 747-2636.
http://www.mechanicalmusicpress.com
VINTAGE SWISS MUSIC MOVEMENTS. NOS.
In A/C storage over 45 years; 12 note, 18 note
most original wrap. 10/$25, 100/$200.+
shipping. Also Brass Reuge 30 note priced
separately. Location 11787. BILL ZUK, 941321-
1790, wmezuk@gmail.com.
WURLITZER 190 B THEATER ORGAN with
piano attached. Many capabilities. $15,000
OBO. AMERICAN-BUILT SCOPITONES with
several extra films available. Two for $1,500
or one for $1,000, OBO. SEEBURG JUKEBOX
with records and wall box. $750 OBO. DUO
ART STROUD PIANO, restored. $750 OBO.
ALL ADS MUST BE PREPAID
We accept VISA/MC and Paypal.
ADVERTISING DEADLINES:
The 1st day of each even month:
Feb., Apr., Jun, Aug., Oct. and Dec.
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.
SUBMIT ADS TO:
MBSI Ads
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
(253) 228-1634
Email: editor@mbsi.org
62 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
BUSH AND LANE grand reproducing piano.
Player action needs restoration. $500 OBO.
Deacon Chimes. $350 OBO. Several hundred
plus piano rolls, all types. One accordion
setup that ties into theatre organ or similar
device. $300 OBO. Contact JON CARPENTER
joncarol54@gmail.com
importance, MBSI members and collections
are featured. $20 USD. Free shipping in the
continental U.S. Additional postage charges
apply for other locations. Purchase now at
www.mbsi.org
WANTED
WURLITZER LX. Also wanting 151/2-inch
Regina Style 216 or 217 bell music box.
Contact: DON KROENLEIN, (217) 620-8650
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.
We’re the only REUGE FACTORY AUTHORIZED
Parts & Repair Service Center for all of North
America. Contact: DON CAINE -The Music
Box Repair Center Unlimited, 24703 Pennsylvania
Ave., Lomita, CA 90717-1516. Phone:
(310) 534-1557 Email: MBRCU@AOL.COM.
On the Web: www.musicboxrepaircenter.com
fbac@one-eleven.net
LOOKING FOR the following operatic 27”
Regina discs: #4349 “Sicilienne” from Robert
Diable; #4407 “Oh Maiden Fair” and #4418
“Benediction of the Poignards” from Les
Huguenots. Contact JACK KANE, at luvstocook@
gmail.com.
CAPITOL CUFF MUSIC BOX STYLE C (largest)
excellent condition, with reproduction
base,10 cuffs located in Miami, FL $7,000
305-932-7972 HOWARD SANFORD howard-REPRODUCTION POLYPHON discs; Catalogs
sanford@bellsouth.net available for 19 5/8”, 22 1/8”, and 24 1/2”.
SERVICES
DAVID CORKRUM 5826 Roberts Ave, Oak-
MARVELS OF MECHANICAL MUSIC – MBSI land, CA 94605-1156, 510-569-3110,
Video. Fascinating and beautifully-made www.polyphonmusic.com
film which explains the origins of automatic
musical instruments, how they are collected SAVE $’s on REUGE & THORENS MUSIC
and preserved today, and their historic BOX REPAIR & RESTORATION – MBSI
Display Advertisers
3………. Renaissance Antiques
54…….. Miller Organ Clock
54…….. Bob Caletti
55…….. Morpy Auctions
56…….. MBSGB
56…….. American Treasure Tour
57…….. Cottone Auctions
57…….. Reeder Pianos
57…….. Ben’s Player Piano
58…….. Southeast Chapter
59…….. Bertoia Auctions
60…….. Nancy Fratti
61…….. Stanton Auctions
67…….. Marty Persky
68…….. Porter Music Box Company
Add a photo to your ad!
You know the old saying, “A photo
is worth 1,000 words!” Well, it’s
only $30 per issue to add a photo
to your classified advertisement in
the Mart. That’s a lot less than 1,000
words would cost. A photo makes
your ad stand out on the page and
quickly draws a reader’s interest in
the item. Email your advertisement
with photo to editor@mbsi.org or
call (253) 228-1634 for more details.
Have you tried the MBSI online
classifieds? It’s quick and easy to
place your ad. Pay with Paypal and
see your ad on the website AND in
the journal. Go to www.mbsi.org
and click on the Classifieds link to
get started today.
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 by advertising in The
Mart, an effective advertising tool at an inexpensive price.
Fill out the form below and mail to MBSI at 130 Coral Court, Pismo Beach, CA
93449. Call (253) 228-1634 with questions.
Name Phone
Text of ad
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 63
OFFICERS, TRUSTEES & COMMITTEES of the
MUSICAL BOX SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL®
OFFICERS
President
Tom Kuehn
4 Williams Woods
Mahtomedi, MN 55115
kuehn001@umn.edu
Vice President
David Corkrum
5826 Roberts Avenue
Oakland, CA 94605
musikwerke@att.net
Recording Secretary
Linda Birkitt
PO Box 541
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693
scarletpimpernel28@yahoo.com
Treasurer
Edward Kozak
3615 North Campbell Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
kozak@seldenfox.com
TRUSTEES
Dave Calendine
Bob Caletti
Ed Cooley
Dave Corkrum
G.Wayne Finger
Matt Jaro
Tom Kuehn
Mary Ellen Myers
Clay Witt
MBSI FUNDS
COMMITTEES
Audit
Edward Cooley, Chair, Trustee
Dave Calendine, Trustee
Matt Jaro, Trustee
Endowment Committee
Edward Kozak, Treasurer, Chair
Edward Cooley, Trustee
Dave Calendine, Trustee
B Bronson
Wayne Wolf
Executive Committee
Tom Kuehn, Chair, President
David Corkrum, Vice President
Clay Witt, Immediate Past Pres.
G.Wayne Finger, Trustee
Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee
Finance Committee
Edward Kozak, Chair, Treasurer
Wayne Wolf, Vice Chair
David Corkrum, Vice President
Edward Cooley, Trustee
Peter Both
Marketing Committee
Bob Smith, Chair
G.Wayne Finger, Trustee
Judy Caletti
Meetings Committee
Matt Jaro, Chair, Trustee
Judy Caletti
Tom Chase
Cotton Morlock
Mary Pollock
Rich Poppe
Membership Committee
Chair, TBD
Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee,
Southeast
Linda Birkitt, Southern California
Gary Goldsmith, Snowbelt
Christine Hopwood, Golden Gate
Julie Morlock, Southeast
Rob Pollock, Mid-America
Dan Wilson, Piedmont
Gerald Yorioka, Northwest Int’l
TBD, East Coast
TBD, Great Lakes
TBD, National Capital
TBD, Sunbelt
Museum Committee
Sally Craig, Chair
Clay Witt, Immediate Past Pres.
Glenn Crater, National Capital
Ken Envall, Southern California
Julian Grace, Sunbelt
Matt Jaro, National Capital
Richard Simpson, East Coast
Museum Sub-Committees
Ohio Operations
Emery Prior
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES
Publications Back Issues:
Jacque Beeman
Regina Certificates:
B Bronson
MBSI Pins and Seals:
Jacque Beeman
Librarian:
Jerry Maler
Historian:
Bob Yates
Nominating Committee
Dan Wilson, Chair
Clay Witt, Immediate Past Pres.
Bob Caletti, Golden Gate, Trustee
Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee,
Southeast
Jonathan Hoyt, Golden Gate
Robbin Biggins, Southern California
Aaron Muller, Lake Michigan
Publications Committee
Bob Caletti, Chair, Trustee
Steve Boehck
Dave Corkrum, Vice President
Christian Eric
Kathleen Eric
Terry Smythe
Publications
Sub-Committee
Website Committee
Rick Swaney, Chair
B Bronson
Don Henry
Knowles Little, Web Secretary
Special Exhibits Committee
Chair Mary Ellen Myers, Trustee,
Southeast
David Corkrum, Vice President,
Golden Gate
Donald Caine, Southern California
Jack Hostetler, Southeast
Knowles Little, National Capital
Judy Miller, Piedmont
Aaron Muller, Lake Michigan
Wayne Myers, Southeast
Rick Swaney, Northwest Int’l
MBSI Editorial Office:
Iron Dog Media
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
editor@mbsi.org
Members can donate to these funds at any time.
Send donations to: General Fund (unrestricted)
MBSI Administrator, Endowment Fund (promotes the purposes of MBSI, restricted)
PO Box 10196, Ralph Heintz Publications Fund (special literary projects)
Springfield, MO 65808-0196. Museum Fund (supports museum operations)
All manuscripts will be subject to editorial review. Committee and the Editorial Staff. are considered to be the author’s personal opinion.
Articles submitted for publication may be edited The article will not be published with significant The author may be asked to substantiate his/her
or rejected at the discretion of the Publications changes without the author’s approval. All articles statements.
64 MECHANICAL MUSIC November/December 2020
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Date Event Location Sponsor
Aug. 30-Sept. 4, 2021 MBSI Annual Meeting Ft. Myers, FL Southeast Chapter
When will your chapter meet next? Holding a “virtual meeting?” Let us know!
Send in your information by Nov. 30, 2020 for the January/February issue.
Do you have a question about music boxes or other music machines? Try asking our FaceBook discussion
group. Find us by searching Facebook for Musical Box Society Forum.
Please send dates for the Calendar of Events to Russell Kasselman (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) 886-8839
jbeeman.mbsi@att.net
CHAPTERS
East Coast
Chair: Elise Low
(203) 457-9888
Dues $10 to Roger Wiegand
281 Concord Road
Wayland, MA 01778
or pay via PayPal, send to
treasurereccmbsi@gmail.com
Golden Gate
Chair: Jonathan Hoyt
jenjenhoyt@yahoo.com
Dues $5 to Dave Corkrum
5826 Roberts Ave.
Oakland, CA 94605
Japan
Chair Pro Tem: Sachiya Sasaki
Vice Chair Pro Tem: Naoki Shibata
Lake Michigan
Chair: Aaron Muller
(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: Matthew Jaro
(301) 482-2008
Dues $5 to Florie Hirsch
8917 Wooden Bridge Road
Potomac, MD 20854
Northwest International
Chair: Rick Swaney
(425) 836-3586
Dues $7.50/person to Kathy Baer
8210 Comox Road
Blaine, WA 98230
Piedmont
Temp Chair: Dan Wilson
(919) 740-6579
musicboxmac@mac.com
Dues $10 to Dan Wilson
4804 Latimer Road
Raleigh, NC. 276099
Traveling MBSI Display
Bill Endlein
21547 NW 154th Pl.
High Springs, FL 32643-4519
Phone (386) 454-8359
sembsi@yahoo.com
Regina Certificates: Cost $5.
B Bronson
Box 154
Dundee, MI 48131
Phone (734) 529-2087
art@d-pcomm.net
Advertising for Mechanical Music
Russell Kasselman
Iron Dog Media
130 Coral Court
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Phone (253) 228-1634
editor@mbsi.org
CHAPTERS
Snowbelt
Chair: Tracy Tolzmann
(651) 674-5149
Dues $10 to Gary Goldsmith
17160 – 245th Avenue
Big Lake, MN 55309
Southeast
Chair: Jack Hostetler
(352) 633-1942
Dues $5 to Clay Witt
820 Del Rio Way Unit 203
Merritt Island, FL 32953
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
Southern California
Chair: Robin Biggins
(310) 377-1472
Dues $10 to Diane Lloyd
1201 Edgeview Drive
Cowan Hgts, CA 92705
Sunbelt
Chair: Ray Dickey
(713) 467-0349
Dues $10 to Diane Caudill
4585 Felder Road
Washington, TX 77880
Copyright 2020 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
November/December 2020 MECHANICAL MUSIC 65
HALF PAGE
HORIZONTAL
7.25” x 4.5”
QUARTER
PAGE
3.5” x 4.5”
EIGHTH
PAGE
3.5” x 2.125”
Mechanical Music
Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments
Journal of the Musical Box Society International
Mechanical Music
Journal of the Musical Box Society International
Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments
Volume 63, No. 3 May/June 2017
Mechanical Music
Journal of the Musical Box Society International
Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments
Volume 63, No. 1 January/February 2017
DISPLAY ADVERTISING DIMENSIONS & PER ISSUE COSTS
Dimensions 1 issue 2-3 issues 4-6 issues
Back Cover 8.75” x 11.25” $600 $540 $510
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Quarter Page 3.5” x 4.5” $90 $81 $77
Eighth Page 3.5” x 2.125” $50 $45 $43
Non-members pay a 10% surcharge on the above rates
Display Discounts shown above are calculated as follows:
3 consecutive ads 10% Discount
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FULL PAGE
8.75” X 11.25”
(0.5” bleed)
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PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
ISSUE NAME ADS DUE DELIVERED ON
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Mechanical Music is printed on 70 lb gloss
paper, with a 100 lb gloss cover, saddle-
stitched. Trim size is 8.25” x 10.75”.
Artwork is accepted in the following formats:
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USPS or Fed Ex to:
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130 Coral Court
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Mechanical Music is mailed to more
than 1,500 members of the Musical
Box Society International six (6) times
per year.
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CIRCULATION
ALL ADS MUST
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The Musical Box Society International
accepts VISA, Mastercard and online
payments via PayPal.
Contact MBSI Publisher Russell Kasselman at (253) 228-1634 or editor@mbsi.org
CLASSIFIED ADS
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Mechanical Music at its Best
Instrument Brokering & Locating / Appraisals / Inspections / Free Consultation
Mechmusic.com
Welte 4 Concert Violina Orchestra Hupfeld Helios II/25 Popper Felix
Wurlitzer CX with Bells Violano Virtuoso Seeburg KT Special
Jaeger Brommer
42’er Violinopan 20’er Automaton
45’er Niemuth
Bacigalupo Visit: Mechmusic.com Mills Bowfront Violano
Call Marty Persky at 847-675-6144 or Email: Marty@Mechmusic.com
for further information on these and other fine instruments.
(802) 728-9694 (802) 728-9694
Music Box Company, Inc.
We restore Swiss cylinder and disc music boxes.
• Cylinders are repinned if necessary and all worn
parts are rebuilt to original specifications or better.
• Combs are repaired and tuned. Nickel plated parts
are replated as needed.
Trust your prized music box to the finest quality
restoration available. We have been accused of over
restoring! Better over than under I say!
We will pick up your music box anywhere east of the
Mississippi River, and transport it to our shop in
Randolph, Vermont, where it will be stored in a
climate-controlled area until it’s finished and returned.
We have a complete machine shop where we build Porter
Music Boxes, more than 3,000 so far. We are unique in
the industry in that we are capable of manufacturing any
part needed to restore any music box.
See our website, www.PorterMusicBox.com, to read
letters of recommendation and browse a selection of the
finest disc boxes currently being manufactured anywhere
in the world. We have twin disc models, single disc
models with 121/4” or15 1/ “ discs, and table models with
beautiful cabinets created for us in Italy. Also we can
occasions.
P.O Box 424
Randolph, VT 05060
support.
Call (802) 728-9694 or
email maryP@portermusicbox.com