Tape Recording Magazine - AmericanRadioHistory.Com

Recording the North Tonawanda player -piano with flute pipes. The mike, suspended horn a camera tripod is picking up the old tunes.
CAPTURING YESTERDAY'S MUSIC
... fast disappearing from the American scene are the mechanical musical marvels of
yesteryear. Finding and taping them is a treasure hunt you'll enjoy.
by George W. Walter
Photos by the author
IF you are looking for something new in music for
your tape library, why not try to capture the nostalgic
music of a bygone era on tape from so- called "barroom"
pianos, music boxes, band organs and calliopes? Before
juke boxes and their many record selections became common
in restaurants and taverns, the automatic piano and
its many counterparts, the Orchestron, Violano, Virtuoso,
and others occupied their place. Nearly every ice cream
parlor and saloon from the period 1910 to 1925 had one.
They were popularly known as "barroom" pianos. Unlike
the modern juke box where you can make a selection to
play, the music on the old mechanical pianos was on a
roll like the home player piano, usually ten tunes to a
roll. There was no choice. You dropped your nickel in
the slot at the side and the next selection played.
The band organs, operated on the same principle as
the mechanical pianos, but these were used mainly to
provide the music for merry -go- rounds. The old steam
calliope was a standby of circus street parades and attracted
more attention and caused more comment than
the elephants and caged wild animals.
The majority of the manufacturers of these mechanical
players went out of business or converted to more lucrative
products as did Seeburg and Link. In time replacement
parts for these instruments were no longer available
and it became practically impossible to get them repaired.
Today, like the cigar store Indian, these mechanical
musical marvels are a collector's item. They have been
taken from the saloons to museums. From coast to coast
there are many excellent collections of these rare machines,
but they are on display and not all are in working
condition. Even auto museums have installed one or two
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