Hello everyone. We have a diverse collection of automatic musical instruments including a few music boxes, coin pianos and a couple of reproducing grand pianos. As somebody once said to us when we thought about adding a music room to the house, "build it wide and build it high, because you never know what you're liable to buy!"
Jody is certainly providing a wonderful communication platform for those of us with that kind of interest. But there may be a few of you who don't know of the two major automatic music organizations here in the U.S. which publish terrific news bulletins and technical journals the old fashioned way - via snail mail. If anybody wants membership information about the Musical Box Society International (MBSI), or the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association (AMICA) I'm sure you'll get a prompt response by posting a request to this list.
Has anybody compiled a list of all automatic music related organizations which are helpful to collectors? The last 5 words of the previous sentence therefore excludes the Smithsonian! Besides the two groups already mentioned, I know of 13-14 others, but don't know the names or addresses of the fairground or band-organ groups out there. Is there any interest in posting a complete listing of such organizations?
[ Editor's Note: Ralph, we've not had anything approaching a comprehensive
[ list of such organizations. I think it would be very useful. I've been
[ meaning to compile a list of "Frequently Asked Questions" and their
[ answers. A posting containing a relatively complete list of organizations
[ related to "the hobby" would be a welcome addition to the archive.
A final note - earlier today we heard a broadcast of Christmas music on mechanical music instruments from Holland's National Museum from Musical Clock to Street Organ (Utrecht) narrated by Dr. Jan Jaap Haspels. It appeared on our local public radio station. We hope others have had the chance to hear it in their areas. Ralph
[ On one of my very first "Web Surfing" trips, I found a set of pages
[ belonging to NPR: http://www.npr.org
[ A quick browse of this set of pages did not reveal the show. If you
[ send us more information, it might be possible for those interested
[ to obtain a "transcript tape". Do you recall the name of the show,
[ time slot, station call letters, etc ?
[ Thanks
[ Jody
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