Re: Gem Roller Organ
By Angelo Rulli
In the MMD of January 20, 1997, Skip Hunt inquired about the Gem Roller Organ. This instrument, perhaps more than any other, brought music to the masses in America. It was hugely successful, having been marketed for over 20 years. Both Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck companies promoted it in their mail-order catalogues from 1897-1902, and offered it free with the purchase of five pounds of sugar.
One of the interesting sidelights is that more often than not one finds a majority of the music is Christian in nature. It is said that this is because many people justified owning a musical instrument (in a time when it was not yet fully acceptable to climb that social ladder) by practicing their hymns. These organettes are often refered to as "Preacher's Organs" because they were said to be used by rural preachers who made the rounds and carried an organette to be assured of music for the Sunday service.
One other sidelight is that the Gem can often be found with the name stenciled in other languages. I have one with Norwegian and another with German stenciling. This would indicate the organnettes were marketed with an aggressive campaign to let immigrants new to America feel they had their "own" instrument.
There is some valuable information about the Gem in Bowers' Encylopedia, and several members of the Music Box Society are currently collaborating to compile all the titles known to exist. These results will be published in forthcoming MBSI News Bulletins, as have several articles previously published about the Gem. There is much more to say about this gem of an instrument; enough for now.
Angelo Rulli
St. Paul, MN, USA |
(Message sent Wed 22 Jan 1997, 13:43:16 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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