Berry-Wood A.O.W. in Franklin PA Museum
By Rick Cooley
Hi folks (particularly Steve Goodman): Jake DeBense operated a museum containing all sorts of things (musical and non-musical) outside Franklin, Pennsylvania, until he passed away several years ago. The city of Franklin finally bought the estate and placed all the musical items in a large city museum in the middle of town, near the hotel. I donated a two-hour video-tape of Jake demonstrating all of his wonderful stuff, which plays in the lobby of the city museum.
The best sounding machine on the videotape was a magnificent Berry-Wood Style A.O.W. I tried to buy it from Jake but his wife (apparently the business person in the family) firmly said "No!" but offered the entire collection for $2 million.
I saw the Berry-Wood in the Franklin museum several years ago when I had some Pianomation business with the nearby Story and Clark Piano factory. Almost all of the machines in the museum, including the Berry-Wood, were "not working right now" so it was a very disappointing tour. However, I am sure the museum would be glad to allow someone to take pictures of the machine, inside and out. They may even lend the rolls for recutting or have extra ones that they might sell. I understand that the city museum is not doing as well as expected but let's hope it survives.
I am a member of several chapters of the MBSI and it seems that the Mid-America Chapter is planning a trip to Franklin to see the collection in the very near future. The MBSI members of the Digest can certainly correct me if I am wrong, but that might be a quick way to get all the pictures you need.
You have an extremely rare orchestrion, I believe! Good luck with the restoration. I would love to see it and hear when you finish. We have had about 25 different orchestrions in our collections over the years but never a Berry-Woood A.O.W.
Regards to all,
RIck Cooley
RCCXX@AOL.COM |
(Message sent Tue 4 Mar 1997, 14:32:32 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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