Hal Davis mentioned that he saw a Wurlitzer Monster on PBS.  Well, Hal,
thanks for the compliments on the organ sounding nice!  It's the 1909
Monster that we restored in 1976, located in the beautiful original
1905 PTC [Philadepelphia Toboggan Company] #6 carousel in Burlington,
Colorado, near the Kansas border on I-70.

In 1979, PTC #6 was designated a National Historic Site, and in 1987,
it was awarded National Landmark status.  Support for ongoing conserv-
ation is largely due to the enthusiasm of the project manager, Mary Jo
Downey.  The carousel is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Admission is 25 cents and includes a 20-minute tour and magical
four-minute ride.

National Geographic produced a wonderful documentary called "Treasures
from the Past," a special first aired on April 15, 1987, which has been
shown periodically ever since.  It tells the story of restoring PTC #6,
a classic Duesenberg, a Curtiss "Jenny" airplane, the sailing ship
"Elissa," and the imperial palaces near Leningrad.  You'll barely get
a glimpse of me tuning a pipe or adjusting something.  Other
documentaries made at the carousel include one for the large television
station in Tokyo.

The Monster originally played 100-hole "Style 155" rolls, with separate
note sections for 10 bass, 11 accompaniment, 25 melody, 18 piccolos, 10
trombones and 21 trumpets, even larger than an 89-key Gavioli.  It is
almost fully chromatic and is one of the loudest military band organs
ever made.  (There are four piccolo pipes per note, for example).

Sometime after Wurlitzer bought DeKleist in 1909, they reduced their
number of different band organ rolls from at least ten different styles
to the three that are common today: 125, 150 and 165.  (The 180 roll
came later).  When 155 rolls weren't available, someone converted the
Burlington Monster to play 165 rolls, probably in the late 1910s or
early 1920s.

With only 6 bass, 10 accomp., 22 melody and 14 trumpet (and no separate
sections for trombone and piccolo), the 165 rolls only use about 2/3 of
the pipes in the Monster and require the piccolos to be coupled to the
clarinets, and the trombones to the bass.  The Monster roll mechanism
is in front of the pipes.  The cast iron 10-tune belt-driven 165
mechanism is several inches taller than the original 3-tune wooden
mechanism, making it necessary for several trumpets to be removed at
the time of conversion.  Eventually, five trumpet and two trombone
resonators were lost.

After restoring the organ in 1976 and providing maintenance & tuning
for the last 22 years, my shop is now converting the organ back to 100%
original condition, including replacing the seven missing brass
resonators, reproducing original 155 rolls and reinstalling the
original wooden roll mechanism.  We're working with Bill Black, who
is providing the dimensions of the original parts.

It will save us work if original castings from an orphan spoolbox can
be found (either for copying or for actual use), rather than
fabricating everything from scratch.  Similar parts were used in other
DeKleist instruments, including smaller band organs, the Pianino and
the Mandolin Quartette.  If anyone has any spare parts, or a spoolbox
that could be borrowed from an unrestored instrument, please let me
know soon, as we're starting the work next week.

"Treasures from the Past" has been a terrific vehicle for exposing the
public to the importance of restoration and preservation for the last
ten years.  While we restorers and collectors stay busy in our shops
and music rooms with our music machines, we should take time to share
them with the public too.

Every time one of us invites the local newspaper or TV station out
to do an article or interview, we benefit mechanical music in some
way.  Even if the local reporter doesn't get all the facts right
(which is often the case), this is one of the best ways to inspire new
enthusiasts to become interested in something that otherwise remains
one of the world's best-kept secrets.

Thanks for your help.

Art Reblitz