All this discussion about mechanical music in theme parks and San
Francisco sure brings back some wonderful memories for me.  What
a great thread.  Even though I was very young, I was lucky to enjoy
that era of nostalgic pride in both Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm.

I used to have a cassette tape of the Knott's instruments, ca. 1968.
I think it included the Coinola X (with flute pipes), National
roll-changing piano (featuring a medley of 1980s waltzes), a small
cabinet piano, and the Cremona flute-piano (playing China Boy or
similar song).  I can still recall how wonderful those instruments
sounded back then.  Sadly, the tape is long gone.

The same was true of Virginia City and Nevada City, Montana's
collection.  There was a cassette made of both Seeburg J's, the
Wurlitzer 148 band organ, Reproduco, Violano, and Empress Y.  All that
remains is a partial copy of a Seeburg J song, Beside a Babbling Brook.
Hindsight is always keen.  If only I had kept those tapes.  It does
make one think about the importance of archiving such collections
through recordings, video, etc.

For those of us who enjoyed those fond memories, there are a few LPs
out there of some historic collections.  The challenge is in finding
those albums.  Ebay and used record stores have been my best source,
along with the occasional tape trading.  There was an LP made of the
Cliff House/Sutro collection.  Another album features the Virginia City
and Nevada City instruments.

As far as I know, there are no recordings of the Knott's or Disneyland
machines, although I have a poor copy of an early Disneyland record,
which features brief clips of a nickelodeon and King Arthur's Carrousel
(probably the Wurlitzer 157).

As for Playland, I don't recall the Wurlitzer 165, or two carousels
(I spent part of my early childhood there, in the 1960s).  I am curious
as to where the Wurlitzer was located, if it was on the Looff carousel
which spent time in Long Beach, and is now back in San Francisco.

Incidentally, there was another carousel in SF that is long-forgotten:
by Fisherman's Wharf there used to be a 2-row Parker.  It was located
on the 2nd floor patio of the Children's Hair Fair (next to Alioto's).
This was again in the 1960s.  The owners had it taken down, and used
the horses as props in the hair salon, and the clothing store
downstairs.  No one seems to recall this carousel or know the horses'
whereabouts.  I don't believe it had a band organ.

Does anyone recall the Mission Piano Company, on Mission Street?  In
the late 1960s, they had two coin pianos on display.  They were basic
player pianos with mandolin attachment, and the roll mechanisms were on
the bottom of both instruments.  They probably played A rolls.  I made
tapes of these pianos also.  Somehow, these tapes have survived, and
still play (not bad for 30+ year old cassettes).  One of the pianos
featured Spanish songs, while the other machine played rags.

Sharon Marie