Good morning,  I met Carl Ringer a number of years ago when he had an
air-powered Calliope on display in Petersburg, IL, north of Springfield
for some kind of Abraham Lincoln-related craft fair.  It's been a
number of years ago now, so I don't recall the specifics of the event.
It may have been some kind of festival, but I do recall it was Summer
and it was HOT.

My shop is in Kenney, IL, which is about 50 miles northeast of the area
between Springfield and Jacksonville being described.  New Berlin is on
Old US 36 and (Old) Berlin is north of there several miles north of
I-72/US 36 (Current route).

Carl Ringer, at least as recently as last year, is still alive.  He is
a retired farmer and often travels around the area in search of more
"finds"  He has been a frequent visitor to my shop in hopes that I'll
part with some pipe organ materials at greatly reduced prices!  He's
also asked me about doing some work for him, but I've often not had the
time to follow up on this.

Sad to say: my collection of "junque" is prolly on par, if not far
in excess, of what Carl has from both his own and the list members'
descriptions.  However, my materials are more related to pipe organs
than any kind of mechanical musical instruments (I wanted to say that
now in order to head off a barrage of inquiries!!)

I fear that whenever he passes away, someone will have quite a task
on their hands!  Somehow, I'd imagine his children (I think he has
a couple!) prolly want to put as much distance between him and his
eccentricity as possible!

In a way, I wish I had more time to go see what he has, and perhaps on
my next service trip west in December, I'll make a point to stop in and
pay him a visit.  I have his business card somewhere amongst my stuff.

Best wishes from

Richard Schneider - Schneider Pipe Organs, Inc.
Kenney, IL
http://www.schneiderpipeorgans.com/