For the last seven or eight years, I have provided music rolls for the
John Smith type busker organ.  I have built organs for my own enjoyment
and also sold organs to others.  Until last Saturday, April 23, 2005,
I had never cranked a busker organ in public.

A few months back, I purchased a used Deleika 20/31 organ.  It did not
work and, sorry to say, that is the case with a lot of them.  I have
repaired three in the last three years, and all had the same problem:
the bellows.  Instead of leather covering the bellows, all three that
passed through my hands had a kind of upholstery material that resembled
leather as a covering.  The inner flap valves were of _very_ thin
leather and it is difficult for me to believe that they worked when
they were new.  I rebuilt the organ from the ground up and the sound
is, well, sweet!

In my last post about the Western Electric and the shop keeper,
I invited you to San Antonio's block party -- Fiesta San Antonio.
It ended yesterday.  On Saturday, the largest family event took place,
the King William Fair.  It is held in one of the oldest historic
districts in the city: thirteen blocks of restored Victorian homes.
A park with a Victorian gazebo adds just the right touch.

From 9:30 A.M. until 6:00 P.M. all streets are blocked off and
thousands of San Antonians, their children and pets stroll the streets
pausing at craft booths, food stands, live entertainment stages, and
this year, one old man cranking a busker organ that plays with a paper
roll.  Since I had not officially been invited to play at the fair,
I kept a rather low profile, if that is possible with a busker organ.
My "tip" jar (a recycled Tropicana orange juice carton) was discreetly
attached to the handle of the cart.  Some how, people managed to find it.

My greatest satisfaction came from the children of all ages.  Even tots
in strollers perked up when they heard the music.  One young man
sitting in a coaster wagon, a helium-filled balloon clutched tightly to
his chest, heard the organ and released the balloon, climbed out of the
wagon and ran over to stare in what can only be described as wonder.
His father was rather surprised by the rapid movement, but as you all
know, kids that age can move faster than greased lightning.

I cranked with the lid open and invited older youngsters to crank the
organ.  All were fascinated by the paper roll and the action of the
crankshaft and con rod.  Many adults remarked, "That's just like a
player piano," and I assured them they were correct.  One young man
about fourteen years old asked me if the organ worked with a computer.
"Come around back and see one of the first computers ever".  He stayed
for a long time watching the roll go by.

An older gentlemen came by and told me that my monkey looked sick.
"You'd look sick too if you had a 1/4-inch carriage bolt through your
chest," my last-minute idea to mount the monkey.  He laughed, dropped
in some change and walked on.

My experience through the years with automatic music played for the
general public is people do not care which song you are playing, they
just like the sound.  I proved that again as it made no difference
what type of music I played, it was all received quite well.  In fact,
I could have used the same roll all day and no one would have known
the difference, except the old man cranking the organ who would have
probably gone stark raving mad.

Needless to say, this will not be my last public appearance with a
busker organ.  I am hopelessly hooked and in a city where there are
major public events just about every week, I will always have plenty
of places to spread joy and happiness -- with music.

As an afterthought: I just don't think a MIDI organ would have "cut
it."  People want to see what makes the music, and computer chips are
rather dull in that respect.

Ed Gaida
The second organ grinder in San Antonio, Texas