Ralph, For a number of years I hauled my Wurlitzer 153 to picnics,
antique and new car shows, church events, malls and even a concert
hall, theater, and civic auditorium. We listened to many questions
and were always glad to talk to anyone genuinely interested in the
machine. It still fascinates me that all questions are asked within
a few feet of the organ where questions and answers must be screamed.
We had our share of ridiculous comments. Among the most memorable,
from someone who was trying to appear disinterested, was a parting
question: "What is it, part of an old player-piano?"
We wondered what part he thought it might be; perhaps the part that's
kept in the basement and never seen.
Young people frequently wondered where the speakers were. Since we are
in western New York the following comment was particularly titillating:
"Oh, yeah, when I was a kid we had these all over the house"!
One wonders, even if one's dad worked at Wurlitzer or Allan Herschell,
just how many band organs would fit in a house. Upon being told the
organ had a set of wood trumpets, a teenager scoffed that trumpets were
brass.
Doug Hershberger
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