This is a commentary on the repose about this establishment posted
a few days ago.  My first visit was when I was 12, 45 years ago.
It was then just a house on a rock.  A friend of my mom's worked
there so every summer we returned and watched it grow year by year.

I met Alex Jordan, the man behind the dream, and talked to him
numerous times.  I remember well his comment about "the collectors":
"I hate them damn people -- always criticizing."  It took me awhile
to understand that since many instruments were drastically changed --
a Reproduco with a false pipe reed organ top and other trappings added
to transform it into Kitty's Bordello Organ (hmmm) -- the purists can
get pretty upset.

As the years passed I realized that when I brought up the subject of
mechanical music to anyone, they mentioned, "Oh, you mean like the
stuff at House on the Rock?"  Millions of people have been confounded
by these real and not-so-real marvels.

A friend of mine listened to the Steinway Duo-Art playing "Hungarian
Rhapsody No. 2."  The hammers on the piano action are actually worn
right down to the wooden cores on some notes.  As we shook our heads
we then realized that in the eight years that piano had been playing
virtually non-stop, it had played that selection over 62,000 times!
This a true testimonial to the durability that these instruments are
capable of.

Fact: No one is ever going to learn about these wonderfully things
when they are in our own private collections.  When they get used
and are on constant display they will not be up to 100% top quality.
It does not do any good to complain unless _you_ want to donate your
time to help keep the machines working.  Most museums cannot keep going.

We all remember the last Welte Orchestrion in the world in its original
location at Zaharako's Confectionery in Columbus, Indiana.  Now it is
just a memory.

But House on the Rock has survived.  It is one of the most imaginative
flights of fantasy anywhere in the world.  Appreciate it; see it for
yourself.  If you think the instruments could sound better, volunteer
your time.  Remember, thousands are getting to see these things for the
first time in their lives!

Gregory Filardo

 [ Visit http://www.thehouseontherock.com/  -- Robbie