Since Bruce Clark has told how he became interested in mechanical
musical instruments, I will tell my story.  In Monterey, California,
in the 1950s there were still a number of old saloons that had probably
been from the "speakeasy" era.  Our family owned an ancient hotel in
downtown that dated from the late 1840s.  My grandfather remodeled
the hotel in 1925 and this was where I first began to appreciate the
architecture of the 1920s.

Every now and again, my mother would need someone to baby-sit me.
One day, Uncle Glenn was called upon to handle the duties for the
4-year-old.  Glenn was a notorious boozer, having been hooked on homemade
hooch while in the Seabees in WW2 in the South Pacific.  What my mother
did not know was that Glenn would take me on "walks" that usually ended
in the old B & B Tavern on North Alvarado Street, four businesses north
of our hotel.

Inside was the best babysitter a kid could have.  Before Uncle Glenn
would get boiled for the afternoon, he always gave me a bowl of
pretzels and a bowl of nickels.  I would pop nickels into that old
Seeburg Style L until the lights inside would burn out.  I was
entranced with the music that poured out of that machine.  What kid
would not like that?

My mother wrecked the party when she found out I was being baby-sat in
a saloon.  No more bar/saloon, but the mechanical music bug had bit me
but good.  This was aided and abetted by our next-door neighbors who
had a Cable player piano and gobs of rolls.  There was another good
baby-sitter -- though by now I was 5 or 6!

All kids love to go to the local merry-go-round and so did this kid,
but the operators soon learned I could not have cared less about riding
the ancient horses -- I wanted to see the Wurlitzer band organ roaring
away from the center of the carousel.  They would stop the carousel
and let me get into the center to watch the drums, music roll, bellows
and all.  This was great!  I have often wondered what became of the
carousel organ.

A weird kid, was I?  You bet, but what a way to go!

Tom DeLay
Salinas, California