Bringing the Band Organ Home

Howdy MMDers!  Y'all probably remember the posting about the Wurlitzer
125 band organ for sale in Corpus Christie, Texas [110525 MMDigest].
Last week I purchased this instrument and brought it back to my shop
in Tennessee.  The weather was great so I did not have to cover it up
with a tarpaulin.  I prefer not to unless rain is eminent, since the
wind tends to ruin the tarp causing it to leak.  So there it was in the
back of the pickup truck, naked and all of its innards exposed to view.

What I did not expect was that at every place I stopped -- rest areas,
gas stations, hotels -- there were at least three people looking it
over wondering what it was.  They said they had never seen anything
like it before.  One guy thought it was an old jukebox.

I answered a lot of questions and I sensed some genuine interest.
I took a few email addresses of people who wanted to hear it when it
is all restored.  Most of these people were under 40-something.  The
experience left me believing that the interest is out there, it just
needs some exposure.

A bit about the organ itself --

On first sight, with the faded checked paint, dirty innards and
haphazard repairs, I immediately thought of the HBO TV series,
"Carnivale", about the misadventures of an errant broken-down carnival
in the Southern Midwest USA of the mid-1930s.  The organ even had a
peculiar smell -- like stale popcorn, cotton candy and old axle grease.
It certainly was beat up, too.  I closed my eyes and could just see
this thing being carted around from town to town by such a troupe.

In the shop we began to strip away all the crud of time.  The previous
owner did not do much to it other than strip some of the paint off.
The only major work done was in Minneapolis in 1965, when the bellows
were recovered in the original manner and the work was very good.
Unfortunately, mice have since turned the bellows into Swiss cheese.

There are three coats of paint over the original finish: first it was
painted with gaudy silver pin-striping, then fire-engine red, then cream
with gold trim.  Before the previous owner it belonged to Logan Showcraft,
which explains the paint jobs and distinctive methods of repair.

An interesting item was inside.  Yesterday I was disassembling the
pressure pump.  As most rebuilders of band organs know, it was
customary to seal the bellows boards with news paper.  On one of the
boards was pasted the Buffalo Courier of March 23, 1916.  There was
a large Pianola advert and then next to it a sensational article about
a major drug bust: $1400.00 in cocaine, heroin, and morphine.  Wow!

I will be documenting the restoration of this organ and when I have
time I will set up a web page or blog.  It is missing a few things
which I am looking for:

(1) Two (2) pulleys, 14" to 16" diameter by 1-1/4" (approximately)
fancy flat belt pulley with a 7/8" bore.  I would like to get two of
these, one for the flywheel on the organ and one for the reduction
unit.

(2) Pictures showing details of the original drum brackets and top
gallery for the cymbal, which are missing here.

(3) A few more Style 125 music rolls.

Regards,
Brian Thornton - Short Mountain Music Works
Woodbury, Tennessee