I've always loved Wurlitzer 157 band organs, ever since I first saw
and heard one at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio.  I think they have an
extremely impressive sound, and in my opinion (please don't throw
rocks!) they are the best carousel organs.  Simply put, these fantastic
organs are some of the most valued in the mechanical music community.
There are at least seven 'true' Wurlitzer 157s which were actually
built by Wurlitzer and not imported from Gavioli.  Of course, sad but
true, some are in better condition than others.

Kings Island's 157 started it's life in New Jersey, which was then
sold to the Gay 90's Village, who had this organ until 1972 when Taft
Broadcasting bought this organ for their new amusement park, "Kings
Island".  The organ was maintained by the Stinson Organ Company, and
had a blower put on sometime in the 1990s.  The pump, though, is still
there, and it was the park's decision to have this done.  In 2006 the
organ was shut off and in 2007 it was put in storage.  Currently the
facade is still on the carousel, in pretty bad shape; the condition of
the organ itself is unknown.

Another Wurlitzer 157 was bought from Disneyland in 2006 and played
on the carousel until it stopped playing in the late 1970s.  It was
officially removed during the Fantasyland makeover.  (Another organ on
the Dumbo ride provided music for this carousel, and played live behind
the Dumbo ride.  This organ is now replaced by synthesized music but is
still somewhere in storage).

When at Disneyland the organ played Caliola rolls (Wurlitzer APP rolls)
which have a chromatic scale, and in result the organ had a lot of the
pipes modified.  The organ today is restored and is in excellent
condition.

The Sanfilippo collection has a restored Wurlitzer 157 band organ,
which is most unique for its violin pipes in the organ.

A little known 157 can be found at Dorney Park in Pennsylvania.  This
organ has a new facade and is adjacent to the Chance carousel next to
the Ferris wheel.  This organ was purchased after the fire at Dorney
Park burning their original PTC carousel and Wurlitzer 'Gavioli' 157
band organ.  It was found in very bad condition, and the facade was
beyond repair.  There were also no bells on the organ, and it remains
this way today.  It is rumored that the pipes are all new, but that
has not been conformed.

The Grand Rapids Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has a Spillman
carousel with a Wurlitzer 157 in the center of the ride.  This organ
was recently restored.

Knotts Berry Farm has a Wurlitzer 157 sitting above their carousel,
in the open air, with exposure to all the elements (but I'm not to get
into how damaging that can be).  This organ hasn't played for at least
twenty but is still above the ride, with the drums removed.  The roll
cabinet is also still next to the organ.

The last, but certainly not least, 157 was sold at the recent auction
this past February.  This is the organ that was featured in the
infamous 'Merry-Org' recordings done by the Allan Herschell Company.
(Of course, this is what started that whole movement to 'replace the
organ with recorded music'!)  This is an earlier 157, with exceptionally
low bass pipes.  The organ went to a bidder in the Southern area,
supposedly to a car collector in Texas.

In conclusion, you might have seen me mention the Wurlitzer 'Gavioli'
157s.  These were sold as 157s, but were actually built by Gavioli.
The Wurlitzer 157 was based on the Gavioli 57 key, but these actually
are.  One of these was at Dorney Park in Pennsylvania but, as stated
before, was sadly destroyed in a fire.

There are also at least three others: one at Lakeside Park (which is
currently in the owner's house -- for some reason the crank shaft has
been lost), another is in a private collection that was formerly at
Coney Island Park in Cincinnati.  The third was on DollyWorld's Dentzel
carousel, which was not even owned by the park but just set up as a
concession.

Mikey Mills
http://www.mechanicalmusic.org/