Hi All,  Last week my wife and I visited the DeBence music museum in
Franklin, Pennsylvania.  Franklin is located less than 20 miles north
of I-80 in western Pennsylvania.  Historically it is interesting
because oil was first discovered in Titusville, about 20 miles away,
in the 1850s.  Franklin's main street is lined with many large and
architecturally interesting Victorian era homes that serve as evidence
of the region's oil wealth.

The DeBence museum is named for Jake and Elizabeth DeBence who started
the collection in the 1940s, prior to it's being purchased by the
present organization whose goal, among other things, is to keep this
treasure in Franklin.  The museum is non-profit and is largely
supported by donations and many hours of volunteer efforts!  There is
a nominal admission charge which we were able to avoid by donating a
special music roll to the museum.

We were met by Scotty Greene, the resident expert, and given the first
floor "formal tour".  He demonstrated examples of the music boxes,
player reed organs, phonographs, band organs, nickelodeons, etc, which
are arranged in chronological order along with informative signs and
memorabilia that place the instruments in their proper historical time
period.

Following this, I was free to take a self-tour through the basement
and second floor displays (while my wife browsed the nearby antiques
shops).  I am no expert but I was amazed at the extensive Hammond organ
collection, including a Hammond Aeolian player organ.  Scotty also
invited me into his restoration workshop -- a nice, spacious, well
lighted area in which to do restoration and repair of the instruments
we all love so much.

Being an opportune place to receive donations, the collection also
includes more modern radio/phonographs from the 1940s through the
1970s.  I discovered that I must really be getting old because I was
the engineer on a Magnavox console stereo which is now in the museum!

If you are in west-central Pennsylvania, the museum and the town of
Franklin make an interesting place to visit.

Pat DeWitt
Fort Wayne, Indiana

 [ More at http://www.debencemusicworld.com/  -- Robbie