Last year in May, during a family reunion, I had the pleasure of
going to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma
City. In one of the buildings there in "Prosperity Village" was
(and probably still is) a non-working nickelodeon. It looked to me
when I saw it that most of the drum and pipework was still there.
Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, and so wasn't able
to capture a photo of the instrument.
It looked like it could be restored without too much work. It was
similar to a full-size upright piano, but taller and wider. It had
a keyboard as well. The brand may well have been Seeburg, but I very
foolishly did not check. I would have wanted to stay and look at it
more, but the others of my family weren't so interested.
The instrument was in a room styled to look like an old-fashioned bar.
There was even a played-back recording of a player piano in the
background, to give the room even more "back in the day" flair.
If anybody else has seen, or possibly even heard this nickelodeon, I
would welcome your stories.
Could this possibly be one of the nickelodeons that was owned by Stan
Whitehurst? In the article below, from the Mechanical Music Press, Stan
is mentioned as having placed coin-operated instruments on location at
the same museum.
http://www.mechanicalmusicpress.com/reblitz/galleries/am_orch_coinola_x.htm
Luke Myers
ldmyers95@gmail.com
[ Visit http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/ -- Robbie
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