[ Ref. 200927 MMD, CD: Folkways "Music of the Carousel" ]

The label of Folkways Records FX 6126, "Sounds Of Carnival",
notes that the band organ recordings were made at the Royal American
Shows (RAS) by students of the Art Institute of Chicago.  The LP was
copyrighted in 1955.  Where the recordings were made was not noted,
but at one time RAS played a location in the Chicago suburbs, along
with a long-established relationship with the Wisconsin State Fair
to the north, in West Allis, Wisconsin.

The tune titles given are found in the Wurlitzer 150 rollography:
https://wurlitzer-rolls.com/150catalog/150index.html  Establishment
of the roll numbers may enable identification of the unidentified
"instrumental" tunes.  Absent titles are not uncommon.  Dozens of
vintage rolls are lacking leaders and boxes that provide the desired
information.

Back when the tracks were made and the LP issued the information
wasn't readily available at the fingertips, as today.  Some of the
rolls may also have been shortened, another "fact of life" observation
from organs in daily use.  Damaged and otherwise unplayable sections
of a roll were often removed.

There's no exacting clarity on the make of the carousel organ with
the show at that time, but the front for it was an Artizan Style D.
The voicing of the organ on the LP suggests the chassis may have
been an Artizan D converted to W150 rolls.  Several were converted
in that manner.  The facade still survives, but the chassis has gone
missing for some time.

There was no Ruth with the show at any time, to the best of my
knowledge.  Sometimes they described their large concert organ,
acquired after the making of the recordings, as a Ruth, but it is
actually an 87/89 Gavioli, now presented at Circus World Museum.

RAS also had a Wurlitzer 157 that was sold to Dorney Park, and is
playing there after rebuilding by Joe Hilferty.  There was also a
vintage 153 in quarters that was sold off.  The chassis went to the
Milhouses, but the facade went elsewhere.  A wagon-mounted Cozatt
calliope was given by Royal American Shows to Circus World Museum some
time ago and a Tangley CA-43 sold at the quarters clearance auction.

Fred Dahlinger
Baraboo, Wisconsin