Hi MMD Folks, Back in 2015 my friend Greg Swanson bought a small Intona
organette on eBay. It needed a bit of work to address a few problems
and years of use so he brought it over for me to restore. The repair
was straight-forward but there was an interesting mechanism attached to
the front corner of the case.

This mechanism was clearly a manufactured part, not some home-made
addition. It consisted of a spring-lever, a stamped bracket to hold the
lever, and a wooden pulley that was moved by the lever. The lever had
two positions so that you could select either the normal crank or the
small pulley to drive the organette. I asked Kevin McElhone and a couple
other people but no body knew what sort of device might have driven the
pulley.

Fast forward to 2022 when I received a note from Kevin about an
identical organette in an auction in Europe. It had the same pulley
and switching mechanism. Still, there was no hint at what the extra
pulley was for. But there's more!

I have been helping Jeff Vincent rescue another interesting machine,
a "Health Merry-Go-Round". It was once owned by Todd Augsburger and
then by Charlie Moore, who passed away recently. Made in the early
1900s, it is a yard toy on which four children could sit and pump
handles so that it spins around like a merry-go-round.

This large toy (eight or nine feet across) is interesting to us
because it has a Gem cob organ mounted on a platform near the center
post. The organ is connected to one of the drive wheels by a leather
belt and it plays music when the children make the thing turn. The
crank on the cob organ was replaced by a small pulley, just the same
as on the Intona organette.

The Health Merry-Go-Round Company featured the organette prominently
in its advertising and the organette that was supplied with the
merry-go-round even had the Health name stenciled on top. In fact,
Jeff has copies of Health Company orders showing that the organettes
were custom made by the Autophone Company.

We know of one other Health Merry-Go-Round, which is in the Parker
Museum. It also has a cob organ. And we know of at least four other
organettes having the "Health" name on them. So, getting back to the
Intona organette mentioned above, here's the $64,000 question.

* Is there a similar children's toy in Europe that might have used
an Intona organette as a music source?

* Was there some another device that might have been connected to
the pulley on Intona organettes?

* Has anyone seen another Intona organette with a pulley drive like
this and, hopefully, some clue as to what drove the organette?

* Lastly, does anyone know of another Health Merry-Go-Round still
existing, other than the two mentioned above?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Regards from Western New York,
Craig Smith

 [ Intona 16-key organette mechanism
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/04/02/220402_075430_Intona%2016%20key%20organette%20Mechanism%20s.jpg 

 [ Health organette
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/04/02/220402_075430_Health%20Texas%202.JPG 

 [ Newspaper advert
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/04/02/220402_075430_Health%20Merry-Go-Round%20ad.JPG