ECHANICAL MUSIC Journal of the Musical Box Society International Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments Volume 60, No

ECHANICAL MUSIC Journal of the Musical Box Society International Devoted to All Automatic Musical Instruments Volume 60, No. 4 July/August, 2014

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Nearly 31 years ago, in the fall issue kisses to the crowd. That was the first visitors a time reference regarding the of 1983, this journal featured an article time we ever saw the Popper Felix. Jim popularity of mechanical music. Also, by Rick Crandall describing his was particularly interested in large the Rhine castle, on one of the painted adventure finding and researching the orchestrions. Being one-of-a-kind made panels, at the side of the moving scene, Popper Felix while having it restored. it even more desirable." sits directly across from the home of Since that time, many things have "It is a very stable machine," Sherrie some dear friends in Rudisheim, changed, but some things have stayed said. "It has only required piano tuning Germany. Its popularity among our the same. and we have purchased a lot of colored visitors is demonstrated by the fact that One of the most notable changes is light bulbs." its performance is always followed by the change in the ownership of this "We play all types of music. One of the applause." unique automatic musical instrument. most popular is a special roll arranged Mechanical Music has also changed The Popper Felix is now in the collection by Art Reblitz. It includes: "If I Were a significantly as today's digital desktop of Jim and Sherrie Krughoff and has Rich Man" from "Fiddler on the Roof," publishing software is many times moved from Rick Crandall's prior home "The Original Boogie Woogie," and the more powerful than the software of 30 in Yipsilanti, MI, (now living in Aspen, "Michigan Fight Song." years ago. That allows for the pre- CO) to Downers Grove, IL. "Architectural styles of cases vary sentation of material in ways that was "On Oct. 16, 1987, approximately 50 from machine to machine. Felix is hardly dreamed of three decades ago, Mid-America Chapter members were very special. When people are visiting at a fraction of the cost. Mechanical standing in front of a very large our collection, Jim explains to them Music now prints in full color instead of orchestrion in the home of Rick Cran- that Felix, with its extensive light black and white, and it prints six times dall in Yipsilanti, MI," Sherrie Krughoff show, was built just as the German a year instead of four. remembers. "We jostled one another to people were getting electrical lighting Things that have remained the same gain a vantage point to be able to see the in public places. This gives our through the years are the Popper moving scene. We all stood there - Felix's quality and rarity and the mesmerized by flashing colored lights - engaging nature of the story told by while a beautiful woman tossed roses Rick Crandall. from a basket over her arm and blew Considering all these factors, we have chosen to reprint Rick's story in the graced these pages, possibly because following pages with a few minor of a lack of space or the fact that it updates to the text, but with a would not come across as clearly in significant number of additional color black and white. But now, in full color photographs that show details of the and knowing the story behind it, the Popper Felix that may never have been photo conveys a great piece of this seen by readers of this publication. whole story, it shows a master The photos on these two pages alone craftsman experiencing the elation are a case in point. In the upper right of and exhaustion of a job well done and this page is a photo of Hayes McClaran taking a well-deserved rest. resting on the floor of Rick Crandall's The photo of Flora, the flower former home after completing the throwing girl from the front of the installation of the machine in the only Popper Felix, is similarly spectacular in room with a ceiling high enough to color and might not have been so great accommodate the 11-foot tall work of in black and white. It's wonderful now wonder. The restoration took McClaran to be able to see the rich color and nearly six months of solid effort. He detail in the photo so that we might poured his heart and soul into appreciate the artistry that went into returning the Popper Felix to a creating both the painting and the condition that ensured it will continue animation. to entertain people for many years Let's not delay any further. Please beyond his career. The photo wasn't enjoy reading Rick Crandall's piece printed the first time this article and looking through all the great photos. - Russell Kasselman

So here's to Popper Felix, an American Saga

By Rick Crandall

t all started with a nugget of gold. I Eureka, Comstock, Virginia City and Nevada City - all are towns whose roots go back to the post-Civil War days when men commonly pulled a pound of gold a day from the creeks of the "mother lode country." In 1850 the inhabitants of one Cal- ifornia settlement gathered to name their rapidly growing ville "Nevada," after the nearby, snow-covered mountains. Fourteen years later they met again to deal with the conflict in names with the adjacent state of Nevada, newly admitted into the Union. They solved the problem by affixing the word "City" after Nevada to distinguish their town. Nevada City grew during the most boisterous of times to become one of California's boom cities because of the ore in the area. Extravagant sums were spent building homes and business establishments in grand Victorian style, many of which can still be seen today. After the turn of the century, mining of silver and other ores was combined Ernest Schreiber in his cafe in Nevada City, CA. The Popper Felix is in a with lumbering to maintain prosperity. prominent location behind the pool tables where it played for 20 years. The town attracted all sorts of resi- dents, many of whom were the rugged He dubbed the establishment the In 1912 he started serving meals. His men typical of a western mining town. Bismark, but later it became known as slogan, "Everything of the Finest Kind," In the evenings you would find them in Schreiber’s Restaurant and Café. was soon known to all. Schreiber's Cafe the Council Chamber Bar in the Schreiber was born in 1881 in preserved the "gold rush saloon" motif middle of town or on the corner of Pine Wuppertal (called Elberfeld then), with its long bar (along which he would and Broad Streets, looking for a drink. Germany, 25 miles from Cologne. He slide brimming beer mugs) and fancy Tavern and saloon owners made a struck out for America and landed a job pool tables that today are prized pieces good living for themselves, but they at a restaurant in San Francisco. Every in collector's homes. had to make it their occupation day day he served some of the interesting Nevada City townsman Bob Paine and night. Saloons and cafes were focal people who came from a mining town in recalls in an article he wrote for the points in busy towns, but they still the Sierra foothills, where the streets Nevada City Nugget: "Everything in the experienced turnovers in ownership for were reputedly “paved with gold.” So to place sold for 10 cents: Lee Stanley and a variety of reasons including owner Nevada City he went to further his Woodpecker Cigars, 10 cents; stein of fatigue, retirement and lack of fortunes. beer, 10 cents. He (Ernest Schreiber) financing. imported Arthur Allerman from In the year 1911, in Nevada City, just Schreiber’s Café Switzerland to be his chef - one of the such a turnover took place, making way Immediately on purchasing the best in this country of gourmets. Grass for Ernest Schreiber to fulfill his Council Chamber Bar, he went about Valleyans by the dozen came on coin- ambition to become a proprietor by the task of setting up the bar, poolroom operated machines in the world for his purchasing the Council Chamber Bar. and restaurant in the style he wanted. café.

with a seemingly plain window in front and two beautiful art-glass side panels, The Popper Felix in Germany each with a colorful picture of a famous Schreiber was in his home town of castle on the Rhine. Below the bay Elberfeld in 1921. As Bob Paine window was the little door to the roll recollected: "He came home to Broad frame, made of crinkled, deep blue glass Street with a German musical novelty with a gold script "Felix" in keeping that was to delight the patrons of with Popper's practice of individually Schreiber's corner for many years, a naming its machines. music box playing perforated musical Near the top center of the oak case was rolls that became famous as Felix." a rotating brass and jeweled wonderlight Schreiber may have been purposefully that showered the room in colored light looking for a coin-operated orchestra, or beams when turned on. Adding another perhaps he just stumbled on one that met 12-inches in height on top of the case his criteria of "The Finest Kind." He did, was a hand-wrought, gold-leafed metal in fact, end up buying a large classic sculpture of a floral bouquet inlaid with machine built by one of the leading sparkling lights. automatic orchestra manufacturers, Initially, with the machine turned off, Popper & Co. of Leipzig, Germany. Schreiber may not have noticed the 90 How he heard of the German Bier- colored light bulbs that lined the entire Ernest Schreiber and his wife. garten near Cologne, we don't know, but upper perimeter of the case, but they there he found an establishment were ready to surprise and entertain the electric street car on Sundays for a financially devastated by the effects of him. At some point, he would have six-course dinner, all you could eat for World War I. This establishment was, noticed the small brass plate framing a 24 cents per person." however, still in possession of a most coin slot with the instruction, "10 Ernie Schreiber presided over the striking music machine - the Felix, a pfennig." evening activities, tending bar, keeping Popper & Co. model originally built With the drop of a coin, Felix order and ensuring that everyone had a during the years 1906 to 1908. The literally came alive. Schreiber may good time. He always wore a white, machine appeared awesome at first, at floor-length apron, as though bar- 10-feet high, 7-feet, 1-inch wide and 4- keeping was a scientific activity. feet deep, it was noticeable. If there was a science involved, then A large bay window adorned the part of the formula for success was upper-central part of the machine music, and so he journeyed back to his homeland to find one of the finest

-- 1 Who was Hugo Popper?

Hugo Popper started his career in the German military but soon found he was more interested in business. He made one fortune in sales before founding his own company, Popper & Co., in 1890 at age 34 in Leipzig, Germany with partner Hugo Spangenberg. Always drawn to musical pursuits, Popper saw the coming popularity of automatic musical instruments. He sold more Polyphons out of his distrib- utorship than the factory could keep up with and began to build his own machines. By 1897 he was well-respected for his role in promoting the automatic music industry. He partnered with M. Welte & Sons to create the first reproducing piano and then convinced some of the era's most popular and well-known artists to record their performances so that they could be shared with the world via his pianos. He made many orchestrions and called them by names like Othello, Eroica, Mystikon, Con amore and Matador. - Sources: Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments, Q. David Bowers and Grassi Museum Fur Musikinstremente

not have known what to look at first. Once installed and working, it became restaurant in the evenings so they Undoubtedly, his eyes would have an integral part of nighttime Broad could drop a nickel in to hear their been transfixed on the bay window in Street. favorite roll. which, almost magically, a beautiful Bob Paine recalls: "I am sure the woman appeared with a basket of mysterious insides had hundreds of Felix Leaves Nevada City flowers in one hand. The brilliantly- working gremlin musicians. The hi 1941, Schreiber, at age 60, found colored, painted picture would then mechanical orchestra could play "The the onslaught of World War II made it have seemingly started to move. He Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," "The difficult to find anyone who could keep would have seen her move her hand to Blue Danube," and all the Strauss Felix running. He sold the old music the basket, take out some flowers, and waltzes. It took 20 minutes to play the machine to R.M. Stagg to be part of a throw them to the audience! At some opera "Carmen," the roll was 200 feet museum of music machines and guns point he would have been distracted by long. Suddenly, little lights would in Reno, NV. the perimeter lights flashing alternately come on in back of the colored glass When Felix left town, it was big news in a sequence, all controlled by the front and a girl would appear to throw and sad news, as evidenced by this mysteries within. roses at the listener." excerpt from the local Union newspaper The wonder light rotated and threw Felix must have been installed and in 1942: off jeweled rays of colored light. Two working by the fall of 1921 since a scan layered, round brass fixtures also of the local newspapers at the time FELIX TO PLAY FOR rotated with oblong light bulbs uncovers one ad and several mentions DOLLARS IN RENO creating a pinwheel effect. The overall in the "Brief Happenings" column in Early yesterday afternoon, Nevada feeling created was one of Felix the Nevada City Nugget: City bid farewell to "Felix," the sparkling in a dimly-lit room with a mechanical Orchestrion housed for beautiful woman throwing flowers September 16, 1921 - "When you go nearly a quarter of a century in while inviting all to come and listen. to Schreiber's Restaurant for a meal, "Schreiber's Cafe." It was carefully Listening was the best part. Once the you are assured of the very best of food dismantled and loaded on a trailer by music started, Schreiber would have and service. A new addition to his place the new owner, R.M Stagg, who will found Felix had muscle. An orchestra that is taking well is a piano-or- make the remarkable old player a of violins, flutes, viol da gambas, cellos, chestrion which he has installed." museum piece to furnish enter- piccolos, clarinets, mandolins, piano September 25, 1921 - "If you tainment for lovers of fine music. and percussion including bass and haven't heard the new piano orches- "There's a thousand dollars’ worth of snare drums, tympani, triangle, trion at Schreiber's Restaurant and music going with it," the new owner Chinese cymbal, xylophone and Cafe, you have missed a real treat in said, adding "the masterpieces of orchestra bells began to play a wide high-class music. He has a fine German composers, the marches and repertoire of music. Whether it was a variety of choice selections for the the operas America has come to love." waltz, march or a 20-minute opera instrument which is an added attrac- Friends coming and going for two piece that he first heard, it must have tion to his already popular cafe." days since word of the sale got been enough for him to make the September 30, 1921 - "Have you around, are concerned over the loss of decision to buy Felix for his cafe in heard the new piano-orchestrion at a favorite source of entertainment. Nevada City. Schreiber's Restaurant and Cafe? If The new owner has his museum, the Before long, Felix was on its way by not, you have missed a rare treat in "Old Corral" at Mountainview along the boat to California. in pioneering tradi- the line of choice music. He has an Bay Shore Highway, but plans to move tion, it traveled through the Panama excellent selection of music for this to Reno to open what will be known as Canal, which at that time had been instrument, ranging from jazzy "The Bell of Reno." Felix will no longer open for business for only five years. dance pieces to overtures." play for nickels, according to the plans The boat trip for Felix ended on the of the museum collector, but for dollars. northern California coast, and from Felix played almost non-stop from When properly set up, the entertainment there it proceeded by narrow gauge 1921 until 1941, an amazing 20-year will include lighting effects and even a railroad to the "mother lode country." service record. Schreiber located the dancing figure. All that the famous Little did anyone know then, but that machine such that it faced into the organs, the operas and world renowned trip was undoubtedly responsible for bar, and the back of the machine orchestras have to fine music lovers, this the survival of Felix, since most large faced an opening into the restaurant. German made orchestrion will be able machines did not make it through wars A nickel worked hard in those days - to reproduce, according to the opinion of and reconstruction in Europe. Felix entertained two sets of patrons. the experts. "This one is an especially In fact, I've learned that wall boxes rare example," Stagg remarked. (sic) Popper Felix in Nevada City were installed at each dining table so Felix arrived in Nevada City during diners did not have to go into the bar In the late 1940s, Stagg's entire the summer of 1921 with its art glass to hear Felix play. The four Schreiber collection was sold to a gambling and and instrumentation amazingly intact. daughters would often come to the

Crandall, upon first sight of the Felix, lighting from the interior to inspect Flora, the moving art scene.

Various pictures of the interior and disassembled components gave a first impression that most if not all of the machine was present.

20 MECHANICAL MUSIC July/August entertainment club in Reno. Along with Felix were other music machines including a Seeburg G, Seeburg J, Seeburg Kr, Wurlitzer CX, Coinola CO, Mills Violano, Multiphone, Welte Cottage orchestrion and a hoard of cabinet machines. They were all stored in a corrugated-metal storage building right in the middle of Reno, and there they sat for 35 years, forgotten and unnoticed. For all practical purposes, Felix had disappeared from the face of the earth. While in hibernation it was becoming even more of a museum piece, and an antique as well. Beginning in the 1960s, collector interest developed in automatic music machines, and by the 1980s Felix had unwittingly become one of the world's few remaining prizes in its field. But it languished in its shed until a local citizen, claiming he could smell antiques in those buildings from his car as he would periodically drive by them, finally satisfied his itch by gaining permission to look inside. There he saw a hoard that was enough to open anyone's eyes. He proposed an exchange for the one machine too big for use in the club ... the Popper The lower half of Felix at McClaran's workshop. Felix. Discovery! So in 1978 the machine surfaced, but remained unknown to the automatic music collector community. The new owner was apparently thinking about restoring the machine himself, but it was far too complex for him. He'd heard of Hayes McClaran, the well-known Fresno, CA restorer and would occasionally call him with questions. Knowing Mac, I'm sure those were short conversations. One day in 1981 I had an MBSI meeting at my house in Ann Arbor, MI and Mac came to the meeting. He was impressed with the collection I had at the time and the quality of the restorations on each of the machines (mostly done by Dave Ramey, Sr.). More parts and pieces of the machine in the workshop. Mac said to me, "I'd like to find something for you and restore it for your collection, what don't you have?" Well I had enough American machines so I wanted one, hopefully impressive example of a European orchestrion. He said, "Well, there's a guy who keeps bugging me with questions about what's this and that, clearly he doesn't know what he's doing, but judging from the questions, he's got something big and it's European." So Mac gave me the lead and I bird- dogged it for months, finally making a connection with its owner. All I got from him was a single Polaroid, not well lit, but you could tell the machine was big and it was a Popper and it had lots of visual action all over the front of the case. It had to be big for a reason (i.e. lots of instrumentation) so I got excited, but he didn't want to sell. How many collectors have run into that problem? So I kicked into a time-tested strategy (I have many), I asked him: "Clearly you're not a music- machine collector, you have just this one machine, what do you collect?" To which I got the answer: "World War II military artifacts." I had no idea what that meant, but I pressed forward: "OK, what military item don't you have that you would really like to own?" He said, "that's easy, a German half-track tank." I asked him if I found one for him would he trade the One of the side doors showing an Eiffel Tower carving.

The wiring setup that animates Flora's action of flower throwing. The animation can be set so that Flora looks like she is throwing flowers to the audience or catching them The lighting arrangement for Flora, the flower girl. from the audience.

Close-up views of the spinning light wheels that create a pinwheel effect. Flora's arm is shown in all three positions.

music machine for it? He said some- transport back to Fresno. construction and artistic abilities. Since thing like "in a heartbeat!" in a tone as While McClaran began planning the the foundation of the house, Popper & though he thought I was crazy. Of restoration, I researched the origins of Co. has received the following awards: course I had no idea how to find a Felix. Werner Baus and Hans Schmitz Prize of Honor from the King German half-track tank, but I knew came to the rescue. It was Hans who of Saxony, Five State medals, a that any collector who wants some- learned the castles painted on Felix' art number of gold medals from thing, probably knows where some glass were Burg Rheinstein (Castle numerous exhibitions. are, so I asked him "Can you give me Rhinestone) and Schloss Stolzenfels. a list of where some are?" to which he These were two of three particular From the Encyclopedia of Auto- responded, "I only know where there castles on the Rhine (the third one is matic Instruments (Bowers, The are five in good condition." Burg Sooneck) which were rebuilt and Vestal Press, 1972), we learn: So you know the rest of the drill - I reconstructed from the ruins by the got the list and contact info, most were Prussian Prince Friedrich and Crown "The most spectacular of all Popper in Europe. Sure enough one was Prince/King Friedrich Wilhelm IV instruments were the huge piano owned by an older guy in Scandinavia between 1820 and 1860. That was a orchestrions of the 1900-1920 era . . . somewhere and he was willing to sell - period of national renaissance. The these large Popper orchestrions are for a price that was undoubtedly high culture and fine arts of the period interesting for some of their unusual for a half-track tank but not much for being referred to as the "Biedermeier" effects . . . the Con Amore orchestrion a large European orchestra. For that style. displayed tiny mechanical birds which kind of money I was willing to take a Finally, the prize piece of literature fluttered and tweeted while the music gamble that the machine was big surfaced: from Werner Baus I received roll rewound so the patrons would not enough and complete enough to go for a copy of a 1908 Popper catalog page, lose attention during the normally it. and there was Felix! The Felix from silent rewinding period. Well to cut the story down, I got Nevada City was identical to the catalog "The arrangements on Popper & Co. contracts signed all the way around except, instead of the woman throwing orchestrion rolls are excellent, for the (because I didn't want to own that half- roses, the catalog machine seems to most part, and collectors today consider track tank for even five minutes) and show a costumed actor with moving Popper instruments to be among the the Popper became legally mine. The arms. Indeed, the catalog description finest orchestrions ever produced. former owner had completely dis- spends equally as much time "These huge Popper orchestrions, mantled the machine so what I owned describing the lighting effects as the once made by the hundreds, are turned out to be a hulking case with complement of instrumentation. exceedingly rare today." many cartons of parts and pipes. But it wasn't until McClaran and I Popper & Co. Popper Roll Arrangements showed up in a rented 22-foot truck The only existing large Poppers known As with many music machines, Pop- with hydraulic rear lift at Felix's hiding to this author are the Gladiator and the per roll arrangements had differing place, opened the garage door and saw Salon Orchestra at San Sylmar, characteristics between early rolls (#1- the huge case and cartons of parts that California, the Luna in the Werner Baus 1999 - circa 1908-1918) and later rolls I realized how unique it was. We collection, and the Iduna in the Doyle (#3000 and 8000 series, post-World unpacked all the cartons and laid out Lane collection. War Ito the early 1930s). the pieces on the floor. By the time we Popper & Co. was a leading auto- The earlier rolls made more elaborate were done, we saw that Felix had six matic musical instrument firm from use of pipes for string, wind and reed ranks of pipes (158 in all), and it was the 1890s to the 1930s. In the year instruments to achieve variations in truly one of the few remaining large 1911, (coincidentally Schreiber's Cafe musical "color" similar to actual concert orchestrions made by Popper. was just opening and Felix was just orchestral arrangements. Apparently The amazing part about the find was two years old), Popper & Co. received the earlier music arrangers were that after all those years and all those an award for the quality of its music educated in real orchestra-arranging trips, including a boat trip in 1921 machines in Turin, Italy, as evidenced strategies. The fullness of the music across the Atlantic and through the by the following article in The Music contained in a Popper roll can really be Panama Canal, 157 of the 158 pipes Trades Review: appreciated on the Felix, particularly were still present, and all the art glass the way the rolls employ the clarinets, was intact! Felix deserved nothing less GRAND PRIX FOR POPPER & CO. piccolos and bells. than a total restoration to be returned Leipzig House Honored at Turin In real orchestras, the piccolo is the to the status of a grand orchestrion. International Exhibition Leipzig, Ger- shrillest of instruments. Its brilliant I was overwhelmed at first with the many, October 15, 1911. Popper & Co., tone color is almost always used for idea of a machine with such creden- manufacturers of automatic instru- picturing frenzied merriment, infernal tials. The next day we settled into the ments, has been awarded the Grand rivalry or other climactic passages. task of dismantling the machine and Prix at the International Exhibition in Popper arrangements use the piccolos packing it safely onto the truck for Turin, Italy, on account of first class sparingly and only when powerful,

24 MECHANICAL MUSIC July/August bright highlights for musical peaks are more often than the violins and almost Another modest difference in the needed. Without the piccolos, the Felix ignoring the clarinets and cellos. In this later jazzier machines is the addition has variety and a normal range of author's opinion, the only redeeming of a woodblock. Care must be taken expression, but when piccolos speak, quality of Belgian arrangements is that when playing early rolls on later fire rages and the blood rushes. some tunes are well-known American machines since the hole used for the The clarinets set the Felix apart as songs that strike a familiar ring in the woodblock controlled a pipe register in they would in any machine because U.S. collector's ear. earlier days. they add full, mellow color. The Early original Popper rolls covered a The compatibility of Popper rolls richness of the clarinets makes Felix's broad range of classical, dance and across a broad line of orchestrions has music sound full without being loud. novelty music. The classical songs are made it possible, through roll cutting, Solos on the clarinets are very exciting and rich as are some waltzes; to preserve an extraordinarily broad effective. whereas other waltzes and the range of music for the Popper Popper arrangements use the viol da marches are repetitive and were clearly orchestrion. In 1983 there were 200 gamba (soft) and violin (loud) ranks as meant more for dancing than listening. different, hand-selected Popper rolls in the workhorses of the music, as in a Happily, the Popper arrangements the process of being recut on John live orchestra. Expression is achieved use only the instrumentation needed Malone's versatile perforator. The either by playing the gambas only at the moment, rather than having to project was sponsored by Werner (which are soft and subtle) or the violins bear down on the listener with all it Baus in Germany and Bob Gilson in (louder) or both. has all the time. The effect can be Madison, WI. This author's seemingly The cellos are really a bass extension likened to a lightweight prizefighter - endless chasing and auditing of roll of the violin rank. They are the base dancing, bobbing and seemingly able collections provided over 550 rolls to line of the orchestra and are used for to invoke any of his resources at will, choose from. depth and presence, never as a with grace and selectivity. featured instrument. Later rolls have similar sparkle, but A Look Inside the Machine The flutes are versatile and clear with lack the fullness in the pipe section. In December of 1982 the restoration medium power. They are also work- These later arrangements catered to the of Felix commenced in earnest. In the horses and used for livelier portions of changing nature of the machines being ensuing months, every corner of the the music. When used in combination produced -with greater emphasis on machine was disassembled, with the violins, they mold another piano and percussion (xylophone and investigated, cleaned, finished and component of expression. drums) and less on wind and string reassembled by McClaran. At the end The bells or glockenspiel are metal instruments. The arrangements are of a six-month effort, everything about bars struck with metal beaters. They often "jazzier" and less serious, but the machine was understood. have a bright, lingering sound, espe- definitely fun to hear. The Europeans went about orches- cially effective for tuned accents, and Fortunately, a surprising number of trion building with some finesse are used sparingly. American tunes can be found in both because musical tastes leaned more The piano in the Felix is powerful. early and late rolls, including Sousa toward the classical than in America, The bass is rich, noticeable and almost marches, show tunes and even familiar where music machines were made for always present. The piano bass and songs such as: "Broadway Melody," less serious purposes. For instance, the cellos provide the bass component "Fascination Waltz," "Ramona," "Alex- the piano in Felix is of high quality as of the music. The piano treble is ander's Ragtime Band," and "Yes, Sir, is typical of German orchestras. separated from the bass and is used That's My Baby." Usually Feurich pianos were used, for piano solos, for melody accompa- The layout (scale) used in Popper rolls but in Felix' case, the only identifying niment, and at times is turned off to let maintained surprising consistency mark on the piano plate is a Popper some pipe rank or the xylophone over the 25 to 30 years that rolls were logo and the serial number 5022. The perform a solo. produced, and the orchestra roll was plate is identical to an Otero made by The xylophone is a 27-note, single- compatible with all sizes of the Weber Company, so a good guess stroke instrument with wood bars and orchestrions. The only real change was is that Popper did not make the piano wood beaters. It has a great sound and the addition of piano-stack expression itself. is often used with popular songs. One (high and low vacuum) on later Musically, the bass section of the later jazz roll actually plays "The machines which supplemented the piano has 29 notes, plus the lower five William Tell Overture" on the xylo- loud/soft hammer-rail expression. notes are octave coupled. This is phone with great results. According to Werner Baus, this extra where each of the notes in two The above comments apply to the level of piano expression was added different octaves is coupled so when a original Popper factory arrangements, when Popper had a falling out with note in the coupled range is called for but not to the Belgian arrangements. Welte and brought out the Popper Welt, from the music roll, two notes actually The latter are quite different and far an expression piano/small orchestra play. This increases the bass richness less complex. They play the Felix like a competitor to Welte. and power, which is important in an small band organ, using the flutes orchestrion that typically

Restoring Felix Photos taken during the restoration process done by Hayes McClaran

July/August MECHANICAL MUSIC 26

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July/August MECHANICAL MUSIC 27

depends heavily on the bass in the so many orchestrions with one or two expression is also implemented by piano to carry the rhythm of a musical pipe ranks always having either flutes careful selection of pipe ranks that are selection. or violins. turned on at any point. The piccolos The treble section is also 29 notes. It Felix' flutes are a wooden, harmonic are an expression device all by is separate from the bass section so the rank surpassed in pitch only by the themselves in that when they are on, treble can be turned off, thereby piccolo (short for flauto piccolo or "little they seem to double the volume of the allowing a pipe rank or the xylophone flute"), which is a half-sized flute used entire orchestra. to perform a solo in that note range, chiefly for special effects. Felix' piccolos while the piano bass can continue are of the unusual philomela type. European vs. American playing the accompaniment. They are open pipes with a double I have already mentioned some Closely associated with the piano is mouth, resulting in a high-pitched differences between European and the mandolin rail - literally a rail with piccolo that is even more differentiated American machines in several passages leather fingers that are metal tipped from the flutes than usual. of this article. It is fascinating that and hang close to the piano strings. Flue pipes are of three classes: American manufacturers were The big 25-inch bass drum is struck diapason, flute and string. Diapason is consistent in their strategy to produce by a beater at the same time a genuine a generic term for a family of flue pipes music machines that were truly fun for Chinese cymbal is struck. There are that only exists on an organ and has no listening as opposed to the fairly actually two bass drum beater real instrument counterpart. Felix only prevalent European strategy of con- pneumatics with which expression is has pipes that are imitative of real centrating on more musical realism achieved. If the roll calls for only one instruments. This fact, plus the and intricacy. American machines pneumatic, a softer sound is produced presence of a piano, are the reasons for would usually permit the listener to than if both contribute their forces it being called an orchestrion rather peer through clear gaps in the art glass simultaneously. Snare drum than an organ. For example, three of its to see the instruments play (all part of expression is achieved differently by flue ranks are of the string type: violins, the fun), whereas European machines pneumatically controlling how far the cellos and gambas. The violins are were closed up tight as a drum and beater is from the drum surface at rest; wood pipes registered separately from animated art glass effects were used to the loudness is thereby controlled. A the cellos. The cellos are a short rank entertain the listener. kettle drum sound is achieved with the extending down into the 4-inch range The most dramatic differences addition of two tympani beaters poised of bass pipe. between American and European over the bass drum. On the other hand, the gambas are a machines can be found in the roll Accenting is provided by a triangle, a longer rank of softly-voiced metal arrangements. Most American roll crash cymbal and a 15-note set of pipes. Gamba is an abbreviation for arrangements are centered around the tuned orchestra bells. The crash viol da gamba, (literally "leg viol") piano and music that typified player cymbal is the same Chinese cymbal referring to the fact that all instru- pianos. Controls for other instruments but can also be hit with a felt-covered ments of this type are held on or are added to the basic piano beater, making a more fully-developed between the knees. arrangements. Pipes are turned on and and longer-lasting crash than normal. The clarinets are a completely off for variety rather than for the A third level of cymbal expression is different pipe rank operating with aesthetics of the tune. They are snappy, achieved by both beaters hitting the wind passing over a beating reed and popular and toe-tapping. German cymbal which results in a noticeable a cylindrical or conical resonator. arrangements squeeze the most out of crash. Additional tuned percussion is Clarinets are a mellow reed pipe the machinery with a balanced demand provided by a 27-note wood xylophone usually appearing only in large orches- for the instrumentation when they are which is often used for solos. tras, and unheard of on American needed in accordance for a more The pipe section in Felix incorporates orchestrions. faithful rendition of the original an interesting and versatile range of Expression (loud and soft) is provided arrangement. Classical and dance reed, flute and stringed instruments. in various ways, including a traditional music is dominant, which means it is The pipes in an orchestrion are identi- piano loud /soft pedal which controls less piano dependent. cal to the pipes in an organ. Five of the the position of the hammer-rail As a comparison, take the Cremona six pipe ranks which Felix has are of the percussion expression (as previously J, a top-of-the-line American machine flue variety. Flue pipes are of the whistle described), and overall expression from with a complement of instruments or recorder type whereby air passes the swell shutters on the top of the identical to the Popper Rex (a Felix through a narrow aperture or flue. The case. Swell shutters are louvers which minus all but the violins, the flute pipe flute is in constant service in the open and close partially or fully, ranks and the orchestra bells). The orchestra, taking the melody for the depending on the length of the control Cremona J plays the Cremona M roll woodwind group just as the violin does hole in the music roll. These infinitely that is arranged to solo on the pipes for the strings. Often it is combined with variable swell shades are uniquely and the xylophone. Listening to the the violin for this purpose. This is no characteristic of certain German Cremona J and the Popper Rex side by doubt the basis for machines. A great range of side will separate collectors into

two definite groups. There is no right or wrong, just two different styles of music. The American machine was designed to entertain people in saloons with a fun, piano honky-tonk sound, whereas the European machines were meant to appeal to the more refined tastes of their continental patrons. As a collector, I would never choose one over the other. If a collection can have two principal music machines, it should have one of each. Rarely will you find good American popular music on a European machine, and you'll never listen to the American machine for original classical music.

Felix Restored In July 1983, Popper Felix's restoration was complete. While the machine was being "shaken down" in Fresno in preparation for delivery, Ernie Schreiber's daughters: Gertrude Murray, Elsie Sharpe, Eleanor Putnam, Louise Geddes and their families were invited from Nevada City to see and hear a distant memory - after a 40-year absence! Once again Felix delighted its former owners by lighting up — as only it could — while providing its best performance since leaving the factory some 70 years earlier. McClaran and his assistant, Brad Reinhardt, had outdone themselves. Typical of the few top-quality restorers in this field, they felt they had left a permanent piece of themselves Ernest Schreiber's daughters gathered in 1983 to hear Popper Felix play again somewhere inside Felix's wondrous some 60 years after it first arrived in Nevada City. innards. As McClaran said: "You can't get through a project like this without having some feeling for the machine and what it once represented. Nearly every glue joint, every valve (all 311 of them) and every piano hammer needed redoing. After years of lan- guishing in a baking-hot shed, Felix needed to be completely disassembled and rebuilt as it was originally done at the factory." The restoration took 23 weeks of effort, including deciphering the vast and curious electrical system that controlled all of the lighting and animation. Fortunately for restorers, Renner's of Germany, a piano supply house, stocks the exact Members of an Ann Arbor, MI, high-school football team moving a parts and pertinent for all aspects of the 1,200 pound base up the front stoop and into author's house.

28 MECHANICAL MUSIC July/August

Hayes McClaran, with assistant Brad Reinhardt, make final adjustments as Popper Felix is installed in its new home.

German piano. room — the only room with a ceiling assures its permanence in the world of When it came time for Felix to leave its high enough . I asked my wife (who is mechanical music. restoration berth in Fresno, it was not a music collector, but who is very The hunt, the discovery, the acqui- McClaran himself who rented a truck understanding) what she thought of sition, the restoration, the hearing of and drove it to the author's home in the 11-foot high decoration in our the first note, the historical research, Michigan. "The machine is restored to midst. She replied wryly, "Oh, it's the scouring for original music, and the best possible condition and the case useful to show friends that clearly I’m the preservation of a genuine artifact has a fine furniture, hand-rubbed married to a crazy person!" from the California gold rush territory finish. There's no way I could bear to see surely justify the story of the Popper someone else handle something this A Collector's Dream Felix as a classic American saga. large and awkward with the care it From my perspective, the Felix has If readers have knowledge of other should get," declared McClaran. come a long way and is now properly Poppers, please notify the editor as I am On a sunny July day, the Popper restored to play for nickels once planning to write more on this Felix was installed in our living again. Its exquisite condition venerable maker of music machines.