37"? /i&td W 9i MAIL ORDER MUSIC: THE HINNERS ORGAN COMPANY IN THE DAKOTAS, 1879-1936 DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Allison A. Alcorn-Oppedahl, B.Mus., M.M. Denton, Texas August, 1997 37"? /i&td W 9i MAIL ORDER MUSIC: THE HINNERS ORGAN COMPANY IN THE DAKOTAS, 1879-1936 DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Allison A. Alcorn-Oppedahl, B.Mus., M.M. Denton, Texas August, 1997 CR Alcorn-Oppedahl, Allison Ann, Mail Order Music: the Hinners Organ Company in the Dakotas. 1879-1936. Doctor of Philosophy (Musicology), August, 1997, 559 pp., 6 tables, 2 maps, 173 plates, references, 266 titles. Founded in 1879 by John L. Hinners, the Hinners Organ Company developed a number of stock models of small mechanical-action instruments that were advertised throughout the Midwest. Operating without outside salesmen, the company was one of the first to conduct all of its affairs by mail, including the financial arrangements, selection of the basic design, and custom alterations where required. Buyers first met a company representative when he arrived by train to set up the crated instrument that had been shipped ahead of him. Tracker organs with hand-operated bellows were easily repaired by local craftsmen, and were suited to an area that, for the most part, lacked electricity. In all, tl e company constructed nearly three thousand pipe organs during its sixty years of open tion. Rapid decline of the firm began in the decade prior to 1936 during which the company sold fewer than one hundred instruments, and closed in that year when John's son Arthur found himself without sufficient financial resources to- weather the length; depression. The studies of the original-condition Hinners organs in the Dakotas include extensive photograjphs and measurements, and provide an excellent cross section of the smaller instruments produced by the company. They are loud, excellently crafted, functionally attractive, tonally typical of the early twentieth-century American Romantic organ, and utilize designs and materials typical of this era. Only recently has it been acknowledged that these Hinners organs represent a "meat and potatoes" class of instrument, as it were, an honest meal without the pretense of delicate appetizers, vintage wine, and gourmet dessert. In this way the company offered churches a serviceable and respectable musical alternative to grandeur, and was able to fulfill the needs and meet the budget of a small congregation without the expense of a custom instrument. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the Organ Historical Society and the P.E.O. International Sisterhood for their financial assistance. My appreciation goes to Stephen and Melissa Alcorn for their help with photography equipment and photographic reproductions; to Mark Alcorn for assistance with research in Erie, Pennsylvania; to Jenny Taylor, Dordt College, for designing the schematics; to Lance Johnson, Mike Johnson, Art Aadland, Howard Nolte, and Mike Nelson for helping with measurements; to the research staffs of the American Organ Archives, the Newberry Library, the Pekin Public Library, the Tazewell County Geneological Society, and the Illinois Regional Archives Depositories for their generous service during my visits; to John and Linda Hinners for their hospitality and gracious assistance; to Cecil Adkins for his scholarly advice and personal support; to Richard and Annette Oppedahl and Wallace and Ann Alcorn, and to David, Willson, and Kiersten Oppedahl. 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 14 CHAPTER II: THE HINNERS FAMILY 44 CHAPTER III: HISTORY OF THE HINNERS ORGAN COMPANY 79 CHAPTER IV: ORGANS IN ORIGINAL CONDITION 155 CHAPTER V: THE FIRST DAKOTA HINNERS 299 CHAPTER VI: REBUILT AND LOST DAKOTA HINNERS 343 CHAPTER VII: CONCLUSION 360 APPENDIX A: HINNERS FAMILY TREE 366 APPENDIX B: HINNERS ORGAN COMPANY 1904 REED ORGAN CATALOG 369 APPENDIX C: HINNERS & ALBERTSEN 1895 REED ORGAN CATALOG .... 375 I APPENDIX D: HINNERS ORGAN COMPANY FUNERAL HOME ORGAN CATALOG 403 APPENDIX E: SPECIFICATION LISTS AND ANALYSIS 408 APPENDIX F: REED ORGAN PRICE LIST 461 APPENDIX G: "THE EVOLUTION OF THE PIPE ORGAN," THE SCRIPT OF A TALK GIVEN BY A. W. HINNERS 463 APPENDIX H: MEASUREMENT CHARTS i 467 APPENDIX I: HINNERS ORGAN COMPANY 1916 REED ORGAN WARRANTY 506 IV APPENDIX K: NORTH DAKOTA MAP, SOUTH DAKOTA MAP 542 BIBLIOGRAPHY 544 LIST OF MAPS Page Map 1. Northern Pacific Railway, Eastern System 37 VI LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Immigration to the United States, 1820-1879 30 Table 2. Hinners genealogy 50 Table 3. City Directory Listings, 1870-1888 55 Table 4. 1929 Financial Summary 147 Table 5. Charges to Pipe Organ Department and Reed Organ Department, 1929 .... 148 Table 6. Original Condition Organs in North and South Dakota 156 Vll LIST OF PLATES Page Plate 1. Memorial Plaque, Grace United Methodist Church, Pekin, Illinois 65 Plate 2. Washburn ad by Arthur Hinners 75 Plate 3. Arthur and Emma Hinners' residence on Park Avenue, Pekin, Illinois 77 Plate 4. Advertisement, Mason & Hamlin, The Church Review (October, 1890) 82 Plate 5. The Banner (February 8,1917) 87 Plate 6. Page, Montgomery Ward Catalog-1895 89 Plate 7. Pekinian advertisement 90 Plate 8. Geiger & Thompson advertisement, The Pekin Weekly Times 97 Plate 9. Fred Schaefer advertisement, The Pekin Weekly Times (April 26,1878) 98 Plate 10. Pekin Weekly Times (April 20,1889) 99 Plate 11 A. Diagram of J. L. Hinners Reed Organ Action, Patent No. 243,899 103 Plate 1 IB. Specification, J. L. Hinners Reed Organ Action, Patent No. 243,899 .... 104 Plate 12A. Diagram, J. L. Hinners Tracker Pin for Organs, Patent No. 330,117 106 Plate 12B. Specification, J. L. Hinners Tracker Pin for Organs, Patent No. 330,117 . 107 Plate 13. 1898 Hinners & Albertsen, Red Wing Foursquare Church, Red Wing, Minnesota 113 Plate 14. Nameplate and Wind Indicator, 1898 Hinners & Albertsen, Red Wing, Minnesota 114 Plate 15. Blueprints, First Church of Christ Scientist, Red Wing, Minnesota, 1935 ..115 Plate 16. Invitation to the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Steamboat Excursion 124 Plate 17A. 1918 Hinners Organ Company, Holy Nativity Church, New Hope, Minnesota. Detail, wind chest 134 Plate 17B. Detail, 1918 Hinners organ 135 Plate 17C. Detail, 1918 Hinners organ 136 Plate 17D. 1918 Hinners organ, Holy Nativity Church, New Hope, Minnesota 137 Plate 18. Feeder bellows, numbered, 1929 Hinners, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 138 Plate 19. Side panel of chest with "top" indicated. First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 139 Plate 20. Numbered pedal pipes, 1898 Hinners & Albertsen, Red Wing Foursquare Church, Red Wing, Minnesota 140 Plate 21. Numbered case finial, Red Wing Foursquare Church, Red Wing, Minnesota 141 Plate 22. 1926 Price List 146 Plate 23. Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Hankinson, North Dakota 163 Plate 24. Altar, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Hankinson, North Dakota 164 Plate 25. 1910 organ, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Hankinson, vm North Dakota 165 Plate 26. Facade pipe stenciling, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Hankinson, North Dakota 166 Plate 27. Nameplate, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Hankinson, North Dakota 167 Plate 28. Swell and combination pedals, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Hankinson, North Dakota 168 Plate 29. Stop knobs, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Hankinson, North Dakota 169 Plate 30. Enclosed pipes, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Hankinson, North Dakota. 170 Plate 31. Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota (August, 1996) 177 Plate 32. Altar, Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota 179 Plate 33. Stained glass window, north wall, Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota 180 Plate 34. 1928 Hinners organ, Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota ... 1^1 Plate 35. Nameplate, Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota 182 Plate 36. Stop knobs, Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota 183 Plate 37. Tubular-pneumatic facade pipes, Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota 184 Plate 38. Enclosed pipes, Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota 185 Plate 39. Bellows pump handle, Viking Lutheran Church, Maddock, North Dakota 186 Plate 41. First Reformed Church, Harrison, South Dakota (May, 1996) 195 Plate 42. Organ and altar, First Reformed Church, Harrison, South Dakota 196 Plate 43. Organ, First Reformed Church, Harrison, South Dakota 197 Plate 44. First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 207 Plate 45. Doty Memorial Pipe Organ Plaque 209 Plate 46. Nameplate, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 213 Plate 47. Aeoline pipes, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 214 Plate 48. Enclosed pipes, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 215 Plate 49. Shipping Label, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 216 Plate 50. Unenclosed pipes, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 217 Plate 51. Pedal pipe mouth, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 218 Plate 52. Zinc pipe, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 219 Plate 53. Spotted metal pipe (sixty-forty percent zinc/lead), First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 220 Plate 54. Linen Lead Pipe, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 221 Plate 55. Coupler rollers, pedal action, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 222 Plate 56. Reservoir, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 223 Plate 57. Reservoir, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 224 IX Plate 58. Frame metal weights on reservoir, First Presbyterian Church, Oakes, North Dakota 225 Plate 59. Sanctuary, Peace Lutheran Church, Scranton, North Dakota 233 Plate 60. Peace Lutheran Church, Scranton, North Dakota 235 Plate 61. Hinners organ, Peace Lutheran Church, Scranton, North Dakota 236 Plate 62. Side of organ, Peace Lutheran Church, Scranton, North Dakota 237 Plate 63. Facade tower, Peace Lutheran Church, Scranton, North Dakota 238 Plate 64. Open Diapason mouth, Peace Lutheran Church, Scranton, North Dakota 239 Plate 65.