Volume XIX Number 4 Summer 1975 Thomas Edison's Tracker Organ by J. Paul Schneider Thomas A. Edison and laboratory staff, second floor, Menlo Park New Jersey, February 22, 1880, with original Hllborne Roosevelt organ. Edison seated front row, left of center, cap on head, handB in lap. Photograph from the Collections of Greenfield Vlllage and the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan. W.i.th each visi.t to the second floor of the re­ part this organ played dur.ing the inventive drama stored Thomas A. Edison Menlo Park Laboratory at which occurred ,in the Menlo Park Laboratory. The Henry Ford's Greenfield V.i.llage [near Detroit, Mich­ organ was a gift to Edison ,by Hilborne Roosevelt, an igan, J I am intrigued to see the small tracker organ inventor and organ .builder, active in telephone re­ at one end of the room in the midst of the labora­ search. Roosevelt greatly admired Edison and pre­ tory equipment once used by the "Wizard of Menlo sented the instrument ,to him to aid in his sound and Park." telephone experiments. The organ proved to fulf,ill other functions as when 'in Mr. Edison's opinion, In Francis Jehl's book,l Menlo Park Reminis­ Music's magic strains were needed to soothe the sav­ cences, the author makes several references .to the age breasts of his employees.' Mr. Jehl continues, "After I began to work here (in the Laboratory), I took part in many a midnight song fest around this lFrancis Jehl was staff laboratory assistant of Thomas Alva Edison at Menlo Park and later the curator of instrument. Lunch usually consisted of soda crack­ Edison's restored Menlo Park Laboratory. ers, ham, cheese and butter, and we gathered in a THE TRACKER THE ORGAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Inc. P. 0. Box 209, Wilmington, Ohio 45177 CONTENTS with archives at Ohio Wesleyan University Volume XIX, Number 4 Summer 1975 Delaware, Ohio Alan Laufman ...................................... ·-·•·······.. ········President P.O. Box 104, Harrlsvllle, N.H. 03450 ARTICLES Th0mas L. Finch ............................................ Vice President Physics Dept., St. Lawrence Univ., Canton. N.Y. 13617 An Earnest Appeal 17 Donald C. Rockwood ....................................._ .........Treasurer 50 Ro::kwood Road, Norfolk, Mass. 02056 A Hook and Hastings in Jacksonvi!le, Alabama 15 Mrs. Helen B. Harriman ............Corresponding Secretary by Melvin Potts 111 Morse St .• Sharon. Mass. 020fi' Indianapolis Pipework Now in Corpus Christi 10 Jameq McFar'and ............................... .Recording Secretary by Walter W. Davis 114 N. George St., M!llersvllle, Pa. 17551 Homer D. Blanchard ................................................ Archivist A New "Old" Tracker Organ for Worcester 8 103 Orlswolj Street, Delaware. Ohio 43015 by John Ogasapian Councillors Report on the 20th Annual Convention 4 George Bozeman, Jr . ........................................................ 1976 Restoration of a V ocalicn 12 68 Woshlngton St., Lowell, Mass. 01851 by Georgia and Dale Williams Thomas W. Cunningham ................................................ 1976 421 S. South St., Wilmington, Ohio 45177 Thomas Edison's Tracker Organ 1 F. Robert Roche ................................................................ 1977 by J. Paul Schneider 60 Park Street. Taunton, Mass. 02780 Lawrence Trupiano ........................................................ 1977 The Three Homes for Adam Stein's 1893 Organ 16 317 Avenue F. Brooklyn. N.Y. 11218 Mrs. Lois Regestein ............................................................ 1978 DEPARTMENTS 6 Worthington St., Boston, Mass. 02120 Samuel Walter .................................................................... 1978 83 School House Lane, East Brunswick, N.J. 08816 Editorial 24 Letters to the Editor 20 Chairmen of Standing Committees Norman M. Walter ............................................ Audio-Visual New Tracker Organs 2J 25 Watervlew Rd .. West Chester, Pa. 19380 Alan M. Laufman ........................................ Extant Organs George Bozeman, Jr. .................................... Historic Organs OHS BUSINESS E. A. Boadway ............................Res1arch and Publications P.O. Box 779. Claremont. N.H. 03743 James Boeringer ............................................Recital Series Annual Report of the Treasurer 19 R.D. No. 1, Box 360, Selinsgrove, Pa. 17870 Greetings to OHS from the New President 24 Barbara J. Owen ....Headquarters and Foundation Grants 46A Curtis Street, Pigeon Cove, Mass. 01966 Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Organ Thomas W. Cunningham ............................................ Finance Historical Society, June 24, 1975 19 F. Robert Roche ....................................................Adve rtising Minutes of the OHS Council Meeting, June 23, 1!)75 18 Chairmen of Temporary Comrnittees Barbara J. Owen .................................................. Nominating Ruth Killian ................................Co-chm, 1976 Convention 716 S:mth 15th St., Lebanon. Pa. 17042 THE TRACKER is published four times a year by the Norman M. Walter ........................ Co-chm, 1976 Convention O1·gan Historical Society, Inc., a non-profit, educational William M. Worden ....................................1977 Convention organization. Annual membership dues (including THE 6263 W. Outer Dr., Detroit, Mich. 48235 'l'UACKER): Regular members $7.60, Contributing mem­ John K. O--rasapian ........................................1978 Convention bers $16.00, Sustaining members $25.00, Patrons $100.00. 14 Park St., Pepperell, Mass. 01465 TRACKER Back issues of THE are obtainable at $2.00 W. Ravmond Ackerman ........................By-Laws Revision each or $7.50 for four consecutive numbers. Send mem­ 21 Moulton St .. Charlestown, Mass. 02129 bership dues, inquires, and address change$ to: The Or­ gan Historical Society, Inc. P.O. Box 209, Wilmington, OH 45177. Advertisers may address copy, together with THE TRACKER staff payment, to the Advertising Chairman. Closing dates for Albert F. Robinson ........................................................Editor advertising matter: Fall, No. 1-July 12; Winter, No. 2 First Presbyterian Church, 20 King's Highway East -September 12; Spring, No. 3-January 12; Summer, Haddonfield, N.J. 08033 No. 4-May 12. Make all checks payable to the O1·gan Mrs. Norma C. Cunningham ................................Publisher Historical Society, Inc. Editorial correspondence and ar­ 421 S. South Street, Wilml11gton, Ohio 45177 ticles to be considered for publication may be add1·e:-sed to the Editor. Editorial closing dates: Fall, No. 1- Advertising Rates in THE TRACKER July 1; Winter, No. 2-September 1; Spring, No. 3- January 1; Sum.mer, No. 4-May 1. Responsibility for DISPLAY ADS: facts and opinions expressed in articles l'ests· upon the Full Page ......................................................$75.00 per issue authors and not upon the Organ Historical Society, lnc. Half Page -.................................................. 40.00 per issue All material accepted for p·ublication in THE TRACKER Quarter Page ................................................ 22.50 per issue becomes the property of the Organ Histol'ical Societ . Tnc., 1m<I cannot be l'eturned. Material published in THE Eighth Page .................................................... 15.00 per issue TRACI(ER may not be reproduced without permission Business Card .................................................... 3.60 per issue of the F-ditor. Copyright 1975 The Organ Historic9.I (Or $12.00 per year - four issues) Society, Inc. CLASSIFIED ADS: 30 words same rate as Business card Page 2 The Hllborne Roosevelt organ lu the phonograph room of Edison's laboratory at W. Orange, New Jersey. Photograph from "The Life and Inventions of Thos. Alva Edison," by W.K.L. Dickson and Antonia Dickson, 1894. circle around Mr. Edison and told stories while we ate." Someone would play a popular tune of t,he day, such as "Champagne Charley," while another would sing the verses and all would join in the chorus. Other songs wel"e enjoyed as: "Dolly Varden," "Good Night Ladies," "Grandfather's Clock," "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me," etc. Edison himself often went to the organ and played a tune using the "pick and hunt" method. The Hilborne Roosevelt organ was h-is opus 16, built in 1875, with one manual and two stops. I,t was later moved from the Menlo Park Laboratory in New Jersey to the Edison Recording La,boratory in West Orange, New Jersey, where it was destroyed by a fire in 1914. When Henry Ford moved the Menlo Park Labor­ atory from New Jersey and restored it in Green­ field ViUage, Dearborn, Michigan, he gathered all available original equipment and materials to make as faithful a restoration as possible. Tne contract to duplicate the ·orjginal Roosevelt organ was given to the Ernest M. Skinner Organ Company in Mas­ sachusetts. It is il1teresting to note that an em­ ployee of the Skinner firm, possibly Mr. Skinner him­ self, haq peen employed in the Hilborne Roosevelt The E. M. Skinner organ, opus 765, 1929, duplicating the Hll­ borne Roosevelt organ. In the Menlo Park Restoration, Green­ (Continued on page 7) field Village. Collectl,ons ot Grecnrteld Village and the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan. Page 3 Report on the 20th Annual Convention Another great convention has come and gone, and well covered. Fur.ther encouragement is to be gained the 135 or so registrants have resumed their normal in the news that the 1977 and 1978 conventions are routines. The convention was great in that it cov­ well along in the planning