Dear gorhamzoro, could you please provide more details on the Wurlitzer organ you got from the Luna Theatre?
Was this the model E Special, Opus 1154, shipped from the Wurlitzer factory on September 9, 1925? (That is the organ listed for this theatre on the TheatreOrgans.com list of original theatre organ installations).
What made it a “Special”? was the organ divided (two chambers, more normally called a model “EX”), or did it have more percussion effects, or a special-order pipe rank substituted for one of the standard pipe ranks, or ???
What happened to the remaining parts of this organ? Do you still have them, or did you sell them to various people? I should send you an email since you probably won’t see my post here for quite some time.
Also, do you have any information on the Seeburg-Smith organ that was installed at the Luna Theatre before the Wurlitzer? I am about to make another post detailing what little I know about this instrument, but I’m curious to know what happened to it after the Wurlitzer was installed. Was it taken in on trade to Wurlitzer, or sold to another theatre or a church?
Are, or were, there any Smith organs installed in churches in the greater Lafayette area? Thanks!
*Never mind, I just read Mr. Joe Vogel’s comments above, a little more carefully. OK, it makes more sense for the theatre to have been in a razed/remodeled section of downtown than out in the middle of nowhere, cool! I hope we can figure out how to get the map to show the correct former theatre site, instead of what it shows now.
Also, Mr. Vogel’s quote from “Moving Picture World” mentioning a “Seeburg Piano” being installed at this theatre, undoubtedly refers to a Seeburg photoplayer (the various models of which were advertised as “Seeburg Pipe Organ Orchestras”), although Seeburg dealers were also known to sell the relatively large Seeburg G and H orchestrions to very early movie theatres, where they would be turned on and let play totally uncoordinated with the picture, either for background music, or for entertainment and intermission music between shows (these orchestrions, being keyboard models, could also be played by hand as a “straight” piano alone, and a very rare variety of the model G was provided with extra pedals, stop controls, and a special roll frame transmission that allowed the musician to stop the roll and play the entire orchestrion by hand from the keyboard and foot pedals, like a photoplayer).
Most of these orchestrion theatre sales, however, must have happened in around 1912 and 1913, when the G and H orchestrions were first put on the market for sale.
This is because Seeburg introduced its line of photoplayers / Pipe-Organ Orchestras starting in 1914 with the model M, followed by the models S, R, and at some point, A DeLuxe, T, V, P, Q, and W (I do not know the order or dates of the introduction of these models yet).
Of course, once theatre owners/builders had an orchestal instrument available that could be played entirely by one person (with rolls or manually) and have its music coordinated with the picture, they generally chose this option, and thus sales of regular coin pianos and orchestrions to theatres must have taken quite a nosedive in 1914-1915.
I also do not know what kind of Seeburg instrument this particular theatre had in 1916, although it was quite likely a photoplayer, probably a larger one if it was later replaced by a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ (although it is also possible that the theatre building itself was enlarged).
Both Seeburg photoplayers and Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organs are quite rare today (I know of fewer than 20 Seeburg photoplayers extant, many of them being quite incomplete, and only a handful of Seeburg-Smith pipe organs), although purportedly around 1,000 Seeburg photoplayers and perhaps around 75-125 Seeburg-Smith pipe organs were originally built.
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. Dave Junchen, pg. 629, the “Rialto (Family) (Lincoln Square) Th.” in Indianapolis, Indiana, had a two-manual, 7-rank Seeburg-Smith organ installed at some point.
No other information on this organ, such as blower make, number, or specs; or install date, is listed in the book (not known at the time of publication).
Does anybody know where this organ, or its parts, is/are today? Thanks a lot!
It is weird to look at the Google Maps street view of the former theatre site, and see not merely a vacant lot in an urban or formerly-urban-looking area, but an actual DIRT MOUND (or dirt patch) with long grass, in the bend of an (obviously more recent) freeway!
Things can change quite a lot in 95 years, can’t they?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Pipe Organ” by Mr. David Junchen, pg. 629, the “Alhambra Th.” in Indianapolis, Indiana, had a three-manual, 11-rank Seeburg-Smith (not Smith-Geneva as reported in Mr. Chuck’s main theatre write-up above) theatre pipe organ installed in 1920.
This organ had Spencer blower serial #10999, which was 5 horsepower and delivered wind at 10" static pressure.
This was apparently one of the few 3-manual Smith organs ever built, and also one of the few organs over 10 ranks in size that they built (the majority of Smith’s output appears to have been 2-manual organs of between 4 and 9 ranks). Thus, this organ must have been one of Seeburg-Smith’s big “prestige” organ installations.
Does anybody know what happened to the Seeburg-Smith organ after it was moved to the Cadle Tabernacle?
The Saturday, September 2, 1922 issue of “The Indianapolis News” (pg. 27) has an article about the “New $17,000 pipe organ” just installed in the Tabernacle and about to be dedicated, but (and it is hard to tell given the poor OCR transcription of this page, and the fact that I can’t see the actual page image since I’m not a newspapers dot com subscriber), it doesn’t seem like the article mentions the make of the organ at all.
Given that Smith was still in business at the time of the move, (although now known just as the Smith Organ Co, no longer Seeburg-Smith), and given that they were known as primarily a builder of theatre-type organs for performing popular music (most were installed in theatres; a few were installed in lodge halls, radio stations, and hotels; Smith built only a handful of actual church organs their entire existence), it is possible that Mr. Cadle didn’t want the public to learn that the “new” church organ was really a used theatre organ from the recently closed theatre! (I am not sure if the $17,000 figure was at all accurate, either!)
A Google search has not helped matters much, since I’ve only been able to find out about the history of the Cadle Tabernacle building itself and nothing about the organ.
Here are a couple of the most useful links about the building and its history:
Does anybody know what happened to the 3-manual, 11-rank Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ when the Cadle Tabernacle was razed / demolished in 1968?
Do it, or its parts, still exist today, and if so, where? Thanks a lot!
I have not yet checked the Möller section of Mr. Junchen’s book to see about an earlier Möller organ installation at this theatre, but I will do so when I have time.
Thanks for putting up the page for this theatre! I am so glad the building is still standing and hope I can visit it someday when I am traveling through Indiana.
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Pipe Organ”, pg. 629, the “Linden Th.” in South Bend, Indiana, originally had a 2 manual, 4 rank Smith theatre pipe organ installed.
No further details, such as blower info, nameplate (Seeburg-Smith, Smith, Smith-Geneva, etc), or install date are given in the book, since they weren’t known at the time of publication.
Does anybody know where this organ (or its parts) is/are today? Could it still be installed in the building, but now in use as a church organ?
(Don’t laugh; the removal and resale of unwanted smaller theatre pipe organs to poorer or less discriminating churches, often with some changes, such as:
1. removal and sometimes trashing of the traps and some percussions,
and/or
2. swapping of some of the louder theatrical pipe ranks for softer churchier ones,
saved many theatre pipe organs from going to the dump in the days when they were completely unwanted and being trashed left and right).
Thanks for any info anyone can provide! This is all for the Smith theatre pipe organ webpage I’ll be putting up eventually (not ready yet). I’d also really like to see some interior photos of this building, if the church is so inclined to provide any (they may not want to).
Does anybody know about the “Castle Theatre”, or the “LaSalle Theatre” in South Bend? I would create pages for them but don’t know how to do that.
According to Mr. Junchen’s book (same page), the “Castle Theatre” had a Seeburg-Smith organ installed in 1920 and the LaSalle Theatre also had some type of Smith organ, further details and install date unknown.
I have no idea what happened to these two theatres and organs and would like to know more. Thanks!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Pipe Organ” by Mr. David Junchen, pg. 629, there was a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ installed at the “Centennial Th.” in Warsaw, Indiana, in 1917.
The organ had a Spencer blower, serial #6681.
The blower’s horsepower and static wind pressure are not given in the book, being unknown at the time of publication.
Also unknown is the size of the organ, the number of manuals and ranks.
Does anybody know any more about this organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks a lot!
If a Marr & Colton organ was actually installed at this theatre in 1926 (I don’t have the Marr & Colton section of the book handy to check right now), then it would either be a replacement for, or a remodel/enlargement(?) of, the existing Seeburg-Smith instrument.
Does anybody know more about this Marr & Colton organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Beverly Th.” in Brooklyn, New York, had a Seeburg-Smith pipe organ installed in 1919.
The number of manuals and ranks of this organ is not listed in the book, being unknown at the time of publication.
This organ had a Kinetic blower, serial #G382, which had a 1 and ½ horsepower motor.
The book also lists two additional blowers going to the organ in 1919, both also Kinetic: serial #H329, another 1 and ½ horsepower blower; and serial #H627, a 3 horsepower blower, producing wind at 15" pressure (the highest pressure I’ve ever seen listed for any Smith organ). [The static pressure of the two 1 and ½ HP blowers is not listed]
Except in the extremely rare occasion when a brand-new blower would fail and need to be replaced (again, not common), most entries for multiple organ blowers going to the same theatre (listed in the book) represent enlargements of the organ, or occasionally a new replacement organ from the same manufacturer. The fact that all three blowers went to the same theatre in the same year means that PROBABLY either:
the organ was installed with the first blower, but was enlarged by the factory either during installation (on commission from the theatre owner/builder) or soon after (probably if it was found to be insufficient to fill the house with sound). However, if true, this would be the only Smith organ I’m aware of with THREE blowers, producing a total of SIX horsepower, quite a lot for a Smith organ and larger than one of the two largest known Smith organs (the total HP of the other one is unknown).
the organ was enlarged from whatever its original size (possibly only about 5 ranks with the 1 and ½ HP blower) to a significantly larger size, warranting the addition of a second blower (another 1 and ½ HP for a total of 3 HP). Then, it may have been found that it was more useful (and easier on the building’s electrical system, and less of a pain in the rear for the organist) to fit one larger blower INSTEAD of the two smaller blowers, the 3 HP total representing the sum of the output of the two smaller blowers. So the third blower, if this situation was true, would have been a REPLACEMENT for BOTH of the earlier blowers, which then probably were repossessed by the Smith factory to use on other new organs. A 3 HP blower can power up to about an 8-rank theatre pipe organ, so it is entirely probable that the original smaller organ was enlarged within the year. This is a likely scenario, since the serial numbers of the second and third blowers are about 300 numbers apart, and that probably would have represented a time span of many months of blower sales (nearly a year). Also, the serial numbers of the first and second blowers are many numbers apart, also indicating that the second one probably represents some sort of later addition to the very first one.
(The Kinetic blower serial number letter prefixes roughly correspond to the year made, with the subsequent two-, three- or four-digit number representing the sequential number of the blower within that year, with the numbering starting all over for every new year/lettered batch).
Less likely, but possible: The organ could have been installed as a small organ, with additions made during construction, the additions eventually consisting of two(!) echo chambers, each winded by its own smaller blower. However, this doesn’t make as much sense, since the two smaller blowers have lower serial numbers and were presumably sold first, whereas the largest blower (presumably to power the main organ) was apparently made and sold last.
Regardless of all of this ridiculous speculation on my part, the organ was indeed built, and if all three blowers were indeed used at the same time, this may have been one of the largest Smith organs ever built, with a total of 6 horsepower making it over 10 ranks, and maybe over 15.
Does anybody have any photos or info on this organ, or know where it (or its parts) is/are today?
Thanks!
The Mozart Theatre must have loved their Smith pipe organ, as evidenced by this endorsement reprinted on a page of a very rare Smith organ catalog (which itself is reprinted on pg. 627 of Mr. Junchen’s book):
"
“It is with pleasure I can write you telling you how highly pleased we are with the results obtained with your splendid instrument installed in our Mozart Theatre two years ago. Our business increased daily and much credit is due the Smith Unit Organ for a share of the credit of the wonderful showing.” – M. D. Gibson, Manager Mozart Theatre, Elmira, N. Y.
Dated September 30, 1916.
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ”, pg. 630, the “Mozart Th.” in Elmira, New York, had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1914.
The book does not list the size of the organ (# of manuals / # of ranks), since that was apparently not known at publication time, but they do give the blower info, which was a Simplex, serial #C346, 1 horsepower, giving 10" of static wind pressure. The number of horsepower of the blower motor indicates to me that this was probably a smaller size theatre organ, maybe around 4 ranks or so.
This was apparently amongst the very earliest installations made by this new firm, the first Smith company, which was operating in North Tonawanda, New York at this time. (They only installed a relatively few organs before moving to Chicago to partner with the Seeburg piano firm)
It was not THE earliest Smith installation, since that honor goes to a handful of installations made in 1913 (including the prestigious Shea’s Hippodrome in Buffalo), but 1914 is still pretty dang early, since the majority, out of all of the Smith instruments sold (of the various Smith firms) appear to have been the numerous Seeburg-Smith organs sold between 1916 and 1921, and then also the few dozen Leathurby-Smith organs sold up and down the West Coast from 1924 through 1928.
Other Smith organs (built in North Tonawanda, NY from 1913-1916; built in Chicago, IL, without Seeburg from 1921-1924, and built in Geneva, IL ONLY in 1924) are comparatively scarce since fewer of these were ever built.
Does anybody know what happened to this organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today?
Thanks!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Columbia Th.” in Far Rockaway, New York had a two-manual, 8-rank Smith theatre pipe organ installed at some point.
No other details, like installation date, blower info, or nameplate (Smith, Seeburg-Smith etc) were available when the book was published.
Does anybody know more about this organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Westchester Th.” in Mt. Vernon, New York, had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed at some point. No further details, such as size (# of manuals/# of ranks), blower info, nameplate (Smith, Seeburg-Smith etc) or install date are available in the book, and probably weren’t documented at publication time.
Does anybody know any more about this organ or theatre,
and where the organ (or its parts) is/are today?
Also, is this theatre building still standing? (empty, converted to other uses, etc) OR has it actually been demolished? It is very unclear from the listing on this site and also from the comments of some users, what is actually going on with this theatre.
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “34th Street Th.” in New York, New York, had a Seeburg-Smith organ installed in 1920.
This organ had a Simplex blower, serial #I134, which was 2 horsepower and delivered 10" of static wind pressure.
The organ’s size (# of manuals/# of ranks) is not given in the book (was not known at time of publication), but from what little I’ve learned about Smith organs so far, the 2 horsepower blower would indicate probably around a 6 rank organ, maybe 5 or 7 ranks, but probably not any larger or smaller than that.
It is a shame to hear about all of the tragedy associated with this theatre, and then about its demolition (and the demolition of the more recent theatre built on the site), but that’s the way it goes sometimes I guess.
Does anybody know where this organ, or its parts, is/are today?
jackbauer24, do you know if there was a pipe organ or any organ parts in the theatre when your father was the manager?
Smeeglereegle, do you remember anything about an organ in this theatre during the time you worked there, or a story of where it went?
Does anybody know how to create a new page for a theatre on this website? Or could somebody do this, or direct me to the theatre’s page if it already exists? (I can’t find it).
I am looking for a page for a “Superior Theatre” which was located at the corner of 81st Street and First Avenue in New York City. The only “Superior” I can find is this one (different address), and when I zoom in on the Google map with different colored “pins” showing locations of theatres in New York City, nothing comes up for 81st and 1st! Anyway, here’s the entry:
In “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ”, pg. 630, author Mr. David L. Junchen lists a Smith organ having been installed at the “Superior Th.” which was “Located at 81st Street and First Avenue.” No other details, such as size of the organ, blower info, install date, nameplate (Seeburg-Smith, Smith, etc) are given in the book for this entry, meaning they weren’t known at publication time.
If anyone knows any more about this theatre, and/or this organ and where it (or its parts) is/are today, I’d be much obliged. Thanks a lot!
This theatre originally had two different pipe organs installed within two years of each other. Does anybody know more about them and their whereabouts today?
Here is the info that I have so far:
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” pg. 578 (the Robert-Morton section of the book), the “Plaza Music Hall” in New York, New York originally had a Robert-Morton / Wicks / “Beethoven” organ installed in 1917. The size of the organ (# of manuals/ranks) is not given in the book (not known at the time of publication), and neither is the blower info. However, the entry does note that the organ was: “Wicks opus 220” and that the theatre was “located on Madison Avenue” meaning it must have been this particular theatre.
This must be the same exact organ mentioned in the “Moving Picture World” article of January 4, 1919, pg. 87, “Plaza Theatre Delights Patrons with "Cannibals of the South Seas”“. Here is the direct link to that image, thoughtfully uploaded here by Mike (saps). Thanks Mike!:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6732/photos/52465
Although the image is low resolution and it is difficult to tell, the organ console visible in the orchestra pit appears to be a horseshoe console of two manuals. The organ’s mention in the “Moving Picture World” article is as follows: “Besides the orchestra a large Beethoven organ, manufactured by the American Photoplayer company, has been installed.”
Here is the explanation of the “Beethoven” nameplate, as explained by the late Mr. Junchen on pg. 499 of his book:
“A curious by-product of the Robert-Morton/Wicks affiliation was the Beethoven nameplate. As of 1986 only two such organs are known to the author (see opus list). The Wicks contract for one of them bears a cover page reading "Beethoven Orchestral Organ furnished by American Photo Player Company, Berkeley, distributors of Beethoven organs.” The author [Mr. Junchen] speculates that the the Beethoven nameplate may have been a sales ploy to stimulate Robert-Morton sales through competition of another brand, the idea being that even if the customer bought the “competing” Beethoven organ, the business was actually still coming [Robert-Morton company president and ace organ salesman Harold J.] Werner’s way!"
Apparently the Wicks / Robert-Morton / “Beethoven” organ was not used very long in this theatre, for some reason, because in 1919, it was apparently replaced by a Seeburg-Smith organ. Here’s the entry for that organ in the Smith section of Mr. Junchen’s Encyclopedia, pg. 630:
NEW YORK
New York – Plaza Music Hall – 2/ – 1919 … Seeburg-Smith; located at Madison Avenue.
All the above info means is that the Smith organ had the Seeburg-Smith nameplate (meaning it was built sometime between 1916 and 1921 in Chicago), was a two-manual organ (the absence of a number on the right side of the slash means the number of pipe ranks in this organ was unknown to Mr. Junchen at the time the book was published), and was installed in 1919. The mention of “Madison Avenue” in the remarks section helps keep researchers on the track of the correct theatre, instead of one of the other “Plaza Theatre"s located in New York. The absence of any blower info between the year and remarks (which I have indicated by an ellipsis) means that the blower info was also unknown for this particular organ at the time the book was published.
If anybody knows what became of the 1917 Beethoven/Robert-Morton/Wicks organ, or the 1919 Seeburg-Smith organ, that were successively installed in this theatre, please let me know!
Thanks!
Does anybody know anything about the Smith or Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ that used to be installed at the New Strand Theatre in New York City?
inspectorcollector,
do you know anything about this organ?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “New Strand Th.” had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1916. No other details (such as size of the organ, blower info etc) were known at the time of the book’s publication. The only other info given in the entry is that the theatre was “Located at 78 East Broadway” and so must have been this same theatre.
Does anybody know more about this organ and where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
Does anybody know any more about the current status of the New Douglas Theatre building in New York, or maybe have some photos?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “New Douglas” theatre in New York City originally had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1921.
This organ had a Kinetic blower, serial #J416, which was 5 horsepower and produced 10" of static wind pressure.
The book does not give the size of the organ (# of manuals/ranks not known at the time of publication), but the fact that it has/had a 5 horsepower blower indicates that it is/was probably at least 10 ranks and thus a large organ (for Smith).
Does anybody know where this organ (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
Dear Mr. Dousmanis and CinemaTreasures readers,
[By the way hello from a fellow AMICA member!]
You mention being up in the upstairs part of this theatre, and specifically,
“The top floors of the dressing rooms contained old air conditioning compressors and equipment.
Well stripped by past junkies. There is more equipment under stage stand pipe pumps”
Could any of this “equipment” or “pipe pumps” have been parts or pieces of the old Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ that was installed in this theatre?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Delancey Street Th.” in New York, New York, originally had a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1921. This organ had a 5 horsepower Kinetic blower, serial #J169, which produced 10" of static wind pressure.
Although the book does not give the size (# of manuals, # of pipe ranks) of the organ (not known at the time of publication), my comparison of the data on known Smith organs shows that only the very largest organs the company built (10 to 16 ranks) had blowers that were 5 horsepower.
Most of the rest of the Smith organs that the various Smith companies installed from 1913-1928 (mostly 4 to 9 ranks) had blowers of 1 HP, 1 & ½ HP, 2 HP, and 3 HP sizes. Only a relative handful (about 10) of the 200 or so Smith organs built were known to have been 10 ranks or larger, or had a 5 HP or larger blower that would also indicate the size of the organ.
Does anybody know where the Seeburg-Smith organ from the Delancey Street Theatre, or its parts, is/are today?
Thanks!
Does anybody have some current exterior or interior photos of the Cosmo? What store(s) is/are occupying the building now, and how much of the theatre interior is still intact?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the Cosmo Theatre in New York City, New York had a 2 manual, 8 rank Smith organ (with a Kramer nameplate) installed in 1921. This organ had a 3 horsepower Kinetic blower, serial #J415, which produced 10" of static wind.
Does anybody know where this organ (or its parts) is/are today?
Are the organ chambers still intact in the building?
If so, what is currently in them, and would the owner(s) allow me to take pictures of the chambers (and the building) if/when I come visit the East Coast?
This is for my Smith theatre pipe organ history webpage.
Thanks a lot!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the Belmont Theatre in New York City, New York, had a 2-manual Seeburg-Smith organ installed in 1921. This organ had a 2 horsepower Kinetic blower, serial #I453, and was installed in 1921.
Does anybody know what happened to this organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today?
Glad to know this theatre is restored and open! I’ll have to go visit if I’m ever in the Norfolk area.
This theatre originally had a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1921. Does anybody know where it, or its parts, is today? I’m putting together a Smith theatre pipe organ history webpage and this info will help me out. Here is all I know about it so far:
From “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Pipe Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 631:
Granby (Lee) Th. – 2/ – Seeburg-Smith.
This entry means that the theatre’s name at the time of the book’s publication was/is the Granby, but it was originally called the Lee(?).
It also means that it was a two manual (number of keyboards) organ, but that the number of pipe ranks was not known to Mr. Junchen at the time of publication.
Finally, it means this was a “Seeburg-Smith” organ built by the company when it was associated with Seeburg and when the organs were built in the Seeburg factory in Chicago along with the Seeburg coin pianos and orchestrions. This would place the installation within the 1916-1921 timeframe, since Mr. Smith formed his own company circa late 1921 / early 1922 in Chicago, then moved to Geneva, Illinois a few years later (Geneva-Smith), and finally, moved to Alameda, California a year or two after that (Leathurby-Smith).
Since I’m in the midst of researching Smith organs in the Music Trade Review magazine archives, I though it would be appropriate to post this mention of the Granby organ here, which gives just a little more info (an approximate year of installation):
Music Trade Review, Volume 72, No. 20; May 14, 1921; pg. 99:
“Seeburg Piano Co.
The J. P. Seeburg Piano Co., Chicago,
made a representative showing of automatics and electric pianos in the exhibit on the mezzanine of the Drake.
[Note: this is referring to the big annual musical instrument trade show / convention held in Chicago in 1921]
Two models of the new Lilliputian automatic, which is probably the smallest of its kind in the world, made their debut at the convention.
There was also shown the console of a Smith-Seeburg organ which is to be installed in the Granby Theatre, Norfolk, Va.
J. P. Seeburg, Marshall Seeburg, Lee S. Jones, H. O. Ellis, O. A. Ball, R. H. McCabe and O. A. Gressing attended."
Does anybody have any info on the “Odeon Theatre” in Colorado Springs? It was around in 1918 judging from this article in the Music Trade Review magazine, Vol. 67, No. 18; November 2, 1918; pg. 25:
G. A. Loveland, manager of the Odeon Theatre, Colorado Springs, Colo.,
has just purchased one of the largest size Seeburg-Smith unit organs, of the J. P. Seeburg Piano Co.
The regular method generally used in installing theatre organs is to have the instrument complete on one side of the proscenium arch, but in this instance the organ is being divided, and installed on both sides of the house.
The deal was handled for the Seeburg Co. by Geo. Schulten, manager of the organ department,
and this makes the third instrument that he has sold in that territory within the last three months.
The Seeburg Co. is also completing nine Seeburg-Smith unit organs for Pittsburg territory, to be installed in picture houses in that section.
Dear gorhamzoro, could you please provide more details on the Wurlitzer organ you got from the Luna Theatre?
Was this the model E Special, Opus 1154, shipped from the Wurlitzer factory on September 9, 1925? (That is the organ listed for this theatre on the TheatreOrgans.com list of original theatre organ installations).
What made it a “Special”? was the organ divided (two chambers, more normally called a model “EX”), or did it have more percussion effects, or a special-order pipe rank substituted for one of the standard pipe ranks, or ???
What happened to the remaining parts of this organ? Do you still have them, or did you sell them to various people? I should send you an email since you probably won’t see my post here for quite some time.
Also, do you have any information on the Seeburg-Smith organ that was installed at the Luna Theatre before the Wurlitzer? I am about to make another post detailing what little I know about this instrument, but I’m curious to know what happened to it after the Wurlitzer was installed. Was it taken in on trade to Wurlitzer, or sold to another theatre or a church?
Are, or were, there any Smith organs installed in churches in the greater Lafayette area? Thanks!
*Never mind, I just read Mr. Joe Vogel’s comments above, a little more carefully. OK, it makes more sense for the theatre to have been in a razed/remodeled section of downtown than out in the middle of nowhere, cool! I hope we can figure out how to get the map to show the correct former theatre site, instead of what it shows now.
Also, Mr. Vogel’s quote from “Moving Picture World” mentioning a “Seeburg Piano” being installed at this theatre, undoubtedly refers to a Seeburg photoplayer (the various models of which were advertised as “Seeburg Pipe Organ Orchestras”), although Seeburg dealers were also known to sell the relatively large Seeburg G and H orchestrions to very early movie theatres, where they would be turned on and let play totally uncoordinated with the picture, either for background music, or for entertainment and intermission music between shows (these orchestrions, being keyboard models, could also be played by hand as a “straight” piano alone, and a very rare variety of the model G was provided with extra pedals, stop controls, and a special roll frame transmission that allowed the musician to stop the roll and play the entire orchestrion by hand from the keyboard and foot pedals, like a photoplayer).
Most of these orchestrion theatre sales, however, must have happened in around 1912 and 1913, when the G and H orchestrions were first put on the market for sale.
This is because Seeburg introduced its line of photoplayers / Pipe-Organ Orchestras starting in 1914 with the model M, followed by the models S, R, and at some point, A DeLuxe, T, V, P, Q, and W (I do not know the order or dates of the introduction of these models yet).
Of course, once theatre owners/builders had an orchestal instrument available that could be played entirely by one person (with rolls or manually) and have its music coordinated with the picture, they generally chose this option, and thus sales of regular coin pianos and orchestrions to theatres must have taken quite a nosedive in 1914-1915.
I also do not know what kind of Seeburg instrument this particular theatre had in 1916, although it was quite likely a photoplayer, probably a larger one if it was later replaced by a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ (although it is also possible that the theatre building itself was enlarged).
Both Seeburg photoplayers and Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organs are quite rare today (I know of fewer than 20 Seeburg photoplayers extant, many of them being quite incomplete, and only a handful of Seeburg-Smith pipe organs), although purportedly around 1,000 Seeburg photoplayers and perhaps around 75-125 Seeburg-Smith pipe organs were originally built.
Hope this helps or entertains someone!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. Dave Junchen, pg. 629, the “Rialto (Family) (Lincoln Square) Th.” in Indianapolis, Indiana, had a two-manual, 7-rank Seeburg-Smith organ installed at some point.
No other information on this organ, such as blower make, number, or specs; or install date, is listed in the book (not known at the time of publication).
Does anybody know where this organ, or its parts, is/are today? Thanks a lot!
It is weird to look at the Google Maps street view of the former theatre site, and see not merely a vacant lot in an urban or formerly-urban-looking area, but an actual DIRT MOUND (or dirt patch) with long grass, in the bend of an (obviously more recent) freeway!
Things can change quite a lot in 95 years, can’t they?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Pipe Organ” by Mr. David Junchen, pg. 629, the “Alhambra Th.” in Indianapolis, Indiana, had a three-manual, 11-rank Seeburg-Smith (not Smith-Geneva as reported in Mr. Chuck’s main theatre write-up above) theatre pipe organ installed in 1920.
This organ had Spencer blower serial #10999, which was 5 horsepower and delivered wind at 10" static pressure.
This was apparently one of the few 3-manual Smith organs ever built, and also one of the few organs over 10 ranks in size that they built (the majority of Smith’s output appears to have been 2-manual organs of between 4 and 9 ranks). Thus, this organ must have been one of Seeburg-Smith’s big “prestige” organ installations.
Does anybody know what happened to the Seeburg-Smith organ after it was moved to the Cadle Tabernacle?
The Saturday, September 2, 1922 issue of “The Indianapolis News” (pg. 27) has an article about the “New $17,000 pipe organ” just installed in the Tabernacle and about to be dedicated, but (and it is hard to tell given the poor OCR transcription of this page, and the fact that I can’t see the actual page image since I’m not a newspapers dot com subscriber), it doesn’t seem like the article mentions the make of the organ at all.
Given that Smith was still in business at the time of the move, (although now known just as the Smith Organ Co, no longer Seeburg-Smith), and given that they were known as primarily a builder of theatre-type organs for performing popular music (most were installed in theatres; a few were installed in lodge halls, radio stations, and hotels; Smith built only a handful of actual church organs their entire existence), it is possible that Mr. Cadle didn’t want the public to learn that the “new” church organ was really a used theatre organ from the recently closed theatre! (I am not sure if the $17,000 figure was at all accurate, either!)
A Google search has not helped matters much, since I’ve only been able to find out about the history of the Cadle Tabernacle building itself and nothing about the organ.
Here are a couple of the most useful links about the building and its history:
http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/12250/18207
http://archive.indystar.com/article/99999999/NEWS06/101210031/RetroIndy-Cadle-Tabernacle-an-evangelical-broadcasting-hub-1930s
Does anybody know what happened to the 3-manual, 11-rank Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ when the Cadle Tabernacle was razed / demolished in 1968?
Do it, or its parts, still exist today, and if so, where? Thanks a lot!
I have not yet checked the Möller section of Mr. Junchen’s book to see about an earlier Möller organ installation at this theatre, but I will do so when I have time.
Thanks for putting up the page for this theatre! I am so glad the building is still standing and hope I can visit it someday when I am traveling through Indiana.
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Pipe Organ”, pg. 629, the “Linden Th.” in South Bend, Indiana, originally had a 2 manual, 4 rank Smith theatre pipe organ installed.
No further details, such as blower info, nameplate (Seeburg-Smith, Smith, Smith-Geneva, etc), or install date are given in the book, since they weren’t known at the time of publication.
Does anybody know where this organ (or its parts) is/are today? Could it still be installed in the building, but now in use as a church organ?
(Don’t laugh; the removal and resale of unwanted smaller theatre pipe organs to poorer or less discriminating churches, often with some changes, such as: 1. removal and sometimes trashing of the traps and some percussions, and/or 2. swapping of some of the louder theatrical pipe ranks for softer churchier ones, saved many theatre pipe organs from going to the dump in the days when they were completely unwanted and being trashed left and right).
Thanks for any info anyone can provide! This is all for the Smith theatre pipe organ webpage I’ll be putting up eventually (not ready yet). I’d also really like to see some interior photos of this building, if the church is so inclined to provide any (they may not want to).
Does anybody know about the “Castle Theatre”, or the “LaSalle Theatre” in South Bend? I would create pages for them but don’t know how to do that.
According to Mr. Junchen’s book (same page), the “Castle Theatre” had a Seeburg-Smith organ installed in 1920 and the LaSalle Theatre also had some type of Smith organ, further details and install date unknown.
I have no idea what happened to these two theatres and organs and would like to know more. Thanks!
deaddude, maybe you could share some of the many stories you’ve heard here for posterity?
Hopefully other people have some other stories they can add too.
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Pipe Organ” by Mr. David Junchen, pg. 629, there was a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ installed at the “Centennial Th.” in Warsaw, Indiana, in 1917.
The organ had a Spencer blower, serial #6681.
The blower’s horsepower and static wind pressure are not given in the book, being unknown at the time of publication.
Also unknown is the size of the organ, the number of manuals and ranks.
Does anybody know any more about this organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks a lot!
If a Marr & Colton organ was actually installed at this theatre in 1926 (I don’t have the Marr & Colton section of the book handy to check right now), then it would either be a replacement for, or a remodel/enlargement(?) of, the existing Seeburg-Smith instrument.
Does anybody know more about this Marr & Colton organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
*The organ had a Kinetic blower, not a Simplex blower, sorry!
*The organ had a Kinetic blower, not a Simplex blower, sorry!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Beverly Th.” in Brooklyn, New York, had a Seeburg-Smith pipe organ installed in 1919.
The number of manuals and ranks of this organ is not listed in the book, being unknown at the time of publication.
This organ had a Kinetic blower, serial #G382, which had a 1 and ½ horsepower motor. The book also lists two additional blowers going to the organ in 1919, both also Kinetic: serial #H329, another 1 and ½ horsepower blower; and serial #H627, a 3 horsepower blower, producing wind at 15" pressure (the highest pressure I’ve ever seen listed for any Smith organ). [The static pressure of the two 1 and ½ HP blowers is not listed]
Except in the extremely rare occasion when a brand-new blower would fail and need to be replaced (again, not common), most entries for multiple organ blowers going to the same theatre (listed in the book) represent enlargements of the organ, or occasionally a new replacement organ from the same manufacturer. The fact that all three blowers went to the same theatre in the same year means that PROBABLY either:
the organ was installed with the first blower, but was enlarged by the factory either during installation (on commission from the theatre owner/builder) or soon after (probably if it was found to be insufficient to fill the house with sound). However, if true, this would be the only Smith organ I’m aware of with THREE blowers, producing a total of SIX horsepower, quite a lot for a Smith organ and larger than one of the two largest known Smith organs (the total HP of the other one is unknown).
the organ was enlarged from whatever its original size (possibly only about 5 ranks with the 1 and ½ HP blower) to a significantly larger size, warranting the addition of a second blower (another 1 and ½ HP for a total of 3 HP). Then, it may have been found that it was more useful (and easier on the building’s electrical system, and less of a pain in the rear for the organist) to fit one larger blower INSTEAD of the two smaller blowers, the 3 HP total representing the sum of the output of the two smaller blowers. So the third blower, if this situation was true, would have been a REPLACEMENT for BOTH of the earlier blowers, which then probably were repossessed by the Smith factory to use on other new organs. A 3 HP blower can power up to about an 8-rank theatre pipe organ, so it is entirely probable that the original smaller organ was enlarged within the year. This is a likely scenario, since the serial numbers of the second and third blowers are about 300 numbers apart, and that probably would have represented a time span of many months of blower sales (nearly a year). Also, the serial numbers of the first and second blowers are many numbers apart, also indicating that the second one probably represents some sort of later addition to the very first one.
(The Kinetic blower serial number letter prefixes roughly correspond to the year made, with the subsequent two-, three- or four-digit number representing the sequential number of the blower within that year, with the numbering starting all over for every new year/lettered batch).
Regardless of all of this ridiculous speculation on my part, the organ was indeed built, and if all three blowers were indeed used at the same time, this may have been one of the largest Smith organs ever built, with a total of 6 horsepower making it over 10 ranks, and maybe over 15.
Does anybody have any photos or info on this organ, or know where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
The Mozart Theatre must have loved their Smith pipe organ, as evidenced by this endorsement reprinted on a page of a very rare Smith organ catalog (which itself is reprinted on pg. 627 of Mr. Junchen’s book):
"
“It is with pleasure I can write you telling you how highly pleased we are with the results obtained with your splendid instrument installed in our Mozart Theatre two years ago. Our business increased daily and much credit is due the Smith Unit Organ for a share of the credit of the wonderful showing.” – M. D. Gibson, Manager Mozart Theatre, Elmira, N. Y. Dated September 30, 1916.
"
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ”, pg. 630, the “Mozart Th.” in Elmira, New York, had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1914.
The book does not list the size of the organ (# of manuals / # of ranks), since that was apparently not known at publication time, but they do give the blower info, which was a Simplex, serial #C346, 1 horsepower, giving 10" of static wind pressure. The number of horsepower of the blower motor indicates to me that this was probably a smaller size theatre organ, maybe around 4 ranks or so.
This was apparently amongst the very earliest installations made by this new firm, the first Smith company, which was operating in North Tonawanda, New York at this time. (They only installed a relatively few organs before moving to Chicago to partner with the Seeburg piano firm)
It was not THE earliest Smith installation, since that honor goes to a handful of installations made in 1913 (including the prestigious Shea’s Hippodrome in Buffalo), but 1914 is still pretty dang early, since the majority, out of all of the Smith instruments sold (of the various Smith firms) appear to have been the numerous Seeburg-Smith organs sold between 1916 and 1921, and then also the few dozen Leathurby-Smith organs sold up and down the West Coast from 1924 through 1928.
Other Smith organs (built in North Tonawanda, NY from 1913-1916; built in Chicago, IL, without Seeburg from 1921-1924, and built in Geneva, IL ONLY in 1924) are comparatively scarce since fewer of these were ever built.
Does anybody know what happened to this organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Columbia Th.” in Far Rockaway, New York had a two-manual, 8-rank Smith theatre pipe organ installed at some point.
No other details, like installation date, blower info, or nameplate (Smith, Seeburg-Smith etc) were available when the book was published.
Does anybody know more about this organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today?
Does anybody know more about this theatre?
Thanks a lot!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Westchester Th.” in Mt. Vernon, New York, had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed at some point. No further details, such as size (# of manuals/# of ranks), blower info, nameplate (Smith, Seeburg-Smith etc) or install date are available in the book, and probably weren’t documented at publication time.
Does anybody know any more about this organ or theatre, and where the organ (or its parts) is/are today?
Also, is this theatre building still standing? (empty, converted to other uses, etc) OR has it actually been demolished? It is very unclear from the listing on this site and also from the comments of some users, what is actually going on with this theatre.
Thanks a lot!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “34th Street Th.” in New York, New York, had a Seeburg-Smith organ installed in 1920.
This organ had a Simplex blower, serial #I134, which was 2 horsepower and delivered 10" of static wind pressure.
The organ’s size (# of manuals/# of ranks) is not given in the book (was not known at time of publication), but from what little I’ve learned about Smith organs so far, the 2 horsepower blower would indicate probably around a 6 rank organ, maybe 5 or 7 ranks, but probably not any larger or smaller than that.
It is a shame to hear about all of the tragedy associated with this theatre, and then about its demolition (and the demolition of the more recent theatre built on the site), but that’s the way it goes sometimes I guess.
Does anybody know where this organ, or its parts, is/are today?
jackbauer24, do you know if there was a pipe organ or any organ parts in the theatre when your father was the manager?
Smeeglereegle, do you remember anything about an organ in this theatre during the time you worked there, or a story of where it went?
Thanks!
Does anybody know how to create a new page for a theatre on this website? Or could somebody do this, or direct me to the theatre’s page if it already exists? (I can’t find it).
I am looking for a page for a “Superior Theatre” which was located at the corner of 81st Street and First Avenue in New York City. The only “Superior” I can find is this one (different address), and when I zoom in on the Google map with different colored “pins” showing locations of theatres in New York City, nothing comes up for 81st and 1st! Anyway, here’s the entry:
In “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ”, pg. 630, author Mr. David L. Junchen lists a Smith organ having been installed at the “Superior Th.” which was “Located at 81st Street and First Avenue.” No other details, such as size of the organ, blower info, install date, nameplate (Seeburg-Smith, Smith, etc) are given in the book for this entry, meaning they weren’t known at publication time.
If anyone knows any more about this theatre, and/or this organ and where it (or its parts) is/are today, I’d be much obliged. Thanks a lot!
This theatre originally had two different pipe organs installed within two years of each other. Does anybody know more about them and their whereabouts today? Here is the info that I have so far:
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” pg. 578 (the Robert-Morton section of the book), the “Plaza Music Hall” in New York, New York originally had a Robert-Morton / Wicks / “Beethoven” organ installed in 1917. The size of the organ (# of manuals/ranks) is not given in the book (not known at the time of publication), and neither is the blower info. However, the entry does note that the organ was: “Wicks opus 220” and that the theatre was “located on Madison Avenue” meaning it must have been this particular theatre.
This must be the same exact organ mentioned in the “Moving Picture World” article of January 4, 1919, pg. 87, “Plaza Theatre Delights Patrons with "Cannibals of the South Seas”“. Here is the direct link to that image, thoughtfully uploaded here by Mike (saps). Thanks Mike!: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6732/photos/52465
Although the image is low resolution and it is difficult to tell, the organ console visible in the orchestra pit appears to be a horseshoe console of two manuals. The organ’s mention in the “Moving Picture World” article is as follows: “Besides the orchestra a large Beethoven organ, manufactured by the American Photoplayer company, has been installed.”
Here is the explanation of the “Beethoven” nameplate, as explained by the late Mr. Junchen on pg. 499 of his book:
“A curious by-product of the Robert-Morton/Wicks affiliation was the Beethoven nameplate. As of 1986 only two such organs are known to the author (see opus list). The Wicks contract for one of them bears a cover page reading "Beethoven Orchestral Organ furnished by American Photo Player Company, Berkeley, distributors of Beethoven organs.” The author [Mr. Junchen] speculates that the the Beethoven nameplate may have been a sales ploy to stimulate Robert-Morton sales through competition of another brand, the idea being that even if the customer bought the “competing” Beethoven organ, the business was actually still coming [Robert-Morton company president and ace organ salesman Harold J.] Werner’s way!"
Apparently the Wicks / Robert-Morton / “Beethoven” organ was not used very long in this theatre, for some reason, because in 1919, it was apparently replaced by a Seeburg-Smith organ. Here’s the entry for that organ in the Smith section of Mr. Junchen’s Encyclopedia, pg. 630:
NEW YORK New York – Plaza Music Hall – 2/ – 1919 … Seeburg-Smith; located at Madison Avenue.
All the above info means is that the Smith organ had the Seeburg-Smith nameplate (meaning it was built sometime between 1916 and 1921 in Chicago), was a two-manual organ (the absence of a number on the right side of the slash means the number of pipe ranks in this organ was unknown to Mr. Junchen at the time the book was published), and was installed in 1919. The mention of “Madison Avenue” in the remarks section helps keep researchers on the track of the correct theatre, instead of one of the other “Plaza Theatre"s located in New York. The absence of any blower info between the year and remarks (which I have indicated by an ellipsis) means that the blower info was also unknown for this particular organ at the time the book was published.
If anybody knows what became of the 1917 Beethoven/Robert-Morton/Wicks organ, or the 1919 Seeburg-Smith organ, that were successively installed in this theatre, please let me know! Thanks!
Does anybody know anything about the Smith or Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ that used to be installed at the New Strand Theatre in New York City?
inspectorcollector, do you know anything about this organ?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “New Strand Th.” had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1916. No other details (such as size of the organ, blower info etc) were known at the time of the book’s publication. The only other info given in the entry is that the theatre was “Located at 78 East Broadway” and so must have been this same theatre.
Does anybody know more about this organ and where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
Does anybody know any more about the current status of the New Douglas Theatre building in New York, or maybe have some photos?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “New Douglas” theatre in New York City originally had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1921.
This organ had a Kinetic blower, serial #J416, which was 5 horsepower and produced 10" of static wind pressure.
The book does not give the size of the organ (# of manuals/ranks not known at the time of publication), but the fact that it has/had a 5 horsepower blower indicates that it is/was probably at least 10 ranks and thus a large organ (for Smith).
Does anybody know where this organ (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
Dear Mr. Dousmanis and CinemaTreasures readers,
[By the way hello from a fellow AMICA member!] You mention being up in the upstairs part of this theatre, and specifically, “The top floors of the dressing rooms contained old air conditioning compressors and equipment. Well stripped by past junkies. There is more equipment under stage stand pipe pumps” Could any of this “equipment” or “pipe pumps” have been parts or pieces of the old Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ that was installed in this theatre?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Delancey Street Th.” in New York, New York, originally had a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1921. This organ had a 5 horsepower Kinetic blower, serial #J169, which produced 10" of static wind pressure.
Although the book does not give the size (# of manuals, # of pipe ranks) of the organ (not known at the time of publication), my comparison of the data on known Smith organs shows that only the very largest organs the company built (10 to 16 ranks) had blowers that were 5 horsepower.
Most of the rest of the Smith organs that the various Smith companies installed from 1913-1928 (mostly 4 to 9 ranks) had blowers of 1 HP, 1 & ½ HP, 2 HP, and 3 HP sizes. Only a relative handful (about 10) of the 200 or so Smith organs built were known to have been 10 ranks or larger, or had a 5 HP or larger blower that would also indicate the size of the organ.
Does anybody know where the Seeburg-Smith organ from the Delancey Street Theatre, or its parts, is/are today? Thanks!
Does anybody have some current exterior or interior photos of the Cosmo? What store(s) is/are occupying the building now, and how much of the theatre interior is still intact?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the Cosmo Theatre in New York City, New York had a 2 manual, 8 rank Smith organ (with a Kramer nameplate) installed in 1921. This organ had a 3 horsepower Kinetic blower, serial #J415, which produced 10" of static wind.
Does anybody know where this organ (or its parts) is/are today?
Are the organ chambers still intact in the building?
If so, what is currently in them, and would the owner(s) allow me to take pictures of the chambers (and the building) if/when I come visit the East Coast?
This is for my Smith theatre pipe organ history webpage. Thanks a lot!
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the Belmont Theatre in New York City, New York, had a 2-manual Seeburg-Smith organ installed in 1921. This organ had a 2 horsepower Kinetic blower, serial #I453, and was installed in 1921.
Does anybody know what happened to this organ, and where it (or its parts) is/are today?
Hi, thanks a lot for this info! Amazing turnover of theatres with four successive theatres on the same lot! Is that some kind of record?!?
Anyway, I hope the Smith organ still exists… maybe it’s in a nearby church, does anybody know?
Glad to know this theatre is restored and open! I’ll have to go visit if I’m ever in the Norfolk area.
This theatre originally had a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1921. Does anybody know where it, or its parts, is today? I’m putting together a Smith theatre pipe organ history webpage and this info will help me out. Here is all I know about it so far:
From “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Pipe Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 631:
Granby (Lee) Th. – 2/ – Seeburg-Smith.
This entry means that the theatre’s name at the time of the book’s publication was/is the Granby, but it was originally called the Lee(?).
It also means that it was a two manual (number of keyboards) organ, but that the number of pipe ranks was not known to Mr. Junchen at the time of publication.
Finally, it means this was a “Seeburg-Smith” organ built by the company when it was associated with Seeburg and when the organs were built in the Seeburg factory in Chicago along with the Seeburg coin pianos and orchestrions. This would place the installation within the 1916-1921 timeframe, since Mr. Smith formed his own company circa late 1921 / early 1922 in Chicago, then moved to Geneva, Illinois a few years later (Geneva-Smith), and finally, moved to Alameda, California a year or two after that (Leathurby-Smith).
Since I’m in the midst of researching Smith organs in the Music Trade Review magazine archives, I though it would be appropriate to post this mention of the Granby organ here, which gives just a little more info (an approximate year of installation):
http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1921-72-20/MTR-1921-72-20-101.pdf
Music Trade Review, Volume 72, No. 20; May 14, 1921; pg. 99:
“Seeburg Piano Co.
The J. P. Seeburg Piano Co., Chicago, made a representative showing of automatics and electric pianos in the exhibit on the mezzanine of the Drake. [Note: this is referring to the big annual musical instrument trade show / convention held in Chicago in 1921] Two models of the new Lilliputian automatic, which is probably the smallest of its kind in the world, made their debut at the convention. There was also shown the console of a Smith-Seeburg organ which is to be installed in the Granby Theatre, Norfolk, Va. J. P. Seeburg, Marshall Seeburg, Lee S. Jones, H. O. Ellis, O. A. Ball, R. H. McCabe and O. A. Gressing attended."
Does anybody have any info on the “Odeon Theatre” in Colorado Springs? It was around in 1918 judging from this article in the Music Trade Review magazine, Vol. 67, No. 18; November 2, 1918; pg. 25:
http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1918-67-18/MTR-1918-67-18-25.pdf
Seeburg Activities
G. A. Loveland, manager of the Odeon Theatre, Colorado Springs, Colo., has just purchased one of the largest size Seeburg-Smith unit organs, of the J. P. Seeburg Piano Co. The regular method generally used in installing theatre organs is to have the instrument complete on one side of the proscenium arch, but in this instance the organ is being divided, and installed on both sides of the house. The deal was handled for the Seeburg Co. by Geo. Schulten, manager of the organ department, and this makes the third instrument that he has sold in that territory within the last three months.
The Seeburg Co. is also completing nine Seeburg-Smith unit organs for Pittsburg territory, to be installed in picture houses in that section.