The Carousel is usually the first thing you ride when your a kid before you get brave enough to do the rollercoasters, also I gotta say I love the early 1900's and the way they designed stuff and the art and creativity that went into everything
"Kids today won't understand" Many of them won't. But, I am actually a teen that absolutely loves carousels. I have traveled to 5+ old amusement parks (Kennywood, Idlewild, Hersheypark, Dorney Park, Lake Winnepesaukah, etc...) and hopefully going to visit more soon. The newer, hand-carved carousel with a Johnson 105 Band Organ in my town/city started my studies.
As a mechanical enthusiest I'd love to have been able to apprentice under a Rrstoration Technician. I love everything about these military band organs.😊😊😊
At Burnaby Village Museum They have a 146-B Model It works alongside a Functional 1912 CW Parker Carousel while It's first bit of History is unknown But in 1936 the Carousel Resided in Happyland before it was torn down and then moved inside a Building inside of Playland and then that building was torn down as well So it resided at the Playland in Vancouver BC up until 1989 when it was saved from being Auctioned off in New york. As for the Band Organ it was purchased from a Private collector that bought it from a Closed down Traveling Carnival in Rio, Nevada but the poor thing needs the same amount of love as Carousel gets with three broken keys and the Hammers for the low tones broke because the keys fell between the Hammers. Edit: Went back for the Heritage Christmas and happy to say they fix up the Band Organ, Repaired the leaks and tuned it. Didn't know they had Rolls that played Christmas Music as well.
Beautiful restoration for this WurliTzer Band Organ. Has the original electric motor. Must have added an electrical ground since it did not have a ground when manufactured. Electrical grounding means did not come into the picture until the late 1960's. What horse power is this motor, and how many amps does it draw at 120 volts? First time for me to hear BEN HUR CHARIOT RACE by EDWARD TAYLOR PAULL on a WurliTzer style 146 organ with the Style 150 roll, which is 7 inches wide if I remember right. I would like to hear this organ play the KAISER FREDERICK march. This is basically a GIANT monkey organ that is driven by an electric motor, has drums, a glockenspiel, and many more pipes. For those who have the strength and stamina, they could turn the main giant pulley, or flywheel, by hand at the right speed and the music would play just the same. I would like to do that for just 1 song and see if I bottom out afterwards.
What a wonderful organ and first class "original" restoration. The video was also wonderfully put together... a "perfect storm" of a band organ video. On my favorite list... for sure.. Thanks !!
@amazing763 yes, i remember Big Brother. As a child I watched him every day. He lived in newton on one of the streets in the area around (or behind) the South Pacific Restauraunt near Beacon and Walnut Street. I used to see him grocery shopping at the old Newton Centre Market and one time I got an autographed promo card/photo from him. I do remember Norumbega Park but I was very young and my memories are vague, like a dream
@Legend of the Blue Macerator Nowhere near as much as they did then. Now every 2-legged cunt just wants digital computerized mainstream radioactive bullshit which does nothing but consume people and take them away from the real world. It's so bad that it's now an expectation to have digital tech everywhere. It won't last. All the circuit boards will fry. Only solidly built things like Wurlitzer Band organs will last as long as they do and that's over an entire century I'm talking about. Band organs will literally last forever they are so solid. They are not easy to fix, but when you get them going again, they will go and go and go for absolutely decades with no problems at all except you will have to tune them from time to time. They are affected by climate and go down in pitch if the weather is cold.
The sound is overloaded at the input. These things are loud! Use a mic attenuation. I have to work on the one in the Children's Museum in Indy tomorrow. It has rewind-play problems, there 2 electric motors on the spool box instead. The other problem that i will inspect is how loud it is and weather sound blankets and such could be installed inside, think of the children. It's in a big room with a full sized carousel.
I noticed the "ORIGINAL" repulsion start drive motor(century ?) those motors were well built and very long lasting, is this motor on the original factory wind ?. wurlitzer built everything to "perfection".(rudolph wurlitzer would be proud of your restoration) here is a work of "ART" that is totally mechanical, no computers on this almost 100 year old "BAND ORGAN"( will more than likely operate for another 100 years)
@amazing763 I was excited when you mentioned this, I was hoping to make contact and possibly see if he could assist me in finding more pictures. Unfortunately upon searching I discovered that he's been dead for 29 years! Oh well.
its weird i often never hear this kind of music blasting through out carnivals and amusement parks like portrayed in movies and cartoons...Usually you'd have to be right on the merry-go-round to hear it but even then its often drowned out by what ever the near by carnies are playing on their radios....and thats pretty much the same music we listen to every day on our own radios,ipods,music apps etc or its often that random remix stuff plagues the radios on late night Saturdays, so its nothing really special.
Many decades ago band organs were a staple of fair grounds, amusement parks, and traveling carnivals. While they were most commonly associated with carousels they could be found elsewhere as well. The majority of band organs were built in the 19-teens and 1920s. By the end of the 1930s most small amusement parks became extinct due to bankruptcy directly resulting from the depression. By the 1950s most band organs still in operation were in poor condition.. Many were simply discarded in landfills because they were not considered valuable or collectible at the time. Others were cannibalize for parts to patch organs still in use. By the late 1960s those still in operation made more noise then music and were therefore turned off and only used for display. The music was replaced with recordings. Music tastes of the public had also dramatically changed and few people cared about band organ music anymore. Fortunately about this time a few people began to recognize that these machines were very iconic and historically important. Gradually collectors began to emerge and preservation efforts were underway to save not only band organs but also carousels which were also rapidly disappearing. Sadly only a small percentage of these machines survive today and fewer still are properly restored and performing as intended, an expensive endeavor. Likewise unfortunately many functioning band organs also remain locked away in private collections and rarely in public view. They are so seldom seen that they often surprise spectators and what terrific music they are capable of producing. We attempt to get our machine out to as many public events as we can, not only to be appreciated for what it is, but also to help educate people today on what was once a common sight.
oh ok thanks for exampling and i once asked my mom the same thing and she mentioned the second reason as well along the lines of "probably because todays young people would think "carnival" music isnt "cool"" lol I mean when we think carnivals we think of this music not remixes of Katy Perry's or Miley Sirus's songs. (nothing against Katy i like her songs but you get what im saying)
Different citizens of my town came together to make a carousel-with a working Johnson 105 Band Organ! I am a young carousel fanatic, and that's what led me to Lake Winnie and Coolidge Park in 2016, then Cedar Point, Euclid Beach Park Carousel (In a museum now, with its BEAUTIFUL restored band organ), Kennywood, and Idlewild in Ohio/Pennsylvania in 2017. Hope to go to Hershey Park, The Merry-Go-Round Museum, or The American Treasure Tours this year!! :D
That is because the video has multiple scenes. It was somewhat difficult to shoot from different angles and keep the music in sync with the video at all times. The view with the music rolls is obviously very out of sync. Nevertheless all of the recording is live.
Rob! wonderful job, beautiful job!!! i am in awe! currently doug bullock and i are working on a 145B it was a mess!!! were can we find replacement bells??? the G on ours is missing.. Jeff
The music used on Dumbo was pre recorded at Disney World in FL, Disneyland in CA had a 65 Key Gavioli Band Organ used for Dumbo from 1983 until the early 2000s.
