Original Catalogue Specifications:
-
#937
stamped on top of the piano frame (visible only when piano is removed).
- Revolver Mechanism (roll changer) #438 (replacement for missing unit)
- Date or date code cast into piano harp: 5.7.10.
- Integral case and chassis format.
- Standard 6 station, friction drive revolver mechanism (roll changer).
- Round belt/chain & sprocket reduction for feeder (pump) crankshaft.
- Pneumatic lock and cancel register controls.
- Uses Wurlitzer Mandolin PianOrchestra or Phillips PM (Pianella Mandoline)
rolls.
- Height: (per catalogue) 10 ft. 6 in.; Actual 10 ft. 9 in.
Width:
6 ft. 6 in.
Depth (per catalogue): 3 ft. 10 in.; Actual: 4 ft. 5 in.
Shipping weight: 2600 lbs.
61 Note Musical Scale:
-
Piano
(??-note), with Mandolin attachment
- 49 Violins (wood violin & viola pipes with brass freins)
- 30 Violoncellos (wood violoncello pipes with rollers)
- 30 Piccolos (4 ft. wood harmonic flute pipes)
- Xylophone, 30 bars (reiterating action)
- Chimes, 13 bars (orchestra bells)
- Snare drum (reiterating action)
- Bass drum, with cymbal
- Kettle drum (tympani effect using two beaters)
- Triangle (reiterating action)
- Tambourine (reiterating action)
- Castanets (reiterating action)
Automated Birdcage:
-
The
birdcage, identified by Christian Bailly as a Bontems, is 20 inches high
and 12 inches in diameter, and consists of a standard spring motor powered
unit with two mechanically operated birds. The spring motor mechanism is
tripped for one cycle of play (lasting approximately 30 seconds) during
the start of the PianOrchestra music roll rewind cycle. The overall music
roll rewind time is approximately two minutes.
Chronological History:
Circa 1909/10
Manufactured by J.D. Philipps & Sons, Bockenheim,
Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.
Circa 1909/10
Imported and sold by Rudolph Wurlitzer
Company, New York.
Circa 1910 to 1929/30
Presumed initial customer site:
Brooklyn, N.Y., or the Coney Island area.
1931
Acquired by George Messig, Brooklyn, N.Y.
George Messig, who had a piano business dating back to the 1880s, was a piano
tuner and technician located in Brooklyn, New York. It is fairly certain that
he knew of the PianOrchestra due to his normal business activities, servicing
the PianOrchestra while in its original commercial location. It is likely it
was in use until Mr. Messig acquired it, whereupon he dismantled the machine,
wrapping some of the parts in newspapers, which were dated 1931. When restoration
was commenced by Messrs. Joe Hanulec and Walter Kehoe in 1981, many parts were
still wrapped in the 1931 newspapers. George Messig stored the machine completely
disassembled in a lean-to shed at his home. The dirt floor and leaking shed
roof took its toll, with wood rot damaging many parts of the case. All the art
glass and beveled mirrors survived the shed and subsequent moves without being
significantly damaged. The decorative self-playing birdcage placed in the center
niche was stored indoors and did not suffer from neglect as badly.
George Messig passed away sometime prior to 1968, the year his family sold
off his business assets, along with the Wurlitzer PianOrchestra. At the estate
sale, John Ford of "Ford's Piano Supply" purchased the Wurlitzer orchestrion.
1968
Purchased from the George Messig estate by John
Ford of "Ford's Piano Supply."
John Ford, the owner of "Ford's Piano Supply," located at 4898 Broadway in
New York City, purchased the PianOrchestra from George Messig's estate sale
in 1968. John Ford had known George Messig personally, acquiring other memorabilia
relating to automatic music at the sale. Reportedly, Mr. Ford wanted to set
the PianOrchestra up in his home, but it did not have a sufficiently high ceiling.
He never reassembled or attempted to restore the PianOrchestra, possibly due
to its poor overall condition, although he had both the room and facility at
his place of business to do so. John Ford never saw the restored machine, although
he was invited to do so.
As an interesting side note, John Ford related that George Messig at one
time rebuilt upright pianos for $125. This price included moving the piano to
his shop, refinishing the exterior, installing new ivories, new whippens, butts,
shanks and hammers, plus two tunings and, then, moving the piano back to the
owner's location.
1970
Purchased by Walter Kehoe, Syosset, N.Y., and Phil
Crouteau, Brooklyn, New York.
In
1970 Walter Kehoe and Phil Crouteau purchased the instrument from John Ford.
Phil Crouteau was in the business of tuning and restoring pipe organs, Walter
Kehoe working with him part time.
The PianOrchestra was thought to be complete when bought from Mr. Ford, even
though it was a "big grab bag of pieces" and there was no guarantee that all
the parts were there. It was later discovered that many parts were missing.
A large group of people had attended the Messig estate sale, with many loose
and separated PianOrchestra components being carelessly sold off to individual
buyers. So, the hunt for the missing PianOrchestra pieces began, with Walter
Kehoe attending as many "Music Box Society" meetings as possible, trying to
find out who had attended the George Messig sale. He tracked down many of parts
original to the style 33-A PianOrchestra, and eventually all the missing parts
needed except one, the pneumatic lock & cancel register unit. It was a critical
part, controlling precisely what musical effects were to play, the loud and
soft expression and all the trapwork effects. No register unit was ever found.
1974
Owners become Walter Kehoe and Joe Hanulec.
Joe
Hanulec of Shoreham, Long Island, New York, became a partner with Walter Kehoe
in the PianOrchestra project in 1974. Both Joe Hanulec and his wife, Judy, had
their own restoration business called the "Pitch and Time Shoppe," which, in
addition to the larger pneumatic instruments, specialized in repairing music
boxes and clocks. Joe Hanulec had been commissioned to rebuild a Welte player
grand belonging to Phil Crouteau, which led to Joe Hanulec meeting Walter Kehoe.
Before the Welte restoration was complete Phil Crouteau died suddenly of a heart
attack, leaving Joe Hanulec the opportunity to become half owner in the Wurlitzer
style 33-A PianOrchestra.
The
restoration work commenced in earnest during 1981. Walter Kehoe and Joe Hanulec
did ninety-nine percent of the restoration work; devoting one day of almost
every weekend for ten years, with some large breaks for certain domestic requirements.
One major delay was the conversion of Joe Hanulec's attached garage into a room
that was large enough to suitably house the assembled PianOrchestra.
The original piano action was disassembled, cleaned and carefully refitted
with new felt bushings, butts and hammers. Another challenge was the ranks of
wooden pipes that needed to be reassembled. This was a test of patience and
endurance. There were over 700 pieces that had to be sorted out and carefully
glued back together. How the puzzle of pieces had to fit together was a judgment
call, determined by old glue patterns and eyeballing the size of the many similar
looking wooden parts. All the pipes are original except for the 15 that were
missing, and that have since been replaced with new ones.
Since
the lock and cancel register unit was missing, another similar unit was located
in California. It belonged to a Wurlitzer style 32 Concert PianOrchestra in
the Jerry Cohen collection, Studio City, California. Jerry's collection suffered
an unfortunate and devastating fire in 1979, badly damaging the style 32 PianOrchestra.
Jerry Cohen gave permission to photocopy and make drawings of the damaged, but
basically intact register unit. The replacement register control unit for the
33-A PianOrchestra was duplicated from scratch, with over 300, oftentimes intricate,
pieces that had to be carefully crafted.
The
roll changer was missing, so a loose Philipps three-roll revolver mechanism
was bought from Terry Hathaway circa 1974. Then, in 1986, just prior to fitting
the little three-roll changer into the PianOrchestra, Joe Hanulec received a
call from a friend, Fran Meyer, who worked for William (Bill) Edgerton's Mechanical
Music Center, located in Darien, Connecticut. Fran informed Joe that they had
recently purchased the remains of a piano technician's shop, which included
the kind of Philipps six-roll changer that was needed for the PianOrchestra.
The xylophone was found in New Jersey, and the birdcage belonged to a collector
located in Cobbleskill, New York. Despite the collector being a close friend
of Joe Hanulec, and a former Long Islander, too, it took 15 years before Joe
Hanulec was able to talk his friend into selling the birdcage. In late 1991,
just in time for the East Coast Musical Box Society Chapter meeting in January
of 1992, the birdcage finally became part of the PianOrchestra once again. More
recently, the birdcage was restored, with the metal cage itself gold plated,
the birds re-feathered and the base gilded. This total restoration of the bird
cage was done by Jere Ryder of Automusique, Summit, New Jersey.
Credits:
Written by Terry Hathaway, with information provided
by Joe Hanulec and Walter Kehoe.
Photographs:
Circa 1912 Wurlitzer catalogue; Joe Hanulec; Walter
Kehoe and Vincent Morgan.
Additional Resources:
"Marvels of the Nineteenth Century," a video by Christian
and Sharon Bailly, using some style 33-A PianOrchestra music as background.
