Wurlitzer Style 32 Concert PianOrchestra
Philipps Pianella Modell 32 (Cäecilia)

Original Location: Skalla Park, Washington Borough, New Jersey

Original Catalogue Specifications:

56 Note Musical Scale:

Chronological History:

Circa 1910/11
Manufactured by J.D. Philipps & Son, Bockenheim, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.

Circa 1912
Imported and sold by Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, New York.

Circa 1913
Shipped to Skalla Park Dance Pavilion, Washington, New Jersey.

On July 2, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Skalla opened an amusement park in Washington Borough, Warren County, New Jersey. The park was open two and three days a week, and it offered a roller-skating rink, a dance pavilion, and concert facilities. The attraction also featured a merry-go-round and some kind of theatre arrangement for showing silent movies. The pavilion hosted lively social events, dances, and community gatherings, making it a central hub for entertainment in Washington Borough. And so, Skalla Park became a local hotspot for both leisure and social gatherings. Unfortunately, it had a remarkably short run. On January 22, 1914, Skalla Park was destroyed by a suspicious fire. Mrs. Skalla was eventually convicted of arson and reportedly placed in a mental institution, adding a dramatic twist to the Skalla Park’s tragic demise.

It is unknown exactly when the Wurlitzer Style 32 Concert PianOrchestra was sold and shipped to the Skalla Park Dance Pavilion, but after weighing several factors, it estimated to be circa 1912. Searching through the Wurlitzer factory shipping dock ledgers reveals that only two Style 32 Concert PianOrchestras were shipped during the period of July 2, 1910, to January 22, 1914, during the time when Skalla Park was operational. And of these two Concert PianOrchestras, one was shipped to Greenville, Texas, and the other to Cleveland. Ohio.

However, imported Philipps orchestrions were originally shipped to the Wurlitzer Headquarters facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, and then either directly sold to a customer from that location or shipped out to various Wurlitzer dealers across the United States. De Kleist’s North Tonawanda factory was taken over by Wurlitzer in January of 1909, and imports would not have been directed there until after the original small De Kleist factory building operation has been expanded to accommodate new functionality. Thus, any PianOrchestras sold before Wurlitzer’s North Tonawanda facility became the import receiving facility would not show up in the factory shipping dock ledgers. Regrettably, no shipping records are known to exist for PianOrchestras imported to and shipped from Wurlitzer’s Headquarters facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Vintage postcards and photographs of Skalla Park are now considered rare collectibles, and it is one of these postcards, showing the spacious dance pavilion, that inspired this PianOrchestra page. It is these surviving postcards, along with rare photographs, that show the entrance and structure of the dance pavilion, which serve to capture the charm and festive spirit of Skalla Park.

Skalla Dance Pavilion
The Skalla Park Dance Pavilion, Washington, New Jersey, circa 1912.
On the elevated platform at left is a drum set and an upright piano,
the Wurlitzer Style 32 Concert PianOrchestra is at picture right.

Complicating this otherwise nice little story, this brief newspaper article appeared only 35 days after Skalla Park had gone up in flames.

The Belvidere Apollo newspaper - Feb. 26, 1914, page 1

SKALLA WINS SUIT
Organ Company Must Return Money
He Paid On Damaged Instrument

Ex-Judge Morrow won a decision in the Supreme Court when it handed down a decision in the case of Mrs. Frank Skalla, of Washington vs. the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., manufacturers of musical instruments, refusing the defendants a new trial and directing them to pay Mrs. Skalla $700 with interest. The money was paid Friday last.

When SkaIla's Park was first built, a large organ was bought from the Wurlitzer Company to furnish music for dancing. The cost of the organ was $1000, and the Skallas made a payment of $700 on the instrument. After it was installed, it was found to be defective, and it was claimed it was a second hand organ. The park owners refused to pay for it and asked the Wurlitzer Company to take the organ back, which it declined to do.

Suit was brought and the case was tried at Belvidere. It was proven that organ was defective and the Wurlitzer Company was directed to pay back the $700. Appeal was taken to the higher court with the above result.

And so, what was the $1,000 organ purchased from Wurlitzer and installed in the Skalla dance pavilion when the park opened in 1910? Was it a Wurlitzer/De Kleist built band organ, or some refurbished organ or perhaps a book organ converted to play Wurlitzer music rolls but made by some other manufacturer? At present, there is no way of knowing what this “organ” might have been, but it was very likely not the Wurlitzer Style 32 Concert PianOrchestra, because circa 1910 this particular Concert PianOrchestra was listed at $4,000. This, then, begs the question, where did Skalla Park acquire the much more expensive Concert PianOrchestra? Did they buy it from a Wurlitzer distributor, or perhaps did they notice it advertised by some venue offering it used at a nicely discounted price? Regrettably, anything conjured up at this time can be nothing more than mere speculation.

No further historical data is currently known about Skalla Park or for the Wurlitzer Style 32 Concert PianOrchestra, but the magnificent orchestrion is presumed to have been lost in the devastating fire of January 22, 1914.

Credits:

Information provided by Glenn Grabinsky, Charles (Rusty) King, and Terry Hathaway.

Photographs:

Circa 1911 Philipps catalogue, Glenn Grabinsky.