One Of The Most Unique Instruments In The World Abandoned
We all know the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Well, in many cases this applies when exploring abandoned places. Kind of like that time I stumbled into what used to be a production studio where one of the sets from “Diary of a Hit Man” sat abandoned.
Sometimes you’ll wander into a seemingly normal structure, only to find one of the most interesting scenes or strangest things left behind inside. This was definitely the case with this home.
Upon entrance to the home, wonderful architectural elements greet you, heavily contrasted by a rather plain basement, garage, kitchen and upstairs. While much of the home’s interior is rather standard, and in a state of total collapse, other areas showcase stucco walls with shields, emblems and lion heads above fireplaces. A beautiful curved staircase leads you upstairs where you’ll find two arched doorways, one on your left and one on your right, which lead to what most likely used to be bedrooms, each with their own bathroom.
The home was built in 1920 in the Colonial architectural style with a stucco exterior, matching many of the interior walls. While most information about this home seems to have been wiped from existence, it’s not so much the home that would catch most of your attention, but rather what sits collecting dust inside the home.
Behind the decaying architecture of this once grand home lies a small room filled with instruments. Though, in this case the instruments aren’t separate and meant to be played by numerous people, but are connected as one giant instrument meant to be played by one person. This instrument is one of the most unique musical instruments ever created – the theatre organ.
In total, less than 10,000 of these organs were produced between 1910 and 1950. Approximately 2,300 theatre organs were produced by Wurlitzer from 1911-1942, and one of them ended up here, now forgotten and left to decay.
The theatre organ was an instrument used mainly to score showings of silent films during the first three decades of the 20th century, becoming quite popular for the task between 1915-1933. During these years, over 7,000 were installed mostly across America and the United Kingdom. The organ provided music and sound effects to accompany the films as they were shown, and even went on to provide music for other venues as they were installed in civic auditoriums, sports arenas, private residences and churches.
Before the true theatre organ was created, they had modified pianos by equipping them with some pipes and various pieces to create sound effects. All of this was housed in one cabinet, and the instruments were typically located in the pit area of theatres. These were known as photoplayers, and some even came equipped with mechanisms similar to the player piano, allowing them to play themselves using punched paper rolls.
In stepped Englishman Robert Hope-Jones with the concept for the first true theatre organ, which he called a “unit orchestra.” His idea was picked up by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York. They loved the idea, and went on to begin producing the first theatre organ, at the time also known as the Wurlitzer Hope Jones Unit-Orchestra. It wasn’t long before theatres around the world were ordering hundreds of the organs from Wurlitzer and other manufacturers who jumped on the idea, copying the design for their own organs.
The theatre organ remained incredibly popular through the ‘golden years’ of the 1920s and 1930s. Even after the development and commercialization of sound movies from the mid-1920s on, the organs were still used to provide live music between features. After the 1930s however, many people started scrapping organs, or selling them to churches, private homes, museums, ice rinks, rollatoriums and restaurants. The theatre organ would see a second life though during the 1950s. With the development of high-fidelity recording and the LP phonograph record, an interest in the organs was renewed, and many dedicated players came together to form the American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts, known today as the American Theatre Organ Society.
Oliver Wallace, one of the composers for film scores such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Old Yeller and many more, was a dedicated theatre organist. He was employed by Walt Disney, and was the first organist to sell over one million recordings. Wallace had become a household name in America as the “Poet of the Organ.” He was also known for developing numerous techniques used in the performance of popular music on the instrument. Other famous players of the theatre organ include: Rex Koury, composer of the Gunsmoke theme, George Wright, Dick Leibert, and the most popular organist of all time, Reginald Dixon, who had performed approximately 80,000 times to audiences of 6,500 people or more at a time. Dixon recorded and sold more than any other organist.
Today, fewer than 40 of these organs remain in their original venues. Of the thousands built, only a few hundred or so remain in total throughout the world today, with some, like this one, existing in residences. Unlike the others though, this one only collects dust as the home continues to decay around it.
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