The Family Organ - Brief History

The Family Organ - Brief History

It occurs to me that documenting a little history of the organ might be good, though my knowledge is very limited. Sadly, the people who knew the most about how it came into the family have passed now, but my Uncle Harold told me what little I know about it when I decided to give the restoration a try a few years ago. I'm hopeful that other family members can add some details. 

The organ was made by the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, VT. The company made mostly reed organs, but also some pipe and electronic organs, for over 100 years until 1960 (or so). And, of course, it made portable organs for home and the military (field organs). These organs might commonly have been used by army chaplains with units in the field. Much more on the Estey Organ Company can be found at the Estey Organ Museum web site. 

The particular organ I'm working on was purchased new for my grandmother by my Uncle Harold in Oklahoma City in around 1940. The serial number confirms the date of manufacture at between 1935-1940. Here is a picture of our organ's paper label, with a couple of reeds thrown in as a bonus:

According to my uncle, my grandmother "rocked the house" when she played on it. Unfortunately, I never got to hear her play. It's a small organ, so she must have really put a thumpin' on it to rock the house.

I remember playing on the organ (well - playing around on it, not actually producing a recognizable tune) at my uncle's house on S. W. 32nd Street in the late 1960's, and assume that it was playable for some years after that.

However, in later years it was clearly deteriorating - some reeds would not sound anymore, and one of the leather air vent covers on the bellows had been tacked into place instead of held taut by a wire spring as it should have been. The mystery of the non-functional reeds was perhaps solved when I started cleaning the reeds and found that cellophane, most likely from a cigarette wrapper, and other debris had been sucked into the reed chambers. By the way, this discovery was part of my learning process - I had always assumed that the bellows blew air through the reeds, but that is incorrect. The bellows suck air out of an air chamber below the reeds, creating a bit of a vacuum, which in turn sucks air (and anything else in the neighborhood, like cigarette wrappers) through the reeds. Learning how the organ functions is one of the very enjoyable side-benefits of working on it!

Apparently in 1980, give or take, the organ was moved out to a shed in the back yard where mice, termites, and other vermin took their turn playing on it. They were unkind performers! 

Fortunately the reeds and the reed housing appear to be sound, and the bellows aren't too bad, or there would have been no saving it. And I'm still not sure that it IS salvageable, but my confidence increases with each small, successful step in putting it back together!