On Saturday, we went with a group of Senior Adults from our church to Ellenton, Florida to visit here...
This place was a lot of fun! While we ate our pizza we got to listen to this...
Here is a little history about the Wurlitzer Pipe Organ from the Roaring 20's website:
"During the early part of the silent film era, motion picture theatres throughout the country engaged pit orchestras and pianists to provide background music and effects for their stage shows and motions pictures.
About this time, an Englishman, Robert Hope-Jones, who was an electrical engineer by trade, developed a method of "electrifying" the pipe organ. This allowed the console of the organ to be placed at any position away from the pipes themselves. Hope-Jones envisioned an orchestral organ capable of all the sounds and percussions of the modern orchestra. This was quite unlike the customary voicing of the church organ. Upon arriving in the U.S., Hope-Jones convinced some investors to support his idea of the "Unit Orchestra." Later he joined with the Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York, and the term the "Mighty Wurlitzer" became a household name.
During the late teens and early twenties, movie theaters both large and small installed theatre pipe organs.
But the theatre organ of the Paramount Theatre in Oakland California was only beginning an increasingly exciting and long life story. Installed in 1931 at a price of $20,000 this Mighty Wurlitzer enjoyed only a brief period of glory before the theatre closed in 1932. By the late 1950's, the organ was sold and placed in storage. Around 1960 it was installed in its first restaurant venue, 'Ken Melody's Inn' in Los Altos, California, where it remained until purchased for the Paramount Music Palace in Indianapolis. At this point, it was greatly enlarged and rebuilt by the Crome Organ Company. Upon the Indianapolis restaurant's closure in 1995, it was purchased to be installed in a musical museum in Germany. When plans for this fell through, it was purchased for use in the Roaring 20s Pizza and Pipes."
The sound of the Wurlitzer was amazing. The different instruments were hung from the ceiling and around the walls of the building.
The pipes in the above picture are the base pipes. According to the website, the largest pipe is 16 feet and 14 inches in diameter and the smallest pipe is the size of a pencil!
Other organ specifications: 12,500 watts in 20 horsepower blower 3,000 cubic feet of air per minute. Over 26 miles of wiring, Weight 31,250 lbs.300 controls, 278 tabs, and 3,000 pipes! Also, there are 75 different instruments and sounds!
DeWayne was the organist's name and he played a bunch of really fun tunes all requests from the audience. His last piece was "Ninety Bubbles" and bubbles came out from each side of the organ! Really fun!
I couldn't get really good pictures of the kids because it was so dark, but as you can tell Cecily enjoyed her mint chocolate chip ice cream. Bentley and JennaBeth were both mesmorized by the sound and the flashing lights.
It was an awesome first time experience that I'm thankful I got to enjoy with my family.
When we got home, it was so nice outside. The kids had a good time enjoying the "coldness in the air" as Bentley describes it!
JennaBeth "riding" the bike
She was actually sitting in this and making it move!
Bentley is so proud he can "scoot" on the scooter now!
Even though she doesn't like to always admit it, Cecily likes to hang outside with her brother and sister and "play".
Poor baby! She already has wild hair and the wind blowing wasn't doing her any favors!
I'm thankful that it was a nice "cool" Florida weekend and that we got to spend some quality time together.
What kind of fun did you and your family have this weekend?
Counting it all Joy,
Jennifer
2 comments:
My eyes would have gotten big listening to and seeing that organ, too. Glad your family had a great weekend! I also have a Jenna. My oldest daughter Morgan came home from college for the weekend, so we had a great weekend together, too.
Blessings!
Pipe organ music is often used in demonic rituals. I don't like the sound of any kind of organ music. It creeps me out. I'm glad that most churches have abandoned the use of organs in their services.
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