Music-Room

Carnegie Museum
Roseville, California

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Music Collection

The oldest instrument in the collection is a Chatauqua roller organ built in 1885. At the time it cost $7.50, and the wooden rolls that provide the music cost 12 cents each. This machine was on a navy ship. When they decommissioned the ship, many of the wooden rolls were thrown overboard to see if they would float, which they did since they were made out of wood. The curator of the Carnegie Museum had about 20 rolls left over from a previous machine. The rolls can be heard today at the Carnegie Museum.

The next oldest musical item is an organ built in 1890, by the WW Kimball Organ Company in Chicago, Illinois. It is loaned to us by Janette Catalono. Originally built with dark wood, it was bleached to fit modern furniture.

In 1910, the Victor talking machine was introduced. It would play 78rpm records with a steel needle. Our Edison Laboratory model has a diamond needle plays and 80rpm flat records that are of an unbreakable plastic. This machine was the last of the phonographs from the Edison Company in 1915.
(Listen to the Victor)

Our player piano was bought by the estate of Margarite Brill. It is a 1926 Wurlitzer studio model. We have about 60 rolls for it from the Rose Movie Theater on Main Street. The movie house burned in 1920. We have about 100 others from the collection of Dean Moore dating back to the 1920’s.
(Listen to the player piano)

The 1950 Dumont Winchester entertainment console is a rare model. It has a tuner for channels 2-6, and 7-13, in addition to FM and AM band. There is a clock that can be set to record the audio from the tv, am or fm on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. There is a three speed turntable to play records at 33, 45 and 78 revolutions per minute. The largest picture tube in 1950 was about 13 inches, where this is a uniquely sized at 23 inches.
In 1949, the Federal Communication Commission established the UHF band. A special tuner was available from Dumont for installation. In 1946 there were only 7 stations in the whole United States, with three of them belonging to the Dumont Network with a cable running from Hartford, Connecticut to New York and on to Washington D.C.

	The oldest instrument in the collection is a Chatauqua roller organ built in 1885. At the time it cost $7.50, and the wooden rolls that provide the music cost 12 cents each. This machine was on a navy ship. When they decommissioned the ship, many of the wooden rolls were thrown overboard to see if they would float, which they did since they were made out of wood. The curator of the Carnegie Museum had about 20 rolls left over from a previous machine. The rolls can be heard today at the Carnegie Museum.
The next oldest musical item is an organ built in 1890, by the WW Kimball Organ Company in Chicago, Illinois. It is loaned to us by Janette Catalono. Originally built with dark wood, it was bleached to fit modern furniture.
	In 1910, the Victor talking machine was introduced. It would play 78rpm records with a steel needle. Our Edison Laboratory model has a diamond needle plays and 80rpm flat records that are of an unbreakable plastic. This machine was the last of the phonographs from the Edison Company in 1915. (Listen to the Victor)
Our player piano was bought by the estate of Margarite Brill. It is a 1926 Wurlitzer studio model. We have about 60 rolls for it from the Rose Movie Theater on Main Street. The movie house burned in 1920. We have about 100 others from the collection of Dean Moore dating back to the 1920’s. (Listen to the player piano)
	The 1950 Dumont Winchester entertainment console is a rare model. It has a tuner for channels 2-6, and 7-13, in addition to FM and AM band. There is a clock that can be set to record the audio from the tv, am or fm on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. There is a three speed turntable to play records at 33, 45 and 78 revolutions per minute. The largest picture tube in 1950 was about 13 inches, where this is a uniquely sized at 23 inches. In 1949, the Federal Communication Commission established the UHF band. A special tuner was available from Dumont for installation. In 1946 there were only 7 stations in the whole United States, with three of them belonging to the Dumont Network with a cable running from Hartford, Connecticut to New York and on to Washington D.C.