MUSICA MECANICA
USA, New England, East & Middle Atlantic: Museums, attractions and private collections open to visitors Coast
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Always call before travelling ! - Téléphonez toujours avant de vous déplacer ! - Bitte immer vorher Ihre Reise anrufen !
- NEW ENGLAND, NORTH EAST and MIDDLE ATLANTIC COAST/ CÔTE EST/ OSTKÜSTE:
- (From Maine to Washington DC:
- Connecticut-Delaware-Maine-Maryland-New Hamshire-New Jersey-New York-Pennsylvania-Vermont-Washington DC)
- States are listed in alphabetical order, and so are the museums by their name inside each state.
- Les Etats sont classés par ordre alphabétique, de même que les musées à l'intérieur de chaque Etat.
- A-Z Einordnen der Staaten, und innen jeder Staat, A-Z Einordnen der Museum bei Name.
- CONNECTICUT
- Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum,
- 295 West ave.
- Norwalk, Connecticut 06850
- Tel. 203-838-9799.
- An MBSI Musical Museum.
- Grosse collection/Large Museum/Grosse Sammlung
- Dozens of mechanical musical items including a broad selection of disc &
- cylinder type musical boxes, small organs toys and reproducing piano.
- Five rooms of instruments donated and loaned by members of the Musical Box Society International.
- DELAWARE
- Johnson Victrola Museum,
- Bank and New Street
- Dover, Delaware 19901
- Tel. 302-739-3262.
- Edison phonograph, 2 gramophones, 43 Victor talking machines and Victrolas, 15,000 Victor records.
- Open Tues.-Sat. l0am-3:30pm.
- MAINE
- Musical Wonder House
- Wiscasset, Maine 04578
- (30 miles NE of Portland)
- Tel. (207) 882-7163
- Grosse collection/Big collection/Grosse Sammlung
- (Not in MBSI Listing)
- http://www.musicalwonderhouse.com/
- Wells Auto Museum,
- Rt. 1 (Box 496),
- Wells, Maine 04090
- (Between Portsmouth and Portland)
- Tel. 207-646-9064.
- Twelve instruments including Seeburg style E' 'KT' Special 'L' & orchestrion; Mills Violin; Wurlitzer band organ Model 125, Regina Hexaphones, Regina changer; Nelson-Wiggens, Coinola, National Calliope.
- MARYLAND
- Glen Echo Park carrousel and Wurlitzer 165 organ
- (Owned by the Federal Government).
- Location: Glen Echo, Maryland, on the Potomac Pallisades, a few miles North West of Washington, DC
- Address: 7300 , MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD 20812
- Telephone: Main office: 301-492-6229 ; Events hotline: 301-492-6282
- Visitation: Year round. Operating Hours, Seasons: Daily, 6am-1am. Closed Christmas and Thanksgiving.
- http://www.nps.gov/glec
- Museum and Library of Maryland History,
- 201 W. Monument St..,
- Baltimore, Maryland 21201
- Tel. 410-685-3750.
- Musical boxes which are occasionally on display; piano, Grand Harmonicon and musical instruments.
- NEW HAMPSHIRE
- Clark's Trading Post
- U.S. Rt. 3
- N. Woodstock, New Hampshire 03262
- (Mailing address: PO. Box 1).
- Tel. 602-745-8913.
- Early American gadget and novelties, including Wurlitzer 'LX' orchestrion, & 150 band organ, Double Mills Violano, Coinola Midget, Link '2E',
- and Seeburg 'G' & 'KT' orchestrions, also Artizan band organ, Tangley 'CA-43' Calliope, and Western Electric orchestrion and others.
- Open summers only.
- NEW JERSEY
- Morris Museum
- Founded in 1913, a general museum on arts, science and history.
- It houses since Nov. 2004 the exceptionnal worldwide well known Guinness Collection (ca 700 items) of Mechanical music instruments and automata (with especially many rare musical boxes).
- Some are exhibited now (please ask), but a new wing is under construction to house and show the whole collection. The opening is scheduled for 2006.
- 6 Normandy Heights Road (at the corner of Columbia Turnpike). Morristown, New Jersey
- Info : Tel. 973-971-3700.
- Open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Sunday 1-5 p.m.
- Admission to the museum is $7 for adults and $5 for children, students and senior citizens.
- Admission is always free for museum members and is free to the public every Thursday between 1 and 8 p.m.
- www.morrismuseum.org
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- Edison National Historic Site
- Main St. and Lakeside Ave.
- West Orange, New Jersey 07052
- Tel. 201-736-0550.
- National Park Service.
- The West Orange home and laboratory where Thornas Edison lived and worked from 1887 to 1931.
- Laboratory tours are given daily from 10:30am-3:30pm.
- Tours of Edison's home, Wedn.-Sun., 11am-4pm.
- Visitor's Center open daily, access beyond the center is by guided tour only.
- NEW YORK STATE
- Buffalo &Erie County Historical Society
- 25 Notthingham Ct. 14216
- Buffalo, New-York 3199
- Tel. 716 873 9644.
- There are currently 3 organettes on display, all late 19th cent.
- The collection contains a total ol 12 mechanical music machines, 5 organettes, 1 street organ, 5 cylinder music boxes, and 1 disc music box.
- This is a fine local collection documenting musical life in western New York (18th cent. to 1930s).
- Open: Tue.-Sat. l0am-9pm, Sun. noon-5am, (closed Mondays).
- Empire State Theatre and Musical Instrument Museum
- Located in the Empire Expo Center Grounds, next to route 690 west of Syracuse (NY)
- Info: call 1.800.475.FAIR - 315.487.7711, fax 315.487.9260,
- or write to: Empire Expo Center
- 581 State Fair Blvd.
- Syracuse, NY 13209
- A player piano, a Nickelodeon, several phonos and parlor organs and a large Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ (concerts).
- http://www.empireexpo.com/exhibits/theatre.museum.html
- The F X. Matt Brewery Tour,
- Court at Varick Streets,
- Utica, New-York 13502
- Tel. 315-732-0022.
- Seven instruments on display including Symphonion, 3 disc musical clock, 15 1/2' Polyphon, Mermod cylinder box, Edison disc phono, Clariona, Polyphon upright, Seeburg 1910.
- The Musical Museum, Deansboro, New-York 13328
- 1998: Définitivement fermé/Definitively closed/Geschlossen.
- Q-R-S Music Rolls, Inc.
- 1026 Niagara St.
- Buffalo, New-York 14213
- Tel. 716-885-4600.
- Pianos: Six player and reproducing pianos, and piano roil perforating and recording equipment including new computerized storage and control systems for perforating rolls.
- Two tours dally, at l0am & 2pm only, Mon.-Fri. except holidays.
- Adults $2, Children $1, redeemable with purchase.
- (Sorry, no facilities for the handicapped.)
- PENNSYLVANIA
- DeBence Antique Music World Museum
- 1261, Liberty Street
- Franklin, Pennsylvania 16323
- (Roughly between Pittsburgh and Erie)
- Exactly located just 16 miles north of Interstate 80 on Route 8
(Liberty Street), in the center of historic downtown Franklin.
- Take route 8 North at exit 29 of I-80.
- Tel. (814) 432-8350 or 888 547 23 77
- Fax: (814) 437-7193
- Over 100 instruments: Nickelodeons, band organs, Caliola, street barrel organs, German organs, and other interesting antiques.
- "Open year round, offer guided tours and play many of the instruments".
- www/debencemusicworld.com
- Hershey Museum,
- 170W. Hersgetpark Drive
- Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033
- (15 M E of Harrisburg)
- Tel. 717-534-3439.
- Regina music box (with quarter slot), a large cylinder music box (formerly owned by Milton Hershey) on exhibit.
- Collection of other mechanical musical instruments include a barrel organ reed organs, organettes and various disc and cylinder players.
- Accessible by appointment only for research or other scholarly purposes only.
- Open daily except New Years Day, Thanksgiving & Christmas, Memorial Day, Labor Day, l0am-6pm; 10am-5pm the rest of year.
- Knoebels Amusement Resort,
- Rd. 1, Route 487,
- Elysburg, Pennsylvania 17824
- Tel. 717-672-2572.
- Frati organ playing Artizan rolls, August Berni (Bruder) playing original book music, Wurlitzer 185 (factory conversion of De Kleist barrel organ), 146B (factory conversion of a Bruder barrel organ),
- Wurlitzer Caliola, Tangley Calliaphone, coin piano.
- Open daily llam-l0pm, Memorial Day through Labor Day; or by appointment.
- VERMONT
- American Precision Museum,
- 196 Main Str.
- Windsor, Vermont 05089
- (South of Lebanon, NH)
- Tel. 802-674-5781.
- A national Museum ot tools and the American System' of manufacturing the original 1846 Robbins & Lawrence Armory (a registered National Historic Landmark).
- Hours May 20-Nov 1. 9am-5pm weekdays, l0am-4pm week-ends & holidays.
- Shelburne Museum,
- US Route 7,
- Shelburne, Vermont 05482
- Museum is located 7 miles south of Burlington, VT on US Route 7.
- Cylinder and disc music boxes, phonographs, miniatures, automaton, small organ.
- Open late May through late Oct. 10am-5pm. Museum opens at 1pm through the winter months for a special guided tour.
- WASHINGTON DC
- National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution Washington DC
- 14th and Constitution Ave, NW Wash. DC 20560
- Tel +1 202 357-2700
- Several mechanical musical instruments are demonstrated in the café (Welte orchestrion and automatic changing Regina disc music box), and in the Museum galleries (especially reproducing pianos).
- There is also a Hersshell carrousel (ca 1940) in front of the old Arts and Industries Building, right opposite the Museum of American History, and a very large orchestra cylinder music box inside this building.
- http://www.si.edu/organiza/Museums/nmah/
Copyrights: Musica Mecanica.
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