Conn's Wonder Portable
Folding Reed Organ
by Margaret Downie Banks
Reprinted from Vol. XVI, No. 2, Summer 1997 of the *ROS Bulletin*, journal of the Reed Organ Society, Inc., and used with permission of the editor. COPYRIGHTED with ALL OTHER RIGHTS RESERVED.
To most people, the mention of Conn organs brings
to mind the company's popular electronic organs produced between
1946 and the early 1980s. Few people are aware that Conn actually
introduced its first organ the Wonder[1] model portable folding
reed organ in the fall of 1900.
Company founder, Charles Gerard Conn (1844-1931), personally
announced the debut of the diminutive reed organ in an interview
published in the April 7, 1900, issue of the Music Trade Review.
|
"One of our new features for this season is a
small portable organ, perfect in every detail and well
suited for use where space is a consideration. This
instrument is only 22 inches high and weighs but 25
pounds. I have seen other organs of small size, intended
for traveling and other purposes, but none that I like so
well as this new instrument of ours. I have faith in its
success, and it will be brought prominently to
notice."[2] |
Conn's folding reed organ was invented by William
V. Pezzoni, a Brooklyn, New York violin maker who Conn had
previously hired to set up a violin manufacturing department at
the company's Elkhart, Indiana plant in 1897. [3] A patent
application was filed on May 5, 1900, and awarded to Pezzoni, as
assignor to C. G. Conn, on January 29, 1901 - C.G. Conn's 57th,
birthday! The text of this U.S. patent (#667,065) describes the
invention as
follows:
 |
"The subject of our invention is an organ in which the entire action, bellows, and pedal mechanism of effective size and construction may be folded and inclosed [sic] within a case of small dimensions when not in use, so that it may be conveniently carried by hand. To this end we construct the entire action or keyboard and its accessories in two independent parts, each with its own bellows mechanism, hinged together in a supporting case in such manner that the two parts of the keyboard may be folded down in vertical position within the open sides of the case, which are then closed by doors. |
When the parts of the keyboard are elevated into horizontal position for use, the open doors being nearly in line with the back of the case, to which they are hinged, form supports for the parts of the keyboard in their horizontal position. The case is further constructed with a folding base, hinged to the lower rear corner of the body of the case in such a manner that when the instrument is to be used the said base being turned down supports the case at the necessary height, and when not in use the said base is folded up upon and about the case. The pedals are mounted in the folding base and do not interfere with its folding capacity. The folding of the hinged keyboard within the case and the folding of the supporting base upon the lower part of the case bring the entire structure within convenient dimensions for carrying in hand when not in use."
Conn aggressively marketed the folding organ in
his house periodical, C. G. Conn's Truth, for the next decade,
asserting that it was "better adapted than any other for
missionaries, evangelists, Sunday School service, prayer
meetings, the Gospel wagon, pic-nics [sic] and outings, trolley
parties, students of harmony, vaudeville artists, and the village
opera house. Vocalists and musicians connected with opera,
dramatic, minstrel or concert, companies will find the Wonder
organ indispensable in their work. It can be checked on trains
like ordinary baggage and can be carried like a grip and set up
ready for use in an instant at the hotel or theatre. [It is] not
a burden, nor too heavy for a lady to carry."
The price was locked in at $28.50, cash, or $30.00 on the
installment plan, throughout the instrument's entire ten year
production run. Orders were filled anywhere in the United States
with the privilege of a six day trial.
Full page advertisements in C. G. Conn's Truth proclaimed the
usefulness of the organ as a tuning aid for bands:
"No band room is complete without one of the Wonder Portable
Folding Reed Organs. It is indispensable as a standard for the
pitch and perfect tune of the band, and much valuable time could
be saved at rehearsal if one of these instruments formed part of
the furniture of the band room, and each member of the band would
tune up and put his instrument in pitch with the organ before the
hour for ensemble practice."
A particularly advantageous feature of the organ for band use was
its availability in either high or low pitch. [4]
Hoping to compete with the many contemporary lines of full-size
parlor reed organs, Conn's ads noted that "...the tone of
the Wonder portable organ has sufficient volume to lead the
ordinary congregation and is an available substitute for the
regular parlor reed organ that is sold for from $50.00 to
$150.00. Many satisfied customers willingly provided
endorsements, including one C. L. Francis, Musical Director of
the Gibson Comedy Co., who noted that the organ is a little
beauty, the tone being better than the average parlor cabinet
organ. [5] The musical comedians, Cook & Hall, of Swampscott,
Massachusetts, noted that the organ was the hit of their act.
Their characterization of the compact instrument as a box of
condensed harmonies was reprinted in Conn's advertising for
several years.[6]
A detailed physical description of the organ also accompanied
Conn's advertising for a number of years.
"The case of the Wonder Portable Organ is made of three ply
veneers, 5/16 of an inch in thickness, insuring a combination of
greatest strength with minimum weight; the corners are protected
with nickel-plated bumpers. The hinges, hooks and other hardware
is substantial as well as ornamental, being of brass heavily
nickel plated and ornate in design, giving the instrument when
closed the appearance of a fine commercial sample case. The
bottom of the organ is provided with rubber bumpers which not
only protect the instrument from contact with the dampness of the
ground when used in the open air, but insures a firm foundation
on floor or carpet and prevents slipping while in use. All the
wood work is well fitted and finished with the best body varnish
rubbed and polished. Material employed in the action and bellows
is the very best obtainable, being the same as used in the finest
class of cabinet organs. The width of the keys is of the
regulation size. The pedals adjust themselves in position by the
act of opening and closing the instrument. They are covered with
Kerotal, the best known substitute for leather. The bellows are
provided with a safety valve to avoid any danger of injury by
overflowing. The organ is by no means complicated or difficult to
open or close.
"The compass of the Wonder Portable Organ is four and three
quarters octaves [C-a2], the same as the manual of the regular
pipe organ. It possesses as much volume as the better class
organs and is as easy to operate. The keyboard is in two
sections, under each of which is a pumping and a reservoir
bellows, insuring a steady and full supply of air.
Notwithstanding the folding devices and the limited weight
[advertised as 28 pounds] of the instrument, there is nothing
light and flimsy about its construction. When opened for use it
is as firm and solid as if built in one piece and when folded for
carrying it will stand the hard bumps incidental to travel
without injury to the musical or mechanical parts. The Wonder
Portable Organs are made for service, not for ornament, although
they are handsome in appearance as well as serviceable and neat.
The Conn Organ should not be confounded with the portable folding
organs on the market which are fragile in construction,
unreliable in mechanism and crude in musical quality. It is not a
toy, but a practical instrument both musically and mechanically
and is so substantially and compactly made that with ordinary
care it will last as long as the better class of cabinet
organs."
 |
According to advertisements appearing before December
1906, the dimensions of the organ, when folded, were:
height, 20 inches; width, 14-1/2 inches; and depth,
11-1/2 inches. Commencing with the December 1906 issue of
C.G. Conn Co.Truth, the published measurements were as
follows: when folded, height, 20-3/4 inches; width, 14
inches; and depth, 12 inches; when opened for use, the
instrument had a total overall length of 36 inches; the
height from the base to the keyboard was 34 inches; and
the height from the base to the top of the music desk was
41 inches. Whether or not this slight change in the
dimensions of the folded instrument indicates an actual
change in the size of the instrument or merely a change
in advertising copy, awaits confirmation through the
examination of surviving examples. |
The Conn folding reed organ, like a number of other Conn
products, was dropped from production after the company resumed
operations three months after a devastating fire completely
demolished the Elkhart factory on May 22, 1910. [7]
Unfortunately, all production records were destroyed in that fire
as well, so it will never be possible to know exactly how many
reed organ units were produced. Although an advertisement for the
organ appeared in the first post-fire issue of C. G. Conn's Truth
(September 1910), it is apparent, upon comparison with the June
1910 issue, which was published just before the fire, that the
September issue was actually a reprint of the June issue, with an
additional four pages devoted to announcing the rebuilding and
opening of the new Elkhart facility. Unlike the mythical phoenix,
the Wonder portable folding reed organ apparently was not
destined to rise again from the ashes.
Notes:
1. Wonder was the trade name for all of Conn's products from 1885
through the early 1920s.
2. A Chat with the Wonder Maker, Music Trade Review, Vol. 3, No.
14 (April 7, 1900): 43.
3. For further information about Pezzoni and the Conn violin, see
Margaret Downie Banks, Violin Making by the Conn Company of
Indiana, Journal of the Violin Society of America, Vol. 11, No. 3
(1992): 32-76.
4. American bands of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries played primarily at high pitch, which could range
anywhere from A=453 vibrations per second (VPS) to A=464 VPS.
Despite attempts to establish an international low pitch (A=435
VPS) early in the century, town and military bands continued to
play at high pitch until the end of World War I. In an attempt to
cope with two conflicting pitch standards, American manufacturers
provided brass instruments with additional crooks, tuning slides,
and other mechanical devices to enable instruments to be played
at either high or low pitch. Customers purchasing woodwinds and
fixed pitch instruments, such as reed organs and mallet
percussion, usually had to designate whether they wished to
purchase an instrument built in either high or low pitch.
5. Supplement to C. G. Conn Truth, Vol. 5, No. 1 (February 1902):
no page numbers.
6. Cook & Hall endorsement, originally dated August 23, 1903,
consistently appeared in C. G. Conn Truth, Vol. 5, No. 7
(November 1903) through Vol. 8, No. 9 (February 1908).
7. For further information about the history of the Conn company,
see Margaret Downie Banks, Elkhart Brass Roots, (Vermillion:
University of South Dakota, 1994) and Margaret Downie Banks and
James W. Jordan, C. G. Conn: The Man (1844-1931) and His Company
(1874-1915), Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society,
Vol. 14
(1988): 61-113.
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About the Author:
Dr. Margaret Downie Banks is Curator of Musical Instruments at
The Shrine to Music Museum and Center for Study of the History of
Musical Instruments at the University of South Dakota in
Vermillion, where she also holds the rank of Professor of Museum
Science. Dr. Banks holds degrees from Skidmore College (Saratoga
Springs, New York), the State University of New York at
Binghamton, and West Virginia University (Morgantown), where she
received her Ph.D. in musicology. Dr. Banks, whose research
specialties range from the nineteenth and twentieth century
American musical instrument industry to early bowed stringed
instruments such as the rebec, pochette, and violino piccolo, has
lectured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and
Europe. She has authored numerous articles and books about
musical instruments and has recently published an extensive World
Wide Website for America's Shrine to Music Museum
(http://www.usd.edu/smm). Currently, she is writing a
comprehensive history of the C. G. Conn Musical Instrument
Manufacturing Company of Elkhart, Indiana (1874 - present), under
the auspices of The Shrine to Music Museum and the Indiana
Historical Society. Dr. Banks accepts inquiries about Conn and is
pleased to receive specific information from owners and
collectors about all types of Conn instruments, for inclusion in
a Conn product database. She may be contacted at The Shrine to
Music Museum, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069; fax
605-677-5073; or by E-mail at mbanks@sunflowr.usd.edu.