Early Wurlitzer piano-console models

Early Wurlitzer piano-console models and photoplayers

with particular reference to Australian installations

Ian McIver

In the early days when Hope-Jones was at the Wurlitzer factory, apart from a number of "special" instruments, only a few stock models were produced. Of these, the Style 3 (2/7) and Style 6 (3/13) were the most prolific horseshoe console "unit orchestra" models.

The company also produced three large "motion picture orchestras". These had piano consoles , but differed from photoplayers in that they had electro-pneumatic action. These were the Styles J, L and M. The Style J was a 2/4, the other two styles both being 2/6s. Out of 53 organs built by Wurlitzer during the period 1910 – 1914, there were 9 Style Js, 5 Style Ls and 7 Style Ms.

The L and M models had a Vox Humana, not possible on the J, which had only a single windchest, which was on 15" pressure, far too high for a Vox (usually 6" on Wurlitzers). The J had no pedalboard, and neither it nor the M had a balanced swell pedal (they had knee swell levers instead). All these models sold for under $10,000.

All these models were designed by Hope-Jones, but he was paid a lesser royalty than on the larger unit orchestras, as much of the design stemmed from Wurlitzer's photoplayers and much of them was manufactured other than in the unit orchestra department of Wurlitzer, which was Hope-Jones’domain.

After the death of Hope-Jones, Wurlitzer manufactured a whole range of piano-console Unit Orchestras, some with roll-players built in, others without this feature. A few piano-console Unit Orchestras came to Australia, the largest being the 2/6 at the Strand, Hobart (Op. 157). Others (all 2/4s) were the Melba, Melbourne (Op. 150), the Majestic, Melbourne (Op. 202), and the Rialto, Sydney (Op. 324). This last moved to the Lyric/Wintergarden, Sydney, in 1924.

As regards photoplayers, Wurlitzer marketed a range of these from about 1912 until 1931, by which time sound films had killed off the market for this type of instrument. I am unsure of the precise number they built, but it was approximately 2500. They ranged in size from no pipes at all (just a few percussions and traps hooked up to the player-piano) to one, two, three, four, or five ranks of pipes. They are variously described as Duplex Orchestras, Automatic Orchestras, One-Man Orchestras,Pipe Organ Orchestras, Wurlitzer Theatre Orchestras, etc. They cost (retail) between US$1100 and $6100.

The characteristics of these instruments were:

Pneumatic action
No pedals
Pipe and percussion chests had to be attached to the piano
Ranks often short-compass and/or divided
Smaller models had only a single (88-note) manual
Stop control by rocking tablets
Percussions/effects worked by piano pedals

Quite a number of Wurlitzer photoplayers were imported into Australia. They were nearly all 2/4s, as far as I can tell. In Adelaide, they were at the Chinese Garden, Grand (this instrument was enlarged significantly by Dodd prior to its installation in 1918, as a result of which it was not strictly a photoplayer) and Pavilion theatres (the Pav was a 2/5). There was also one at the Adastra Theatre, Port Pirie. There were several in theatres in Sydney and a couple in Perth and Fremantle. The usual complement of pipes was brass trumpet (30 notes), Open Flute, String (wood) and Vox Humana (37 notes). Such pipework as I have seen from Wurlitzer photoplayers was very different from their theatre organs, being much smaller in scale.

More general details on photoplayers (Wurlitzer and other) can be found here

A rather grainy enlargement from a photograph of the Majestic Theatre, Melbourne, showing the piano console of the 2/4 Style 135 organ at the left-hand side of the pit, side-on to the audience