Organ Grinder Tom
Old Time Street Organ Grinder
01/01/2024
Happy New Year!
25/12/2023
Merry Christmas !
22/12/2023
Met some fun festive folks this weekend past at the geek and Grub Holiday Market
20/12/2023
A Christmas story featuring an Organ Grinder with great artwork.
"Great Joy", Kate DiCamillo
17/12/2023
The National Gingerbread House Competition held at Asheville NC had some great entries. The winner was from nearby Fuquay Varina NC. In a few clips of coverage I caught one entry which was a gingerbread Stüber Berlin crank organ, complete with monkey! Attached the best photos I could find of this entry, very detailed. Anyone have any further information or pictures of this entry?
Article in link in comment
A humble tribute to Shane MacGowan. My first attempt at video editing.. a bit clumsy, but makes it a bit more interesting. Song arranged by Amanda Liberty, played on organ built by Christian Wittmann Orgelbau.
07/12/2023
On this date 185 years ago, an article printed in "The Spectator" newspaper in New Bern, North Carolina concerns an incident with an organ grinder. What sounds to be an unfortunate incident, can't help but wonder who he was, what happened and where he was off to last time seen.
23/11/2023
Happy Thanksgiving! Below a photo from 1960 Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade with float on far right being an organ grinder and his monkey. I wonder if the organ played music or was just decorative? The Philadelphia Art Museum can be seen in the background.
14/11/2023
Happy National Pickle Day!
(Photo from Mt.Olive NC Pickle Festival April 2023) N.C. Pickle Festival
09/11/2023
Halloween via modern mechanical music!
21/10/2023
Photo from Library of Congress, Organ grinder on street, lower east side, New York. No date.
08/10/2023
A fantastic museum featuring the mechanical instrument collection of Murtogh Guinness. A good presentation of mechanical music prior to Records/Radio.
30/07/2023
A photo to celebrate Uncommon Musical Instrument Day! Though mechanical organs were common in Victorian times, they are uncommon today.
20/06/2023
Spotted a couple of antique barrel organs at the fantastic Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA! A very interesting museum of the everyday implements of yesteryear.
Happy Monty Python Status Day! Always remember to look on the bright side!
Happy Star Wars Day!
Music : Star Wars theme - cranked by me on 20 note Christian Wittmann organ, arranged by Ingmar Krause
30/04/2023
23/04/2023
Guten Morgen am Tag des deutschen Bieres, The Day of German Beer, it commemorates the 23 April 1516 Reinheitsgebot, Purity Law, authorised throughout the Duchy of Bavaria.
Beer was only to be made from hops, (barley) malt, yeast and water, it included references to various rules and regulations, some centuries old, and was mainly designed to regulate the market.
Brewers were no longer able to buy up wheat, making bread prices rise, while beers from surrounding duchies, and free cities, couldn’t sell their beer in the Duchy. Protecting its brewers from the competition.
The Reinheitsgebot also had a positive effect on the quality of beer.
Brewing beer with other, sometimes poisonous and even grisly, ingredients became more difficult.
Photo credit: Räuchermännchen Braumeister by Dregeno Seiffen via erzgebirge-palast.de
22/04/2023
Howdy Partner! Will be playing the tunes starting at high noon at the Cary Fest in the West on May 6th!
https://festinthewest.com/
Was very pleased to visit Siegfrieds Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments in Rudesheim am Rhein. A very interesting collection and great tour guides. I actually visited twice over weekend, to get a chance to see it all again!
15/04/2023
The Titanic sank 111 years ago today.
Titanic Anyone see Titanic when rereleased in cinemas recently?
25/03/2023
Mechanical Organs use to be a sign of spring! Loved by many... but not all 😃
Strange Stories Surrounding Street Pianos Designed to provide pleasure, street pianos in 19th and 20th century America were also magnets for some mischief and malevolence.
Had a great time out at LafayetteVillage Raleigh at the Paddy on the Green Festival, cranking out some Irish tunes (and a few other favorites). Sláinte! ☘️
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