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original description

This musical instrument is a 1930s Melodium as seen on exhibit at the Scottsdale Historical Museum in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Melodium is a monographic and touch sensitive keyboard instrument developed in 1938 by German instrument designer Harold Bode with help from Oskar Vierling, inventor of the “Grosstonorgel”. The devise featured a new fangled pedal for vibrato and a tuning/transposition knob. (Source: Scottsdale Historical Museum)
Date
Source Melodium
Author Sergei ~ 5of7
Other versions
References
InfoField
  • Docent Tidings (2006-11) Little Red Schoolhouse newsletter, page 2. reprinted on:2. Melodium”, in Little Red Schoolhouse Guide to Objects in the Scott Family Exhibit [Scott Family Exhibit Notebook][1], Scottsdale, AZ: Scottsdale Historical Society. (ScottsdaleHistory.org), 2020-09-17, page 3: “ This 1930s Melodium, made by the George A. Prince & Co. of Buffalo and Chicago, was originally purchased by a couple named “Adams” from Chicago. / In the late 1930s or early 1940s, the Adams’ son and his wife Ruth brought the Melodium with them when they moved west, settling in Scottsdale’s Sherwood Heights neighborhood. Ruth Adams served on the Historical Society’s Board of Directors in the mid-1980s. After she passed away in her 90s, this beautiful Melodium was donated to the Museum in her name.
  • George A. Prince & Company. Pump Organ Restorations (PumpOrganRestorations.com). "He owned a music store at 200 Main St. in 1846, built a three story factory building at 135 Pearl St in 1850, built a new factory at Niagara, Maryland Seventh Sts. in 1855, all in Buffalo, NY. Also shown as Geo A. Prince & Co.; closed about 1879. / George A. Prince learned reed organ building at Abraham Prescott's factory. In 1849 Prince had 150 workmen and produced 75 to 80 instruments per week according to contemporary reports. / Allowance must be made for nineteenth century puffery, as this volume does not correspond to actual production as revealed by the serial numbers shown below. Serial numbers: ..."
  • Prince, George A.. Antique Piano Shop (AntiquePianoShop.com). "George A. Prince was by far one of the largest and most successful makers of organs and melodeons during the 19th Century era. Prince was established in Buffalo, NY in 1840, and they managed to remain highly successful throughout the Civil War era. At this time, the most common musical instrument in rural America was the small melodeon or parlor organ. Pianos were still too expensive for the average household at this time. In the decade after the Civil War, the piano began to become more and more popular in rural America, and by 1871 Prince went out of business as his melodeons and organs went out of fashion. These historical instruments are definitely of museum caliber today, and they deserve the finest restoration." See also: an advertisement in the 19th century, and an advertisement on New York Musical World (newspaper) in 1865.
Further reading
InfoField
Note: the term "melodium" seems interchangeable with the term "melodeon".
  • Friedrich Köhler, Hermann Lambeck (1892) Hermann Lambeck , ed. Dictionary of the English and German Languages, P. Reclam jun., p. 307
    "melodeon [me-lō'di-on] s. ♪ Ziehharmonica f. Melodion n (=melodium).
     melodium [me-lō'di-um] s. Melodion n (=melodeon)."
  • (1890) The Century Dictionary, An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, 13, Century Company, p. 3,700
    "melodeon (me-ˈlō'di-on). n. [Also melodium; < L. melodia, < Gr. μελωδία, a singing: see melody. Cf. melodion.] A reed-organ or harmonium.
     melodium (me-lō'di-um). n. See melodeon."
Camera location33° 29′ 34.94″ N, 111° 55′ 23.31″ W Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

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This image was originally posted to Flickr by 5of7 at https://flickr.com/photos/53936799@N05/23986253000 (archive). It was reviewed on 6 February 2019 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0.

6 February 2019

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26 December 2015

33°29'34.944"N, 111°55'23.315"W

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