Manufacturing the muse : Estey organs & consumer culture in Victorian America / Dennis G. Waring.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Waring, Dennis, 1944-

Contributor:

Estey Organ Company.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reed organ--United States.

Reed organ.

Reed organ music.

Songs with reed organ.

Estey Organ Company.

Popular culture--United States--History--19th century.

Popular culture.

United States.

History.

Physical Description:

xix, 356 pages : illustrations ; 27 cm + 1 audio disc (digital ; 4 3/4 in.)

Place of Publication:

Middletown, CT : Wesleyan University Press, [2002]

Summary:

Purchases of American reed organs between 1850 and 1910 exceeded that of pianos by almost two to one. Manufacturing the Muse is the story of the reed organ, a centerpiece in American parlors, churches and gathering places for nearly a century. It is also the story of venerable New England entrepreneur Jacob Estey, whose industrial standardization of instrument manufacture strongly affected Victorian popular culture, social stratification, gender issues and musical taste. Dennis Waring's examination of The Estey Organ Company (1846 to 1960, Brattleboro, Vermont) and its production and marketing strategies reveals much concerning the importance of the reed organ as a significant artifact in the history of American consumerism.

The companion CD includes a variety of period pieces, some selected from the Estey Organ Method, all played on Estey organs. Extensive appendices include surveys of Estey organ case design, free-reed making operations, diagrams, maps, timelines and music. A generous number of photographs round out the book, which may be read as a good story as well as an important part of America's history.

Contents:

Part I Reed Organ Contexts

1 The Reed Organ and the Victorian Image 19

2 Sing the Old Songs 49

Part II The Estey Saga

3 The Perfect Melodeon 79

4 The Estey Organ Company 111

5 After Jacob Estey 169

Appendix C. Diagrams, Charts, and Tables 212

Appendix D. Estey Reed Organ Casework and Tonal Design / E. A. Boadway 221

Appendix E. Sound Production with Free Reeds / Ned Phoenix 232

Appendix F. Music Scores 263

Victorian Sounds on Estey Organs: The Compact Disc 354.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [331]-339) and index.

Errata slip inserted.

Notes on and contents of compact disc on p. [354]-356.

ISBN:

0819565075

0819565083

OCLC:

49326963