#Wurlitzer organ pictures movie#

In 1960, it was sold to Edward and Steve Restivo who installed it as the center piece of вЂњKenвЂ™s Melody Inn, Pizza and PipesвЂќ in Los Altos, California, where it stayed until it was purchased for its Indianapolis destination. By the late 1950s, it was finally removed and placed into storage.

#Wurlitzer organ pictures movie#

The Paramount would re-open the following year, but almost exclusively as a movie house, likely under-utilizing theВ Wurlitzer gathering dust in its orchestra pit. So rather than accompany the likes of Buster Keaton and Rudolph Valentino, the $20,000 ($300,000 in 2013 dollars) Paramount organ,В called the Publix I (Opus 2164), saw a very brief life as a solo performer and member of the theaterвЂ™s house orchestra before the Paramount closed its doors seven months after opening, having been unable to meet operating expenses of $27,000 ($413,000) a week. However, OaklandвЂ™s Paramount theater opened in 1931, four years after the release of The Jazz SingerВ and the advent of вЂњtalking picturesвЂќ. As the popularity of motion pictures spread across the country, Wurlitzer built pipe organs specifically suited to silent movie houses, allowing a single organist to function as a one person orchestra complete with percussion and sound effects. Founded in Cincinnati in 1853, the Randolph Wurlitzer Company began life making a wide variety of musical instruments, but had streamlined its focus to pianos and organs by the early 1900s. The origin of both the ParamountвЂ™s name andВ its Wurlitzer lay in Oakland, California and the beautiful art deco Paramount Theater. Original home of IndyвЂ™s Wurlitzer Organ, the Paramount Theater вЂ“ Oakland, CA вЂ“ photo from Wikipedia