I am a collector of Golden Age mechanical antiques, such as steam
launches, antique boats, showman engines, antique toy trains, hot air
fans, fairground and amusement park antiques, vintage automobiles,
advertising automata, and, of course, _Mechanical Musical Instruments_,
from fair organs to orchestrions and related original catalogs and
literature.

In my mechanical music collection I have instruments which range
from the small Wurlitzer Mandolin Quartette (which once played in
Disneyland) to a Seeburg H from an Eagle River, Wisconsin dance hall,
to the famous 110-key Euclid Beach Park Gavioli, America's largest fair
organ.

The most unique item in my collection is a life-size gasoline-powered
mechanical elephant automaton which was built in England by a company
called Mechanimals and used for street parades in Detroit, as well as
on the Coney Island Boardwalk.

I have been fascinated with mechanical music since I first walked into
Charles and Sue Bovey's large log music hall in Nevada City, Montana
and heard their collection of band organs, including a great 90-key
Gavioli at the end of the hall.  Later on I visited most of the tourist
attractions which had mechanical music.

The old tourist stops from Knott's Berry Farm on the West Coast to
Clarks Trading Post in the East did a lot to stimulate my interest.
Not much can compare with the electric thrill of hearing the snappy
Seeburg G play through the swinging doors of the old "Bale of Hay"
saloon in Virginia City, Montana.  The mountain air, the Old West
atmosphere and the music were magic!

Along the way, I became friends with the owners of the these tourist
places as well as with most of the pioneer collectors of mechanical
music, such as Ozzie and Marie Klavestad, Al Svoboda, Siegfried Wendel,
Fred Fried, Murray Clark, Paul and Laura Eakins, Stella Foote, Alex
Jordan, Charlie Smallwood, Jim DeRoin, Jake DeBence, Haning and White,
Mel Walker, Howard Hynne, Bill Kugler, etc., etc.  We all owe these
early collectors who rescued many of today's surviving instruments
a debt of gratitude!

As a good collector friend said, "Every collector is a little bit
a dealer."  I have had the pleasure of playing the major role in
building a number of fine collections including the Krughoff and
Sanfilippo collections as well as many other collections both here
and abroad.

I enjoy "stirring the pot of enthusiasm" and stimulating interest
in this wonderful hobby.  I look forward to contributing to MMD!

Tim Trager
Oak Brook, Illinois
Trager@idt.net

 [ Glad you're here, Tim.  The pot always simmers with enthusiasm,
 [ and it frequently approaches boiling when all our technicians
 [ and collectors and readers join the discussions.  Write again
 [ soon!  -- Robbie