In mid 1963 I was moving from Dallas to New York, traveling through
Missouri in a new green VW Microbus, family and all.  At about 5 AM on
Sunday morning I spotted Eakins museum near the edge of Sikeston, MO.

I'd been interested in band organs for about 12 years at the time and
couldn't pass up the empty parking lot.  My wife and kids were asleep
and didn't wake up as we slowed and parked near a window.  I got out
of the car without slamming the door and walked up to the building and
peered in.

A man in coveralls (who turned out to be Paul) looked up from a pile
of wood pipes and a windchest.  He waved and started for the door.
I expected to be run off but after a brief exchange he invited us all
in for hot coffee and doughnuts.  His doctor had told him that donuts
were off limits so he argued that we were helping by sharing so that he
wouldn't eat the whole pile by himself.

Paul took me through the building and demonstrated everything that
worked, and a few things that needed quite a lot of work.  We talked
for about two hours about band organ history in the USA.  I remember
speculation about European book-operated fairground organs and
(sacrilege today!) the possibility of converting them to roll operation.
No one wanted book organs at the time because they required an operator
to manipulate the books.

I was in the computer business at the time and we talked at length
about the possibility of using a computer program to punch cards that
could be read by a simple black box to operate Wicks electric organ
valves to replace rolls and books.

Paul was a Mechanical Engineer and felt that roll and book readers were
too delicate.  Band organs had started to disappear from parks and
carnivals because of annual maintenance costs.  He visualized a
maintenance-free organ built with a modern organ blower and direct
electric valves, but he had not worked out an all-electronic system for
driving the valves.  This all happened about 20 years before MIDI
protocol and personal computers.

My wife got tired of tapping her toes and trying to keep the kids under
control so she dragged me back to the car after a 4-hour delay.  Paul
went back to his pipes.  I really appreciated the visit.  Paul was a
true gentleman.

I just wanted to share this with the group.

Bill Finch