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Mortier DeCap "Apollonia" Dance Organs
By Don Clausing

Greetings, I have been following the MMD for quite a few months now.
I am looking to obtain related information and current locations (in
the USA or abroad) of a series of dance organs that were produced,
from the mid-1920s to possibly in the early 1930s, by Theophile
Mortier and Company in Antwerp, Belgium.

Information that I currently have indicated that a company, called
the Teugels Brothers, purchased many of the instruments and rented
them out to amusement parks, dance halls, and anywhere people would
gather and wanted to dance.

In 1950, the DeCap Brothers (Gebr. DeCap) of Antwerp acquired many of
the instruments and added additional instruments along with adding a
beautiful art deco style façade.  The name of "Apollonia" was given
to the instrument after the DeCap Brothers' additions.

From a copy of the Mekanisk Musik Museum 1974 Review #4 (Copenhagen,
Denmark), one (possibly more) of the 101-key Mortier-DeCap Organs had
been purchased and were brought to the States, and were available by
appointment to be seen and heard.

The general description of the instrument(s) is 101-key Mortier-DeCap
organ.  The best information that I have is they have a Mortier stock
number, beginning about 995 through about 1015, for the 101-key dance
organ.  There are also Mortier stock numbers in the low 1100s, but more
verification is needed to identify if they are related to the 101-key
instruments built in the late 1920s.  Many of these were acquired by
the DeCap Brothers company when the Mortier company closed in the
mid-1940s.

On display in the Mechanical Gallery of the Musical Instrument Museum
(MIM) in Phoenix, Arizona, since its opening in April, 2010, is the
101-key Mortier #1002 (Mortier-DeCap) dance organ (680 pipes) which was
built in 1926 and was given the name "Apollonia".

I am one of several volunteers at the MIM that help in demonstrating
and playing the "Apollonia" orchestrion, which occurs twice a day, both
at 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m., for the museum guests.  The orchestrion is
run by the MIDI program supplied through the Mills Novelty Company from
Chicago, Illinois.

Don Clausing
Phoenix, Arizona

 [ The MIM Apollonia performs at
 [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r5c6TsdqiM 
 [ -- Robbie


(Message sent Tue 13 Sep 2016, 21:46:55 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  Apollonia, Dance, DeCap, Mortier, Organs

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