I had been hearing about the much-anticipated opening of the Guinness
collection at the Morris Museum for some time.  I visited the museum
for the first time three weeks ago, after Theriault's auction of auto-
mata and dolls, and then for a second time the very next weekend with
our AMICA chapter.

I am very impressed with the present display.  It took a little while
getting used to the thick panels of Plexiglas protecting each instru-
ment.  The panels seemed strange to me. I'm used to being able to oper-
ate music boxes at will and to open up pianos to see what the insides
look like.

But after a short time, my attention focused on the instruments.  Jere
and Steve Ryder gave tours for our AMICA group, and we were able to
hear all of the pianos.  The acoustics are fine, and all of the instru-
ments sounded wonderful.  I enjoyed using the listening sticks to hear
selections from an overture box and several other cylinder boxes.

The room with automata was very entertaining as well as educational.
Steve Ryder demonstrated a large magician/clown whose head disappeared
from his shoulders and reappeared under a box.  I watched a series of
videos which explained the operation of the most important automata
displayed in the room.

The museum is easily accessible from New York City by train.  So people
from all around the world were enjoying the collection.  I've had the
privilege of seeing the entire Guinness collection, both in his home
and later when it was moved into storage.  The museum display will be
even more impressive when the bulk of the collection, another 700
pieces, is placed on view.

If you are in the North Jersey/New York area, make a visit to the
Morris Museum a must.

Paul Manganaro