Hi All,  From time to time the topic of mechanical music in movies and
TV comes up.  My entry for this is my Orchestrelle.  It was bought at a
sale of Hollywood studio props in the early 1980's by Ben and Mary
Lilien here in California for one of their friends.  It was offered to
me in 1985 at which time I could not afford it.  It changed hands a
couple of times and in 1992 it was offered to me again, this time by my
friend Ralph Schack.

I had just bought a house and money was tight.  Fortunately, Ralph and
Gloria allowed me to make payments which I very much appreciated, and
at last I was the proud owner of a Style "V" Orchestrelle.  It was not
until after I bought it that I discovered it was the same one I was
offered in 1985.  Knowing its history, I wondered if I would ever see
it in a movie.

Well, I was flipping the channels one evening and stopped on a rerun
of the old Dick Van Dyke show.  In the corner of a basement cafe was
what looked like a large reed organ.  As the action moved closer to it
I could tell it was a Style "V" like mine.  I wondered, could this be
the same one in my possession?

I looked for identifying marks and two pieces of the case trim were
noticeably broken.  I checked my case and sure enough mine has the same
two pieces broken!  I never found out what the title of the episode
was, but I was smart enough to start taping the show when I first saw
the organ.  It was exciting to see an instrument I own on a TV show,
and I now know where it was in 1965.

Steve Walker
Riverside, California.