At the end of this year, the last workshop of the organbuilder Poirot
Freres in Mirecourt was sold and is now completely destroyed with
bulldozers.

It was very sad to look at the fragments of wood barrels and stops and
another organ parts amid the rubble...

The last organ builder, Georges Poirot (1896-1954), was the fourth
generation of organ and serinette makers in Mirecourt, the cradle of
the original barrel organ production since the beginning of the XVIIIth
century.

Françoise Dussour
Mirecourt, France

 [ See the nice history by Françoise, "French Military Band Organs",
 [ in 981107 MMDigest.  She notes that the finest and best decorated
 [ band organs were made by the Poirot brothers.  -- Robbie