I was taken back by the recent articles describing the manufacture of
Wurlitzer band organs.  I had some repairs done to mine this winter by
Bob Stanoszek, and he commented that band organs were used so hard that,
by their 25th year, they were basically worn out.

The Wurlitzer 146A band organ I own was made in 1916 and I discovered
that all the parts, whether wood or metal, have numbers (about 1/4-inch
high) stamped into them.  Even the little brass lock on the backside of
the upper case is Number 12.  I can imagine the factory turning out
hundreds of interchangeable parts and numbering them.  Then they could
instruct employees, many being recent immigrants and unable to read
English, how to assemble the band organs by the number code.

Mass production of parts generally leads to higher uniformity, quality,
and most importantly, lower prices.  If you study the Wurlitzer
catalogs and correspondence that went with them, many instrument prices
actually went down as the years of production went by.  Wurlitzer's
manufacturing and business methods successfully kept their competition
at bay and brought band organs, and I'm sure many other of their
mechanical musical instruments, to more homes and businesses than any
other way would have.

I have learned that even today, some people are still arranging music
rolls to play the few remaining Wurlitzer's, and I for one will keep
buying these rolls, while still trying to sort out which old ones are
worth buying.

Art Breitenbach