My wife and I did extensive research on the original street organs
and organ grinders.  From every source we could find, the only people
who used monkeys in conjunction with grinding an organ were Italian
immigrants who came to America.  Monkeys were used by some of these
immigrants, however other animals were used also, e.g., dogs, birds,
rats.

If you explore organ grinding in other European countries, you will
find that many grinders sang with their organs or they told morality
stories.  Some grinders even served as town criers, spreading the news
from village to village.  Still others incorporated magic lantern shows
with the street organ.

In today's world puppet animals more than suffice to entertain young
children while playing the organ.

Gary Craig
guncraig@yahoo.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]