Wurlitzer Style 32-A Concert PianOrchestra
The Crystal Palace Hotel, Leadville, Colorado
(Photographs circa mid to late 1920s)

(Photograph courtesy of Sue Fikany)

The Wurlitzer Concert PianOrchestra on location in the saloon of John Bernat's Crystal Palace Hotel, circa the mid to late 1920s. On the obverse of this photograph was the handwritten notation: "John Bernat's Saloon / 130 West Chestnut Street / Music Box / Building now torn down / Arnalds (Sic) Coffee Company bought it." The name Arnalds is misspelled and should be "Arnholz." Sam Arnholz, of Wichita, Kansas, was in the wholesale coffee business, and bought the Wurlitzer style 32 Concert PianOrchestra circa 1953 for $900.00. Mr. Arnholz stored the big machine in his coffee warehouse, where it stood only partially assembled. The top of the pipe-work was sticking up and visible through the warehouse window from the outside street.

(Photograph courtesy of Sue Fikany)

The original elegant bar and back-bar that graced the saloon in the Crystal Palace Hotel. Note the rather crude electric light installation on the back-bar, which would have been installed long after the historic hotel was built, considering the building was constructed in remote region of Colorado where amenities such as electricity would not be a viable option for many years to come. Beginning in 1923, or soon thereafter, the Wurlitzer Concert PianOrchestra occupied the same room as the bar/back-bar installation. Judging from the heating vent pipe (visible at upper right) heating appears to be by a free standing wood or coal fired stove.