Wurlitzer Style 17 (Regular) PianOrchestra
Philipps Pianella Model Special
The PianOrchestra in the Lund Collection

(Photographs courtesy of Michael Lund)

The magnificently restored and displayed Wurlitzer Style 17 PianOrchestra is now a prized addition in the Lund Collection. With its brightly polished brass musical lyre gleaming at front center, and backed up by equally colorful art glass set in brass piping, the orchestra bells become a performance highlight whether the instrument is playing or just standing idle. Although a relatively small PianOrchestra, when compared to the largest Mandolin and Concert PianOrchestra models, its grand appearance leaves no doubt whatsoever as to why the early Style 17 "Regular" PianOrchestra remained a Wurlitzer catalogue staple long after the other early Regular PianOrchestra styles had been dropped from sales literature.

Some people may wonder why such an imposing machine would be equipped with nothing more than a single roll mechanism. In the early days of such orchestrions (and before the roll changer was invented) it was common practice to have a designated person attend to the playing of the orchestrion, This person would select the music to be played, change rolls, and play requested music—perhaps for some sort of small gratuity. It was later on in the U.S., probably circa 1907-1908, that the roll changer became popular and more or less standard issue for PianOrchestras, whereupon the PianOrchestra was then finally able to play a large selection of music completely unattended.

(Photographs courtesy of Michael Lund)

This right front oblique view of the PianOrchestra shows off the depth and overall pleasing proportions of this once commercially popular style. Although not particularly easy to see, there is a small, early type of Wurlitzer wall box attached to the right side of the case, just above the midway step in the case—about the same level as the roll mechanism. This type of early wall box had a weighted lever with a bent wire (at the non-weighted end) that dipped down into a tiny red-fiber mercury pot when tilted by a dropped coin.