Majestic in appearance and noted for the soft,
refined, exquisite character of its music. The picking of the strings by
tiny, automatic fingers, almost human in their action, is a marvelous
operation. Belt driven mechanism.
Height, 6 ft 6 in. Width, 3 ft. Depth, 2 ft.
Shipping weight, 515 lbs.
Price, with Electric Motor and 1 music Roll, 6
selections. . . . $375
Originally the Wurlitzer Automatic Harp bore no model designation, there
being only one design available. Then, in 1907, when a new case style
resembling a real harp was introduced, the original harp design was
designated the Style A Automatic Harp, while the new design was the Style B
Automatic Harp.
Rollography Project Goals
The purpose of the Wurlitzer Automatic Harp Rollography Project is simply
to present what little music roll information is currently known. The
automatic harp, while certainly interesting and a musical novelty for sure,
has been somewhat overlooked in terms of technical writing and music roll
information. This should not be entirely unexpected, because only about
1,500 harps were originally manufactured, and, consequently, due to a
relatively low survival rate, it is now a rarity. Thus, relatively few
collections have a Wurlitzer Automatic Harp, and so familiarity with this
odd automatic musical instrument remains low. However, this page at least
partially corrects any previous technical writing oversight by providing a
rollography of all 8 and 6 tune harp rolls known to have been cut according
to the original Whitlock music roll ledger.
John William Whitlock, the hero in the automatic harp story, was a
self-taught inventor who owned a novelty shop and factory in Rising Sun,
Indiana, which is only about 35 miles upstream from Cincinnati. In 1899 J.
W. Whitlock patented a self-playing harp. Then, sometime circa 1904-1905, he
took six of his self-playing harps to nearby Cincinnati, Ohio, and placed
them in commercial locations. In a stroke of good luck, it was in the spring
of 1905 when Howard Wurlitzer strolled into a café not far from his office
and discovered one of Whitlock's coin-operated self-playing harps. Howard,
aggressive and always looking for an opportunity, sought out Whitlock and
made arrangements for Wurlitzer to be the exclusive distributor.
A
contract between Whitlock and Wurlitzer was signed mid 1905, which committed
Wurlitzer to buy 1,000 self-playing harps at $200.00 each, delivered f.o.b.
the wharf boat at Rising Sun. Wurlitzer was granted two options, each one
for 500 additional harps at a price of $125.00 per unit. Each option had to
be exercised prior to the expiration of the previous order. All seemed to be
going well and J.W. Whitlock and Company flourished and a new factory
building was put up to accommodate the building of automatic harps.
But
the once flourishing romance with the Wurlitzer Automatic Harp was to be
short lived, and circa 1910 Wurlitzer abruptly canceled its first contract
option with Whitlock for an additional 500 harps. A breach of contract legal
battle ensured, with both sides seeking remuneration for damages incurred.
While automatic harp production stopped circa 1910, the last music roll cut
for the automatic harp was roll #238, which was listed in the October, 1917,
Wurlitzer Monthly Roll Bulletin. No more Automatic Harp roll are listed in
the Wurlitzer Monthly Roll Bulletins after this point in time. So, then, who
was cutting automatic harp rolls during and after the legal tangle between
Whitlock and Wurlitzer? Did Wurlitzer at some point begin cutting harp rolls
in its massive North Tonawanda facility? The evidence (referring to the
Whitlock music roll records) seems to suggest that some arrangement
continued to exist with J. W. Whitlock and Company for the cutting of harp
rolls, which continued up until the last harp roll was cut, circa 1917, and
possibly as late as 1918.
For a more detailed accounting of J.W. Whitlock, his company, and the
Wurlitzer Automatic Harp please visit the Crandall Library web site.
Wurlitzer Automatic Harp Tracker Scale
1. Not used.
2. Rewind
3 to 62. Playing harp notes F-E
63. Shutoff
64. Nickel drop.
When a nickel is dropped into the coin slot it
bridges two contact points and starts the motor. When a tune ends,
tracker hole 64 simultaneously causes the nickel to drop and closes
a switch to keep the motor running. Then hole 63, which follows
closely behind hole 64, opens the switch and shuts off the motor.
This somewhat complicated arrangement was probably used to prevent
the nickel from being "welded" to the contact points due to
inductive arching (or kickback) when the motor is shut off and its
magnetic field suddenly collapses.
The Wurlitzer Automatic Harp Rollography Database
Data
for the Wurlitzer Automatic Harp Rollography comes from two sources, the
Whitlock "Music Rolls Record" ledger, with a rubber stamped date on the
ledger cover of August 11, 1905 (ledger copy courtesy of Bob Gilson), and
from numerous Wurlitzer Monthly Roll Bulletins from between 1913 and 1917.
The Whitlock ledger is handwritten up through roll #92, and thereafter,
beginning with roll #93, a Wurlitzer harp roll label was pasted into the
ledger to enumerate the music selections for each roll. However, one
Wurlitzer label was missing and it looks as though that particular label was
never pasted into the ledger space set aside for roll #122. Thus, the titles
for this one roll remain a mystery.
There were numerous challenges in deciphering the somewhat ornate
handwriting, sometimes because of sloppy handwriting or overwritten
characters, titles, and/or composer names, other times because of poorly
copied handwriting due to light and/or faded script. In all cases, however,
where interpretation was questionable, ample time was spent researching the
title and/or composer(s) via the Internet to correct any errors and/or
deficiencies. In some instances, where research was involved, abbreviated
composer names were "expanded" to show the full name. In contrast, all text
that was easily and/or perfectly readable (and when no research was
necessary) was entered into the database verbatim, which means that any
original Whitlock ledger errors may have been accurately carried through
into the database.
The J.W. Whitlock "Music Rolls Record" ledger is unique in that it
details all of the Wurlitzer Automatic Harp music rolls cut, except for one
roll. The ledger entry for roll #122 is empty, although the master roll #122
does exist, and so roll #122 was almost certain cut and distributed. It is
unknown why this one Wurlitzer label is missing. Nonetheless, this
rollography fortuitously contains what may be next to ALL of the harp roll
titles known to have been arranged and cut by Whitlock for Wurlitzer. Even
with any inherent errors, the rollography represents a valuable compendium
of early Wurlitzer titles for the music historian and collector alike.
Submitting New Music Roll Information
Please note that partial information from damaged roll labels can be very useful,
and can often be used to match up and
complete otherwise incomplete tune title and/or composer information. For examples and suggestions on how to submit images click here or on the thunmnail image at right.
—Please send an e-mail message to
and include the following information:
If Sending a Hand-Typed List
Include the tune number, tune title, and composer information.
Is the information from a music roll, roll box, a loose unattached label, or a list?
Attach the list, or copy and paste it into the e-mail body,
Note whether, or not, you want you name associated with the information submitted.
If Sending Photographs of Roll Labels
Snap a clear, easily readable picture of the roll label. For multiple music roll box labels, four to six boxes can be grouped together for a group picture of the labels.
Attach the pictures to an e-mail message.
Note whether, or not, you want you name associated with the information submitted.
Thank you for any assistance you may
provide. Information submitted will be added to the music roll database
and/or will be very helpful in confirming that data already collected is
correct. Some of the catalogued data has come from old typed lists or nearly
illegible box labels, for which no known original roll exists, and so every bit of new data can be very useful in compiling a more complete and accurate database of rolls.
Adobe
Reader (or its equivalent) is required to open and/or print the database reports. The free Adobe Reader can be downloaded by clicking on the icon at left.
Distribution of Database Information Last Updated May 3,
2020
Download
the current database report as a PDF
by clicking on the top button, or report more
music rolls by clicking on the bottom button.
50 pages.
134 pages.
All database report information is
offered "as is," without any guarantee or warranty whatsoever of any kind,
neither stated, implied, nor inferred, as to the accuracy, correctness,
exactness, suitability, or usefulness of any content.
Credits:
Bob Gilson, Art Reblitz, Q. David Bowers; and Dick Hack.
Rollography compiled by Terry Hathaway
Wurlitzer
advertised the Automatic Harp thusly:
