Manufacturing the Muse: Estey Organs and Consumer Culture in Victorian AmericaPurchases of American reed organs between 1850 and 1910 exceeded that of pianos by almost two to one. Manufacturing the Muse is the story of the reed organ, a centerpiece in American parlors, churches, and gathering places for nearly a century. It is also the story of venerable New England entrepreneur Jacob Estey, whose industrial standardization of instrument manufacture strongly affected Victorian popular culture, social stratification, gender issues, and musical taste. Dennis Waring's examination of The Estey Organ Company (1846 to 1960) and its production and marketing strategies reveals much concerning the importance of the reed organ as a significant artifact in the history of American consumerism. The companion CD includes a variety of period pieces, some selected from the Estey Organ Method, all played on Estey organs. Extensive appendices include surveys of Estey organ case design, free-reed making operations, diagrams, maps, timelines, and music. A generous number of photographs round out the book, which may be read as a good story as well as an important part of America's history. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
REED ORGAN CONTEXTS | 17 |
Sing the Old Songs | 49 |
THE ESTEY SAGA | 77 |
The Estey Organ Company | 111 |
After Jacob Estey | 169 |
Appendix A Timelines | 205 |
Estey Reed Organ Casework and Tonal Design | 221 |
Appendix F Music Scores | 263 |
Bibliography | 331 |
The Compact Disc | 354 |
Other editions - View all
Manufacturing the Muse: Estey Organs & Consumer Culture in ..., Volume 1 Dennis Waring No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
advertising American organ bass became began bellows Birge Street block Boston brass Brattleboro Burditt Cabot Carpenter Chris Brown church common scale compact disc Cottage Organ couplers culture early electronic organs Estey & Green Estey catalogue Estey company Estey factory Estey Organ Estey Organ Company Estey Organ Method Estey's figure free reeds free-reed harmonium HYMN important industrial instru Jacob Estey Julius keyboard keyboard instruments keys later Levi Fuller machine makers manual Mason & Hamlin mechanical Mel Harris melodeon ment Musical Courier musical instruments newspaper nineteenth century octave organist Parlor Organ patent pedal personal communication piano pipe organ pitch played player popular music production railroad reed cells reed organ reed organ manufacture reed-making rivets ROSB Seraphine sets of reeds singing social sold songs sound stop styles Sub-Bass timbre tion tone tongues town trade card treble tuned tuner Vermont Phoenix Victorian Vocalion Whitney York