In a message dated 1/28/04 5:30:13 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:


> The firm Aeolian.  It existed before Skinner.  When and if did Aeolian =
> continue building organs after A-S?  Trying to ascertain the difference =
> between them.
> 

Aeolian began making player reed organs before the 20th century but the pipe 
organ division started about the same time as Skinner.

Aeolian's efforts were almost entirely geared towards costly residence organs 
until the final period when they began to build some large concert and church 
organs such as the Duke Chapel organ. That organ, ironically, is   based on 
the Skinner at Princeton University Chapel, or so it has been described!

The Skinner Organ Company also built residence organs with various versions 
of Ernest Skinner's sophisticated player mechanism.

After Arthur Hudson Marks bought, restored the finances of and began managing 
the Skinner Organ Company his primary area of interest was the residence 
organ and the principal competition was Aeolian, followed by Austin and Kimball 
(perhaps others). He had connected with Skinner because he was the owner of a 
beautiful Skinner residence organ - and he had the personal connections to sell 
them.

Due to rising taxation and the onset of the Depression the market for such 
organs began to decline and A. H. Marks purchased the organ division of Aeolian 
in 1931 closing the factory and taking over several prestigious concert organ 
contracts such as the Hershey Theater. The company was not really merged - 
just shut down.

The name of of the Skinner Organ Company was changed to Aeolian-Skinner. 
Ernest Skinner was on his way out of the firm and his contract expired in 1935 
whereupon he founded the Ernest M. Skinner and Son Organ company.

Production of player organs ceased at Aeolian-Skinner in the 1930's though 
for a brief period they provided a mechanism for a player Hammond organ!

Aeolian-Skinner continued in business until the early 70's collapsing into 
bankruptcy after a glorious history. 

The Ernest M. Skinner and Son company was sold to an employee and operated in 
Florida for some years, then subsequently in East Kingston, New Hampsire and 
was still in business in the early 1980's. I am curious what happened to this 
operation and whether anyone is still operating the company. Although the 
sucessors occasionally built a small organ, or made additions, etc. to some 
organs, the period in which this firm built any organs of consequence ended with the 
onset of World War II.

Other divisions of Aeolian were not involved in the transaction. You might be 
thinking of the checkered history of Aeolian Corporation of Rochester and 
Memphis with the label piano clones. I don't recall if they ever marketed 
electronic organs but the Aeolian Pipe organ was slayed by A. H. Marks 
(intentionally) and the name (very prestigious) was married to Skinner. That is all that 
survived.

E. Power Biggs' Aeolian-Skinner and I think one of the experimental organs at 
Princeton had old Aeolian consoles but this was because they were in stock 
and not of much use in normal organbuilding for Aeolian-Skinner so they were 
offered as a cheap alternative.

In a nutshell (and not great detail) this is esentially the story.....

Perhaps others will weigh in with nuances I have missed.

Cheers,

Carl Schwartz,
Silver Spring, MD

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