The History of the Carolina Wurlitzer

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Here's a description of our Wurlitzer (no pictures, unfortunately), which was Opus 1,495. This means that it was the 1,495th organ built by Wurlitzer. It was just like all the others Wurlitzer made called Style F. (Here's more information on the different styles.) Our Carolina Theatre Wurlitzer was one of 94 Style Fs built, and it was installed and playing on opening night, Monday, March 7, 1927.

Definitions

First, you need to understand a few terms to make sense of the specification.

• Console
  This is the large wooden furniture that holds the devices the organist uses to play the organ.
• Manuals
  Manuals are the keyboards you see on the console. Shorter than a piano keyboard, they usually contain 61 notes, not 88 (though there are one or two exceptions in the world where the keyboards do have 88 keys). Manuals can be labelled; some names include Main, Great, Swell, Accompaniment, and many others.
• Pedals
  If the manual is the keyboard for the hands,  the pedalboard (or pedal for short) is the keyboard for the feet. It usually has 32 keys.
• Pipes
  It is the pipes that actually make up most of the pipe organ. The manuals, pedals, stop tabs, and so on, are just devices which allow the organist to control the organ — that is, the pipes. This is why it is called a pipe organ. Some pipes are short and thin, others long and wide, some round, some circular, some wood, some metal. The length of the pipe, usually 16', 8', 4', and 2', is what determines its lowest pitch.
• Stops
  The console contains many colorful tablets, usually called stop tabs, which activate a set of pipes or other sound device which make a particular sound. These are the organ stops. Some of these stops are unique to the organ, such as the Diapason or the Kinura, and others attempt to mimic the sounds of an orchestra, such as the Flute, Trumpet, or Oboe.
• Ranks
  A set of pipes which produces all the notes for one or more (most often, "more") stops.
• Divisions
  The resources of the theatre organ are organized (wonder where that word comes from!) into divisions. Each division is usually in its own room, called a chamber. Most divisions have shades in front which open and close to affect the volume. The name of a division is a clue to what kinds of sounds it will produce: Accompaniment, Solo, Main, Swell, and many others. Though these names are often the same as the labels of the manuals, there is no direct correlation. A stop from the Main division may be played on the Accompaniment manual, for example. The names often create confusion.
• Second Touch
  An ordinary pressure on a manual key will play the regular stops while depressing the keys further will play the second touch stops in addition. The added pressure on the key is what make the second touch stop speak. 
• Percussions
  A theatre organ, unlike most church organs, usually comes equipped with devices to make percussive noises, some tuned, some not. Traps are percussion devices like cymbal, snare drum, whip, ratchet, bass drum, and the like; they have no pitch. Tuned percussions include xylophone, marimba, kettledrum, tubular bells (chimes), glockenspiel, and the like.
• Sound Effects
  Buzzers, telephones, sirens, and the like are played either by pressing buttons (pistons) near the manuals with the hands or by pressing larger buttons (toe studs) near the pedals or levers with the feet.
• And So On
  This is just a start! There are many other interesting things to learn just in describing the parts of a theatre organ. If this fascinates you, we'd love to communicate with you! Please send us email or call.

The factory specification for the organ

Our Wurlitzer Style F contained the following sound producing devices (not stops):

Our organ contained the following disposition on 2 manuals and pedal:

ACCOMPANIMENT 16' Ophicleide We do not know what happened to the conole or the pipes or chests or any part of the organ. At the beginning of the search, we imagined that the Carolina Wurlitzer console might have looked something like this one. This is the console from a Wurlitzer Style 185 at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL 16' Bass 16' Contra Viol (TC) 8' Tuba Horn 8' Open Diapason 8' Tibia Clausa 8' Clarinet 8' Violin 8' Viol Celeste 8' Flute 8' Vox Humana 4' Octave 4' Piccolo   4' Viol  4' Octave Celeste 4' Flute 4' Vox Humana 22/3' Twelfth 2' Piccolo   Chrysoglott   Snare Drum   Tom Tom   Castanets   Tambourine   Chinese Block Accompaniment Second Touch 8' Tuba Horn 8' Open Diapason 8' Tibia Clausa 8' Clarinet   Cathedral Chimes   Xylophone   Triangle   10 Adjustable Combination Pistons

SOLO 16' Ophicleide The Style E is a close relative, so we thought that our console might have looked something like this one. This is the console from a Wurlitzer Style E at the Bardavon Theatre, Poughkeepsie, NY 16' Bass 16' Bourdon 8' Tuba Horn 8' Open Diapason 8' Tibia Clausa 8' Clarinet 8' Violin 8' Viol Celeste 8' Flute 8' Vox Humana 4' Clarion 4' Octave 4' Piccolo 4' Viol 4' Octave Celeste 4' Flute 4' Vox Humana 22/3' Twelfth 2' Piccolo 2' Fifteenth 13/5' Tierce Cathedral Chimes Xylophone Glockenspiel Sleigh Bells Chrysoglott Solo Second Touch 16' Ophicleide 8' Tibia Clausa 8' Clarinet   10 Adjustable Combination Pistons

GENERAL Tremulants Main Solo Vox Humana Tuba Push Button Door Bell Expression Pedals Double Touch Sforzando Pedal - Piano Pedal (left)       1st Touch, Full Stops (wind)       2nd Touch, Everything  Double Touch Sforzando Pedal - Piano Pedal (right)      1st Touch, Snare Drum      2nd Touch, Bass Drum and Cymbal

Why the different colors? Wurlitzer used different colored tabs to help the organist see quickly what stop was desired. For example, if the organist knew that he wanted a reed stop on the Solo, he had only to glance at the red stop tabs for the Solo and pick the one he wanted. It was a real sight aid and was copied by nearly every other theatre organ builder.

Surprised?

The largest of Charlotte's several theatre organs was right here at the Carolina. We had a two manual and pedal instrument with eight ranks of pipes (often seen written as II/8 or 2/8) plus percussions built by the Wurlitzer Company. Yes, Charlotte did have a Wurlitzer! Wurlitzer, located in North Tonawanda, New York, was the leading theatre organ builder in the United States and built organs all over the country. You may have heard or heard of the Mighty Wurlitzer at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Remember, a theatre organ is not a church organ! What you hear in church or at a funeral parlor is the complete opposite of a theatre organ. The theatre organ was made to encompass as many of the sounds of a full symphony orchestra as possible, and it included drums, bells, cymbals, car horns, thunder crashes, telephone buzzers, doorbells — well, you name it! The reason for a theatre organ is "Entertainment," and once you've heard a theatre organ in person, you will never ever confuse the two again! If you're still not sure, check out this comparison.

By the way, there's a bit of trivia bound up in the first organist for the Carolina. The fact is that Charlotte had a bit of the women's equality movement right here in 1927! The premier organist, who played for years for the Carolina, was Miss Fae Wilcox. She had moved to Charlotte shortly before being hired to play our new Wurlitzer. In order to assure that we had the best organist to go with the best theatre in town, the management sent her to study with none other than Jesse Crawford, the renowned organist of the Paramount Theatre, Times Square, and known as "Poet of the Organ". Trust me, a female organist in 1927, especially in the South, was indeed a rarity!

So where is it now?

You may ask, "What happened to the organ?" Well, sometime in the late '50s or early '60s it was removed and taken to Brevard High School for installation there, we think. We were told that at the time it was to be installed, someone went looking for the pipes and the console, and all they found were vandalized organ pipes and parts. Shortly afterwards, even this was removed without trace! There are stories that there was a fire, as well. Actually, this kind of quote-mysterious-quote disappearance is not unusual with organs. Thieves treat rare pipe organs just as they treat collectibles or heirlooms. It is sad, but true, that nobody today can locate or document the existance or history of any part of the Carolina Wurlitzer. Its design and the history of Wurlitzer and many other theatre organ builders will be, however, preserved forever in the huge Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, available now.

Metrolina Theatre Organ Society is working toward building and installing a new theatre organ into the hopefully soon-to-be restored Carolina.