Editor’s note: This is another column in Bill Boyd’s new series, “The Way It Was,” about growing up in Marysville. Bill continues to work with the Union County Historical Society to obtain information for his stories. With Marysville and Union County celebrating Bicentennial anniversaries in 2019 and 2020, respectively, these articles help depict what life was like in those early years.
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When I was about 10 years old, my sister took me to Columbus to see a movie at the Ohio Theater. I don’t remember anything about the movie, but when it was over, all the theater lights were turned off. Then there was a burst of organ music. I didn’t know where it was coming from because the whole place was pitch dark.
The music got louder. In fact, it was the loudest organ music I had ever heard. It didn’t sound anything like the soft organ music I heard in church on Sunday morning. The source of this music was a special “theater organ.” Organs like that were made in the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially for large theaters. They provided music for silent movies. They were known for their loud volume and gaudy appearance.
Then, several spotlights targeted the left side of the stage. The floor parted and an incredibly ornate organ began to rise from below. There was a man in a white tuxedo who was playing that organ for all it was worth. It was wonderful music, and so loud you wouldn’t believe it. That man’s hands were all over one of the four keyboards, and his feet were flying over some sort of pedals.
The man started playing all sorts of music, and the words to the songs appeared on the movie screen along with a projected ball that kept time with the music. Then everyone in the audience was told to “Follow the bouncing ball” and we all started singing. There’s no way I will ever forget that organ. A 10-year-old kid just couldn’t have any more fun than that.
Now fast-forward to sometime in the 1980s. I met a man named Doug Christianson, who lived in a suburb of Chicago. He was a railroad executive, and we were both members of a club that collected occupational shaving mugs. We first met at one of their national meetings, and over the next few years, we traded and sold mugs to each other.
Doug had a number of other hobbies, and one of his favorites was playing an organ. He had an Estey parlor organ in his house. It was one of those old wooden organs that you pump with your feet. He loved to play that thing when he came home from work. His favorite song to play was “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” It was a great way to unwind at the end of the day.
Then one day while looking through his copy of the “Chicago Tribune,” he saw an ad for an auction. It seems that an old Chicago theater was being razed, and all its contents were being sold at auction. And one of the things listed for sale was the theater’s organ. Oh wow, what an opportunity. It was a chance to buy something that is vanishing every year from the American scene. Being a collector at heart, Doug couldn’t resist the opportunity.
He not only attended that auction, but also bought the organ. I have no idea what he paid for it, but knowing him, I think he probably got a pretty good deal. But what does one do with a large, loud theater organ? Surely he couldn’t put it in his family room that housed his old wooden pump organ. He was going to have to build a special addition to his house. And he did just that.
Doug contacted a friend who had a construction business, and the two of them designed a special room for the organ. It had to be a large room to handle the loud music. The new room was 21/2 stories tall. I never saw the room myself, but other members of the shaving mug club saw it, and they told me about it. The best description I got was from a friend who said it would be “a great place to play volleyball.”
The walls were covered with some sort of cork material to provide the best acoustics, and they were filled with soundproofing material. When I ended my shaving mug collecting days, maybe 20 years ago, I lost track of Doug. A mutual friend told me several years ago that he was about to retire to a condo in Florida. That really made me curious.
How do you sell a house with a theater organ in it? Do you list the organ as one of the appliances? You know, “Includes all major appliances: refrigerator, stove, washer/dryer, theater organ.” Or maybe he removed the organ and took it to Florida with him. Then he could list that new room as an “indoor volleyball court.”
If Doug did, indeed, take the organ with him to his Florida condo, my heart goes out to his neighbors. I hope they all like to listen to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Those wishing to contact Bill Boyd can e-mail him at bill@davidwboyd.com