BRATTLEBORO-The Estey Organ Museum will open for its 24th season Saturday, May 2. Historic instruments manufactured in Brattleboro are ready to be seen, heard, and played by visitors to the museum. This year's special exhibition, "From the Parlor to the Salon: Marketing Reed Organs to Changing Victorian Tastes," was developed by board member Craig Cowing.
The featured organs and images illustrate how the Estey Organ Company's marketing adapted to the development of their top-of-the line instruments from 1850 to 1890. "As the 19th century progressed and Victorian tastes changed," say organizers, "such imagery increasingly evoked a sense of culture and sophistication associated with Estey reed organs," several of which will be part of the exhibition.
The exibit includes Cowing's cutaway reed organ where working parts are visible. Visitors can even walk through a pipe organ to view the inner workings.
Organizers say an essential aspect of the museum's mission is to collect, preserve, and interpret the physical and cultural heritage of the Estey Organ Company (1846–1960), "one of the world's largest organ manufacturers." The museum, housed in the Company's main Engine House, displays 20 instruments dating as far back as the mid-1800s.
Museum volunteers periodically offer organs and organ parts to "re-home." The museum continues its "Organs in the Community Project," which installs Estey organs around town.
While most museums are silent and forbid touching, the Estey Museum hosts like to say, "Please touch: sit down and play! Make the reed and pipe organs come alive again."
The museum also homes a significant collection of music sheets, instructional books for amateur organists, catalogs, trade cards, and advertising materials published by the company. In the media room, visitors can watch a video about the company, produced by EOM trustees Sally Seymour and Dennis Waring, Ph.D.
The museum, located at 110 Birge St. in the rear (off Canal Street), will be open Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m. through Nov. 1. Allow at least half an hour for the visit, advise organizers.
Admission is free with a suggested $10 donation for nonmember adults greatly appreciated, but no one is turned away. Admission for members is always free. The museum is ADA accessible, and parking is free.
Special off-hour visits will be considered for those unable to visit during regular open hours. Contact the museum at info@esteyorganmuseum.org (preferably at least two weeks in advance). For further information about the museum and the Estey Organ Company, check out esteyorganmuseum.org.
This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.