Barton Organ Company
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
manufacturer during the age of silent movies
Silent Movies
Silent Movies are 13 solo guitar compositions by Marc Ribot released September 28, 2010 on Pi Recordings.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars stating "For those interested in one of the more compelling and quietly provocative and graceful guitar records of 2010,...
. The company was founded by Dan Barton, who was from Amherst, Wisconsin
Amherst, Wisconsin
Amherst is a village in Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. As of 2009 the population was 1052 people. Amherst creates the core of the Tomorrow valley area.-History:...
. The fifth largest builder of theater instruments in the nation, Barton focused almost exclusively on the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
market. The small factory seldom sent instruments further away than the distance a Pullman sleeper car
Sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
could travel in one night. For this reason, the instruments are almost unknown outside of this relatively small area. The company built about 250 theater organs from 1918 to 1931.
Barton's first experiments in producing equipment to accompany silent films was a set of electrically operated bells that formed a musical scale. Mounted around the interior of the theater, these were operated by the pit drummer who was performing foley and various other sound effects for the picture. After seeing the highly enthusiastic reception of his invention, Barton began toying with the idea of a more elaborate mechanism.
In 1918, the Bartola Musical Instrument Company was formed in Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,916 people, 24,082 households, and 13,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,662.2 people per square mile . There were 25,420 housing units at an average density of 1,075.6 per square mile...
. Barton began with the development and manufacture of Bartola pit organs. He was assisted by Butch Littlefield and Walter Gollnick and was financed in the early days by a partner, W. G. Maxcy. Later, during the boom years of theater organ
Theatre organ
A theatre organ is a pipe organ originally designed specifically for imitation of an orchestra. New designs have tended to be around some of the sounds and blends unique to the instrument itself....
building, the company was called simply the "Barton Organ Company". It ceased business about 1931, soon after the advent of "talking pictures
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
" lessened the demand for theater organs.
The first organ produced was the Bartola, a small pipe organ in a case that sat in a theater’s orchestra pit
Orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music or in cases when incidental music is required...
. It was played from a keyboard on a stand that swung around above the keys of a piano. There were four models. The larger ones had several cases–one for orchestral pipe ranks and the other for percussions and sound effects. A footboard placed around the piano pedals was used to play the effects. Bartolas were mainly for small theaters. Most of the traps and other percussions were powered directly by electric solenoids and not pneumatics as with most other contemporary pit organs and photoplayers.
As large theaters were built, Barton began to build theater organs. Increased demand and production scale necessitated outsourcing some components, and materials from Dennison, Gottfried, Meyer, Wangerin
Wangerin Organ Company
The Wangerin Organ Company was a manufacturer of pipe organs based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was also known as the Wangerin-Weickhardt and Hann-Wangerin-Weickhardt company. Many of their organs are still being played in churches today....
, and Geneva have been identified with extant instruments. In its heyday, Barton had over 150 employees.
The largest Barton was installed in the Chicago Stadium
Chicago Stadium
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....
and had six manuals as well as over 800 stop tabs. It was destroyed by fire in October 1996. Powered by a 100 HP Spencer blower, the sound of the organ (in the words of the reviewer of Marcel Dupre's 1929 dedicatory recital) was immense: "...It was as if even the most ardent lover of chocolate soda were hurled into a swimming pool filled with it..." Stadium organist Al Melgard
Al Melgard
Al Melgard was the third and best-known organist for the Chicago Stadium, from the early 1930s until retirement in 1974, at age 85.Melgard, who lost his left index finger in an accident as a youngster, was nonetheless a highly acclaimed musician and played the Stadium's world-famous Barton theater...
once famously took out an entire tier of clerestory windows and most of the light bulb filaments while executing a fortississimo rendition of the national anthem to stop a riot that erupted at a boxing match.
The largest extant and unaltered Barton is opus 234, a 4/21 rank instrument for the Hollywood Theater in Detroit, which is undergoing a museum quality restoration by Steven Ball, a specialist in the work of the Barton Firm. He is also involved with the Barton organ at the 1928 Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor
Michigan Theater (Ann Arbor)
The Michigan Theater is a movie palace in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States of America. It shows independent films, stage productions and musical concerts....
, which is one of the most frequently-heard instruments in the country .
Barton also manufactured a lift that raised a console
Organ console
thumb|right|250px|The console of the [[Wanamaker Organ]] in the Macy's department store in [[Philadelphia]], featuring six manuals and colour-coded stop tabs....
to stage level for performances. Recognizable because of its distinctive four posts, the mechanism was concealed inside and was of great interest to small to mid-sized theater builders because it did not require the drilling of a central screw shaft into the floor of the orchestra pit for its operation. A specific example of this lift unit for the Barton organ is at the 1927-era historic Temple Theatre in Saginaw, Michigan. On January 7, 2011, the organ was removed from the theatre by the Helderop Pipe Organ Company of Detroit, Michigan for a complete restoration. The work is expected to cost $35,000 and last until April 2011, before the organ is returned to its original 1937 glory.
Some church organs were also built by Barton and were known as Maxcy–Barton organs. These were produced by a later incarnation of the firm after the advent of talking pictures in 1927. One noted organ is a three manual instrument still in use at St. Mary Parish of Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,916 people, 24,082 households, and 13,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,662.2 people per square mile . There were 25,420 housing units at an average density of 1,075.6 per square mile...
.
External links
- Barton Archives at the Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
- The 3/13 Barton from the Michigan TheaterMichigan TheaterMichigan Theater or Michigan Theatre may refer to:* Michigan Theater * Michigan Theater * Michigan Theatre * Michigan Theatre, Flint, Michigan, demolished* Michigan Theatre, Lansing, Michigan...
- The 4/21 Barton from the Hollywood Theater
- The Grand Barton Organ at the Overture CenterOverture CenterOverture Center for the Arts is a performing arts center and art gallery in Madison, Wisconsin, which replaced the Civic Center. The center was commissioned by Jerome Frautschi, designed by Cesar Pelli, and built by J.H. Findorff and Son. Flad Architects and Potter Lawson led the project as...
- The Mighty Barton Organ at the Al. Ringling Theatre
- The Barton Organ at the Chicago StadiumChicago StadiumThe Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....
- Barton Organ at St. Mary's Church in Oshkosh
- The Ironwood Theatre, Ironwood, Michigan
- The original installation 3/10 Barton at the Redford TheatreRedford TheatreThe Redford Theatre in Detroit, Michigan has served as an entertainment venue since it opened on January 27, 1928. It is owned and operated by the Motor City Theatre Organ Society , a 501 organization. Architects Ralph F. Shreive along with Verner, Wilheim, and Molby designed the 1,571-seat Redford...
in Detroit - The 3/18 Grand Barton at Warren Central High SchoolWarren Central High SchoolWarren Central High School may refer to:* Warren Central High School * Warren Central High School * Warren Central High School...
Performing Arts Center in Indianapolis - Opus 343 at The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, MI