Model organ is marked by mystery creator

Ken Moxey of Cape Girardeau is a make-over artist of sorts.

He uses his talent for restoring and recreating toys to bring smiles throughout the community.

His most recent project, a model theater organ, will soon return to a room at the Glenn House. He invested more than 50 hours to restore the homemade miniature organ that measures about 18 inches wide and had been in the Glenn House for at least 15 years, according to Glenn House board member Barbara Port.

"It was sitting on the floor in the children's room, and when we plugged it in we hoped for music, but got nothing," she said. "It was beginning to fall apart from the old glue drying up. We knew Ken made wonderful wooden toys, so we brought it to him. We are so excited he could put music in it."

Moxey installed a CD player and small speakers in the organ's reverse side so that it plays theater organ music by Stan Kann, an organist at the Fox Theater in St. Louis.

Theater organs were used to accompany silent films before sound was introduced. In 1910, the Wurlitzer company began building organs with special sound effects designed for use in movie theaters to accompany silent films. Large and spectacular organs could be found in beautifully crafted art deco movie theaters across America. Many Wurlitzers were switched off and many organists were put out of work when "talkies" came on the scene.

Though Moxey was able to repair and improve the organ, its original creator -- who remains a mystery -- took great care in its detail. Its 246 pipes are made of wooden dowels and it originally had 16 lights powered by batteries.

"As far as we can tell it never had any sound," said Moxey. Under the dust, written in pencil, is the incription "S.D. Mann, August 1932."

Other details include little black keys, only 3/8 inches long, a canvas roll top-lid covering three keyboards and stops on the console fashioned from heads of tiny nails.

"A good deal of the work has been done with a pocket knife and there is evidence that its creator worked with found objects," Moxey said. "For instance, three kinds of screws are used on the same hinge."

A tiny sheet of music was even found on the music stand. The model organ will be on display at the Glenn House again for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.