Now You See It, Now You Don't!

TellZall's object for September is Theater Organs.

When we go to a movie theater today, we experience a much different world than the theater-goer of the early twentieth century. Nowadays, we usually go to movie theaters in modern buildings, maybe even in shopping malls, where several movies are shown at the same time. The actual theaters are fairly small, only seating maybe one or two hundred people at most. Movies have soundtracks that play music specially chosen by the movies' producers, and they also have dialogue and sound effects that set the tone for the film.

In the early days of the movie industry, films did not have a sound track to accompany them. Silent movies required theater organs, located in each theater, to set the tone for what was happening on screen. Because there was no actual dialogue, the theater organ was an important part of telling the film's story to the audience. The theater itself was also much bigger, often seating several hundred people. Even smaller communities had larger, more elaborately decorated theaters than what we usually see today. When audiences came to the theater, they were treated to a number of entertainments, often including live shows as well as the silent movie. Organs were often used to accompany these other entertainments as well. Theater organs helped to turn theater offerings into grand events.

The first organs used in theaters were basically the same as church organs, but soon companies began to produce much more elaborate pipe organs for the movie theaters. A man by the name of Robert Hope-Jones, working with the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, first invented the theater organ. The Wurlitzer name soon became synonymous with the theater organ, although numerous other companies also built similar organs over time. Unlike church organs, theater organs were much more versatile. They could accompany singers and orchestras in the same way that traditional church organs could, but they could also create some sound effects for silent films and play more popular forms of music from that era. Theater organ consoles housed several keyboards to produce a wide range of sounds and, depending upon their size, could have from several hundred to several thousand pipes. [Insert Wurlitzer image here]

Theater organs became so popular that companies in the United States and England built thousands of them in the first few decades of the twentieth century. In addition to their use in movie theaters, theater organs were also utilized in other public locations, such as baseball stadiums. This popularity was very short-lived. The first "talkie," a movie with sound, premiered in the United States in 1927. The film was The Jazz Singer, and it meant that theater organs would no longer be needed to accompany movies and provide sound effects. Within a few short years, theater organs were no longer in great demand.

For many years, the numbers of theater organs in the United States dwindled. Many of the old theaters have been torn down and replaced with more modern facilities. The organs in those old theaters were often destroyed in the process. In recent years, however, many people have begun to take more interest in the theater organs. There are a number of theater organ societies in the United States devoted to saving these organs and educating the public about their uniqueness and value, including the American Theater Organ Society. A number of theaters, mostly located in large cities, have refurbished their old theater organs and occasionally show silent films accompanied by them. There are a small number of professional theater organists who now find themselves once again in demand.