Silver sugar tongs possibly made by Benjamin Tait of Dublin

In the early days of silent motion pictures, it was realised that background music had a great influence on the audience. Before movies had sound, many picture theatres had special 'player pianos' to reproduce music mechanically from piano rolls. The music was meant to accentuate the mood of the film.

Some player pianos were elaborately extended, with pipe organs and sound effects installed in adjacent side-cabinets, so that the accompanist could create sounds to match the action on the …

Parts of this object

Practice rail for fotoplayer

c.1918

Summary

Object No.

H10302

Object Statement

Fotoplayer, components and accessories, Style 20, wood / metal / copper / steel / brass / ebony / fabric / felt / paper / skin, made by American Photo Player Company, Berkeley, California, United States of America, c. 1918

Physical Description

Fotoplayer, Style 20, American Photo Player Company, Berkeley, California, c.1918.

Style 20 fotoplayer featuring an 88 note keyboard, 4 piano pedals, 5 stop rockers and 4 effect buttons (above the keyboard) with 2 spool boxes in fron mounted vertically. The side cabinet has an ornamental front backed with faded orange cloth. It contains organ pipes, bass drum, snare drum, 2 cymbals, tom-tom drum, 1 chime, train whistle, pistol shot effect and castanets. Both the piano and the side cabinet are veneered in oak.

Marks

Plaque above keyboard: "fotoplayer" / Manufactured By / American Photo Player Co. / New York, N.Y. - Berkeley, Cal. / U.S.A."

Short URL

https://ma.as/232262

Source

Credit Line

Gift of Barclay Wright, 1984

Acquisition Date

24 July 1984

Cite this Object

Harvard

Kings Cinema Fotoplayer made by the American Photo Player Company 2022, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 25 March 2023, <https://ma.as/232262>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/232262 |title=Kings Cinema Fotoplayer made by the American Photo Player Company |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=25 March 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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