MIDDLE ROW - Reed Organ

Reed Organ, 1868
Blakeman and Phillips Company
Kalamazoo, Michigan

Donor: Mr. & Mrs. Vidian Roe, 1975

William P. Blakeman opened a small shop to manufacture organs in 1854, just one block south of this Museum. He went into partnership with Delos Phillips in 1866 and produced the Star Organ. Phillips claimed that the Star Organ accounted for 20% of reed organs sold in the country.

Vibrating Reeds

The Star Organ is a reed organ. Sound is created by pumping the foot peddles while playing the keys. As air is forced past the brass reeds on the inside of the cabinet, they vibrate and produce sound. 

At Church and Home

Reed organs were popular in small churches and 19th century middle-class homes. Because they were mass-produced, they provided an option for a church that could not afford, or did not have room for, a large pipe organ.  For families, they were a center of entertainment in an age before radio or television.