Dr. Ted’s Musical Marvels

Inside this unassuming building in Dale, Indiana, is a truly magical place filled with the sights and sounds of happy times, where a glorious yesteryear is still alive and well. Welcome to Dr. Ted’s Musical Marvels – an eclectic collection of musical instruments and memorabilia that will delight and astound you. I guarantee it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced, and when the sign is lit up, it’s showtime. Let’s step inside these doors for a musical voyage.

Main Room

Inside the main room is where light and sound create a magical portal to another time – a place where childhood dreams and fascination are around every corner. From carnival mirrors that make you look silly to carousel horses with top hats or banners from a carnival long ago, you’re surrounded by toys that every child wanted – shiny and new, stacked to the top of the building in beautiful stage lighting, as if every day was that particular Christmas morning you so looked forward to.

But the main attraction by far is large machines that recreate the music of a bygone era. This fantastic collection comes from across the United States and Europe, all assembled by engineer, medical doctor, and collector Dr. Ted.

Introduction

“Hello, my name is Ted Waffler, and I’m the owner or proprietor of Dr. Ted’s Musical Marvels, which we’re at right now. This is a collection of mechanical, plain musical instruments. In other words, everything in here plays by itself, one way or the other – even with an electric motor, or you wind it up or hand crank it. They play with paper rolls, what we call music books. I even have some old records here that play on a machine that plays mechanically rather than electronically.”

Arbor

“Okay, this next instrument is called an Arbor. It was built by a man named Arthur Versus, and you can see that Arbor was taken from his name. It was built in Belgium. This organ was made to play in dance halls or maybe small cafes to entertain patrons. It plays with a paper roll, which I don’t have. You probably can’t see here because it’s too dark, but it’s a paper roll about that long, and each paper roll has holes like a player’s piano roll. Each roll plays four tunes. It mainly consists of pipes, which are behind. Also, a bass drum, snare drum, accordion, symbols, and wood blocks. It has a kind of unique sound, what we call a dance organ sound. Dance organs are common in Belgium. We’ve got this one, and I’ve got one back there, which you’ll see later. It’s larger, but they have a kind of unique sound, which, maybe by now, if you listen to all the other instruments, you will notice each one has a different sound of its own. And that is what I like about them. They’re not all just the same old thing. Yeah, I’ll go ahead and play a tune. It has a motor in it, so all I do is push a button. An electric motor will pump the pump and turn the rope, the paper roll.”

Whirl Insert

“This next instrument is a Whirl Insert, a model 153, according to Wurlitzer records. The Wurlitzer Company built about 164 instruments of this style. They built bigger and smaller ones, but this style was probably the most popular. It was found on merry-go-rounds and skating rinks. I am fond of this instrument because I’m from Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville had a merry-go-round organ. They had an amusement park with a merry-go-round with an organ on it, one of these 153s built by Wurlitzer – not this particular one, but the same model. I love that instrument. So, it’s my favorite in this collection. It has – I mean, some people call it happy music, sad music. Many call it a sad sound because it sounds like an ancient day.”

Dutch Street Organ

“Hi, this next instrument is called a Dutch street organ. It was made over in the Netherlands. These organs are pretty common, especially in Rotterdam or Amsterdam. In a downtown area, you’re almost sure to see these in the streets on a nice day. They’re pushed through by vendors who set them up on a corner and collect money. They play tunes and hope for donations, and the little boy at the end indicates he’s holding one of the collection tins. It plays with what we call book music – this is cardboard, folded like an accordion, with a bunch of little holes. I’ll put this in the instrument on the end, pull it through the keyframe, which is what – which is where it has little keys that it punches to play the music. This is hand-cranked. There’s a flywheel on the back, and I’ll be cranking it. It’ll work the bellows and run the music through.”

Stinson Organ Company

“The Stinson Organ Company built this next organ. Now, Don Stinson is a man who lives up in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and for years, he worked on merry-go-round organs back when he was a younger man. There were many merry-go-rounds in Pennsylvania and Ohio, all in that area, and he probably serviced most of them through the years. He, of course, gained a lot of skills working on those instruments, and he decided back in the early 1980s to form his own organ company and start building organs, which he did. Up until just recent years, that’s – he’s retired now. But I met him back in the early ’80s, and we discussed building an organ for me that would have all the bells, whistles, and things I’d want. So, we agreed to it. I gave him a down payment, and I guess a good 20 years later, he finally delivered that organ. I mean, it wasn’t his fault. I kept wanting changes. He would come up with a new set of pipes for somebody’s organ, and he was always working on changes and updates and improving the organs. I always told him to hold off and finish the next guy’s organ and hold mine off so I could have the newer changes. So, eventually, though, we got it done.”

Decapre

“Okay, this following instrument is called a Decap. That’s the company’s name that at least had a hand in building it. It’s a dance organ. This organ probably dates back to the 1920s. It was built originally.