An Organ Grinder

The organ grinder was a musical novelty street performer of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, and refers to the operator of a... more

by Eva Lechner

Title

An Organ Grinder

Artist

Eva Lechner

Medium

Photograph

Description

The organ grinder was a musical novelty street performer of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, and refers to the operator of a street or barrel organ.

Period literature often represents the grinder as a gentleman of ill repute or as an unfortunate representative of the lower classes. Newspaper reporters would sometimes describe them cynically or jocularly as minor extortionists who were paid to keep silent, given the repetitious nature of the music. Later depictions would stress the romantic or picturesque aspects of the activity. Whereas some organ grinders were very likely itinerants or vagabonds, many, certainly in New York, were Italian immigrants who chose to be street performers in order to support their families.

The stereotypical organ grinder was a man, bearing a medium-sized barrel organ held in front of him and supported by a hinged or removable wooden stick or leg that was strapped to the back of the organ. The strap around his neck would balance the organ, leaving one hand free to turn the crank and the other to steady the organ. A tin cup on top of the organ or in the hand of a companion, was used to solicit payments for his performance.

Moving away from the stereotype, in reality the size of the street organ varied from a tiny barrel organ with only 20 or fewer pipes, weighing only a few pounds, through medium-sized instruments containing forty or more pipes, mounted on a hand-pushed trolley, up to large ornately decorated book-operated organs, with hundreds of pipes weighing several hundred pounds. The largest organs were usually mounted on a cart, and required a team of operators to move, particularly in the Netherlands when crossing the steep canal bridges of Amsterdam streets. The most elaborate organs would have mechanical figures or automata mounted on top of or in the front of the case, along with percussion instruments.

Copyright 2013 Eva Lechner(taken at the Christmas market in Barendorf,Germany)

Uploaded

July 24th, 2019