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Asegment of the show �Southern Routes� thataired in January and again (in longer form) inApril of 2008 featured the 87-key Gavioli organ,

Madam Laura, now being restored by Chris Carlisle ofSikeston, MO. The show is produced by PBS stationWKNO in Memphis, TN. The organ was once part of thePaul and Laura Eakins collection (Figure 1) housed firstat the Gay 90�s Village in Sikeston, Missouri; then at theGay 90�s Melody Museum in St. Louis (back coverphoto); and later at Bellm's Cars and Music of Yesterdayin Sarasota, FL. Chris is the grandson of Paul and LauraEakins.

The storyline was written by myself, of Memphis,Tennessee, who remembered seeing this organ at theMid-South Fair in Memphis in 1969 in the Gay 90�sVillage exhibit. I corresponded with the Eakins familyand kept track of the organ (my favorite) through all ofits adventures. I began corresponding with Chris (Figure2) after seeing his website (bandorganmusic.com) andwe both began discussing a notice offering the organ forsale by a collector in North Carolina which included along list of things wrong with the organ. Chris purchasedthe organ in 2004 and it returned to Sikeston where I vis-ited it once again.

Co-producer of the segment was Debi Robertson,Program Manager of WKNO television, who saw the

The Gavioli Organ, �Madam Laura,� on PBS

Vincent Astor

Figure 1. Paul Eakins poses with Madam Laura, a Muzzio/Gavioliorgan of 87 keys. This photo was taken during the time the organ wasat the Gay 90�s Village in Sikeston, MO. Photo: Chris Carlisle.

Figure 2. The author (standing) and Chris Carlisle (seated) pose forthe PBS shooting episode. Photo: Debi Robertson.

Figure 3. An identical organ as Madam Laura is featured in a early1900s Muzzio catalog. Photo: Fred Dahlinger.

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organ on a trip withme in 2006. Theshooting and inter-views were com-pleted in lateOctober andincluded an inter-view with TedMartin who wasone of the painterswho painted all ofthe Eakins organsin the 1960s.

Dates onpapers found insidethe organ in the1960s have datedthe 87-key organ tothe late 1890s. Itappears in aMuzzio catalogue(Figure 3) from theearly 1900s but hasmany of the ear-marks of theGavioli firm(including the turn-ing brass columnswhich disappearedwhen the organwent to storage inthe fifties). Itplayed on acarousel at Ramona

Park in Grand Rapids, MI, from 1909 until the rides wereremoved in 1955. It was converted from cylinder to bookmusic in 1914 by C. Eifler (a signature and the dateappear on the underside of the puff board). Figures 4 &5. Paul Eakins purchased the organ in 1964 and hispainters transformed it from its factory cream and goldleaf to a stunning brilliantly colored motif with the mainbody of the organ �valentine red� with intricate shadingand much gold leaf. It is unique in having few reedy ordiapason voices�more of the pipes being mostly flutes.It has snare drum, bass drum and cymbal, double cas-

tanets and threefigures�a con-ductor with threemovements andtwo bell ringers.

Two otherunique facts arethat it is one of twoorgans, both fromthe Eakins collec-tion, with bookmusic Things GoBetter With Coca-Cola; and the con-ductor bears aresemblance toLaura Eakins (pho-tos appeared in thePBS program)hence the organ�sname. More infor-mation and theshort segment fromthe show may befound at bandor-ganmusic.com.

For more informationon Paul Eakins�organs see PaulEakins� Gay 90sOrgan Collection inissue #4 of theCarousel Organ�ed

Figure 4. Writing inside of the organ: �Transformed by C. Eifler,Darby PA, July, 1914,� a date the organ was converted from cylinderuse to book operation. Photo: Chris Carlisle.

Figure 5. Madam Laura playing at Ramona Park in Grand Rapids sometime in the early1950s. Note C. Eifler�s name on the facade. Photo: Chris Carlisle.

Since childhood, Vincent Astor has had a deep and abiding love for mechanical musicalinstruments�particularly band organs and especially, Madam Laura. It was Eakins recordings which

fostered this love as well as a friendship with the Eakins and Carlisle families. He can also drive aWurlitzer theater organ or a Wurlitzer Caliola with equal dexterity.