What is the difference between a Steam organ, a Fair organ, and a Band organ?
Well in the olden days before fair organs were invented, they used to be driven by steam engines. This is an engine made up from the pieces of an old traction engine, a central heating boiler, and a rubber hot water bottle. This is why they were called steam organs, but really, they had nothing to do with steam. Then, when showmen invented fairgrounds they used the old steam organs to provide music to attract people to their fairs. The organs were then powered by electricity, but curiously they weren’t called ‘Electric organs’ – they were called ‘Fair organs’. This is just as well, because when Electric organs actually did arrive on the scene some years later, they would have had to have been called something else. In America, these organs weren’t powered by steam or electricity. They were called ‘Band organs’ because they were powered by large rubber bands (similar to aeroplanes).
Related Questions
- Ive seen something like this at a steam fair, but I thought that there was a man inside the organ playing the music on a keyboard. How can the organ play by itself?
- I understand Dance Force performs between a 2pc-10pc band. What is the difference between the combinations?
- What is the difference between a Fair organ and a Street organ?
