Macy’s Pipe Organ

[tofu]

Had no idea that the Macy’s in Philly has a giant pipe organ in it that was originally built for the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis (supposedly the biggest pipe organ in the world) - until today when I saw this was the last day to hear it. I guess they've had daily mid day concerts in the store. Wish I had known when I’ve been in Philly - would have definitely stopped by to hear it. What a shame to lose such a unique shopping experience with real musicians making real music. Anybody been there for one of the concerts?





https://whyy.org/articles/wanamaker-bui ... iladelphia

[gocsick]

It is the Wanamaker Organ ... It always had and always will be .. Macy's organ?... Yeah no

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanamaker_Organ

Used to go every year as a kid with my family for the Wanamaker's. Christmas light show and the Organ featured heavily. When I was in high school I saw a special concert from the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra of the Saint-Saëns (pronounced by goober me at the time as Saint Shawn) Organ Symphony...

Now I feel old .... that was 35 years ago....

[bloke]

These are expensive to move, much less set back up and restore during the setup. I hope some church with deep pockets grabs the thing, but it would also almost have to be at church that's building a new sanctuary in order to accommodate it. I have to believe it's a so-called theater organ as opposed to a classical organ, but so what?

When the Ellis auditorium in Memphis was torn down to build the Cannon Center in the same place (something that never should have happened) theater organs were in that place, as it had originally been an arena but was also able to be converted by its original design to two opposing concert halls of different sizes.

I don't know what happened to the smaller one, but the larger one was taken by a Baptist church in a suburb which was building a new sanctuary. Theater organs don't feature beautiful pipes arrays, but are typically tucked into cubbies, so the way that they dealt with that was to put gigantic speaker cloth (or something like that) over three upper box-shaped cavities - which faced the congregation from up above the pulpit side ("front") of the sanctuary.

There's also an old Orpheum circuit theater in downtown Memphis which later was bought by Malco to show movies and eventually shuttered. When it was restored decades ago to show touring Broadway shows, the organ was also restored. A local jazz/rock/pop keyboard player is also a fine pipe organist and is the keeper and player of that instrument. His name is Tony Thomas, and his Tony Thomas Trio (for at least 40 years now) plays all styles of pop music, obviously not with the Orpheum theater pipe organ. LOL

https://www.google.com/search?q=Tony+Th ... e&ie=UTF-8

[tofu]

It is the Wanamaker Organ ... It always had and always will be .. Macy's organ?... Yeah no

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanamaker_Organ

Used to go every year as a kid with my family for the Wanamaker's. Christmas light show and the Organ featured heavily. When I was in high school I saw a special concert from the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra of the Saint-Saëns (pronounced by goober me at the time as Saint Shawn) Organ Symphony...

Now I feel old .... that was 35 years ago....

Ha Ha - yeah I get it about being the Wanamaker organ. I’ve actually got some fine porcelain cups and shaving mug etc my grandmother bought at that store back just before the 1920’s. The name change is akin to here when Sears Tower was sold and the acquirer changed the name at the request of a minor new tenant (couple of floors) to Willis Tower. Nobody refers to it as anything other than Sears Tower. Even funnier Willis is no longer a tenant. They haven’t changed the name yet - not sure what the terms of the original agreement were.

Macy has had a history of messing up beloved local Brand name stores they’ve acquired over the years. Here in Chicago it was the iconic Marshall Field’s & Co. and the much loved State St store. People locally are still furious and people just stop shopping after Macy’s came in & basically changed it into a Macy’s overnight. Like the Eagle at Wanamakers thousands upon thousands of folks met for well over a century under the famous Field’s Clock. Crowds thronged to see the elaborate Christmas Windows and to have lunch in the fabled Walnut Room. The smell of them making Frango Mints up on the 11th floor etc. The slogan “Give the lady what she wants” was not something Macy’s understood very well.

I always thought it was a mistake when they took over such iconic stores to not retain the name and what drew people to the stores in the first place. Macy’s has had a mentality that people outside of NYC thought Macy’s was something special. They’d come in slap their name on every thing, changed Field’s green to Macy’s red which honestly just pissed off the loyal customers of the brand they just acquired. The very customers they needed the most were the ones they were offending the most. What they should have done was focus on consolidating back end stuff - like buying (increasing leverage with manufacturers through volume), IT, and bringing a bit of each local brands specialness to the other brands stores - such as offering Frango MInts (as a Fields brand) in their other brand stores as a seasonal items like Xmas. There were economies of scale to be had while retaining the power of the brand they had acquired. They should have also gotten out of the low end low margin volume stuff that discounters and Amazon do so well. Focused on what these stores did well - the exquisite special shopping experience. These were places people put on their Sunday Best to walk into. Leave the Kmart Shopper to Walmart.

[tofu]

These are expensive to move, much less set back up and restore during the setup. I hope some church with deep pockets grabs the thing, but it would also almost have to be at church that's building a new sanctuary in order to accommodate it. I have to believe it's a so-called theater organ as opposed to a classical organ, but so what?

When the Ellis auditorium in Memphis was torn down to build the Cannon Center in the same place (something that never should have happened) theater organs were in that place, as it had originally been an arena but was also able to be converted by its original design to two opposing concert halls of different sizes.

I don't know what happened to the smaller one, but the larger one was taken by a Baptist church in a suburb which was building a new sanctuary. Theater organs don't feature beautiful pipes arrays, but are typically tucked into cubbies, so the way that they dealt with that was to put gigantic speaker cloth (or something like that) over three upper box-shaped cavities - which faced the congregation from up above the pulpit side ("front") of the sanctuary.

There's also an old Orpheum circuit theater in downtown Memphis which later was bought by Malco to show movies and eventually shuttered. When it was restored decades ago to show touring Broadway shows, the organ was also restored. A local jazz/rock/pop keyboard player is also a fine pipe organist and is the keeper and player of that instrument. His name is Tony Thomas, and his Tony Thomas Trio (for at least 40 years now) plays all styles of pop music, obviously not with the Orpheum theater pipe organ. LOL

https://www.google.com/search?q=Tony+Th ... e&ie=UTF-8

I read the organ has 28,000 pipes and it took 2 years to dismantle it at the St Louis World Fair site and then reassemble it at the Wanamaker Store in Philly. Certainly not an easy task. It and the Eagle are historic landmarks which gives them some protection. The building is half owned by a redevelopment outfit that owns the lower half and another owner has the upper half. Apparently the lower half owner has an agreement to buy the upper half. They have said they plan to retain the organ but no details or plans for it. There is a Friends of the Organ group that has apparently been maintaining it for the last 34 years - I assume they will have some input into what happens. Hopefully it remains and can be used for free community concerts.

The building developers have said the lower part of the building would be small retail and the upper half apartments. Not sure how far the sound of the organ transfers through the building but if it extends to the floors with the residential living I can imagine the future Karens living there will be up in arms when the organ starts up. It’s like my town - they built fancy condos along the railroad tracks - all the Karens moved in - and now constantly complain about the trains. They complain if they blow the horn, when the gates are down and they have to wait 2 minutes to get to the Starbucks on the other side of the tracks, they complain when somebody gets hit by the train and the train stops , they complain the trains go too fast and when they go too slow according to them. They don’t like freight trains at all or why they are even needed. They even complain when they ride the commuter train to Chicago for Lollapalooza & it took to long, made too many stops and doesn’t have enough frequency for them to return whenever they wander back to the station.

[humBell]

It is the Wanamaker Organ ... It always had and always will be .. Macy's organ?... Yeah no

...

Somehow evokes the Pirates of Penzance opening act 2 dialogue...

https://www.gsarchive.net/pirates/web_o ... es15d.html

And "yeah no" to all those naming rights that cost an absurd amount. Well, with the possible exception of Snoop Dogg Stadium. Somehow that is appealing.

I hope whoever moves in next keeps the organ going.

And apparently Pipedreams is broadcast sunday morning 5-6 in the Boston area. That is whence most of my swiss cheese knowledge of the the subject comes.

[Tom C]

Heard and saw it at Wanamakers in the 1970s. Unforgettable, and irreplaceable!