John Wanamaker, Philadelphia

[James Ellis]

I was particularly interested in Dave Forman's post re the Wanamaker piano
question.  It's as I would expect.  There are still some old Beckwith
pianos out there that were sold by Sears Roebuck & Co. years ago, and not
all made by the same manufacturer.  Some of them were tough old pianos,
otherwise, they would not still be around.  Dave said the pipe organ in the
Wanamaker store was one of the largest in the country.  If I'm not
mistaken, it's one of the largest, if not THE largest in the world, when it
comes to the number of ranks of pipes.  It has every voice that one can
dream of that can be made from an organ pipe.  I have heard it, have a
brief history of it, a copy of the specifications - also some recordings of
the late Virgil Fox playing it.  All it needs is some natural reverberation
that the store environment does not provide.  I can just imagine what it
would sound like in the 600 x 200 ft. nave of the Cathedral of St. John the
Divine in New York City.

Jim Ellis