MARCH 17th Burst of Joy

American Treasure Tour Trivia Blog
March 17th

Brought to you today by Mod Betty & her Retro RoadMap Blog / Friends who recently visited the American Treasure Tour...

On this date in history:  1973
Pulitzer Prize winning photograph, Burst of Joy was taken depicting a prisoner of war being reunited with his family.

The photograph Burst of Joy. From left to right, Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm, 

Lorrie Stirm, Bo Stirm, Cindy Stirm, Loretta Stirm, and Roger Stirm.
(© Slava Veder / Associated Press) source Wikipedia

From Wikipedia:  Despite outward appearances, the reunion was an unhappy one for Stirm. Three days before he arrived in the United States, the same day he was released from captivity, Stirm received a Dear John letter from his wife Loretta informing him that their relationship was over. In 1974 the Stirms divorced and Loretta remarried. All of the family members depicted in the picture received copies of it after Burst of Joy was announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. They all display it prominently in their homes, except the Stirm patriarch, who says he cannot bear to look at it.^[5]

Today's Cliche:  JUMP FOR JOY

Today is:  Saint Patrick's Day

Birthday Pick:  1936  Ken Mattingly

American astronaut who was supposed to fly on Apollo 13 but was grounded due to concerns about a potential illness which he did not contract.  He later flew as command module pilot for Apollo 16 and became one of only 24 American's who made it to the moon.

Died on this Date:  2010

Alex Chilton

Founding member of the Box Tops

Song for the Day:  The Letter by the Box Tops

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Popular Music in 1926

1926 ... it was a very good year.
Did you know that in 1926 tbe QRS Piano Roll Company sold over TEN MILLION rolls?

Piano Rolls were big business and we have a wonderful collection of them at the American Treasure Tour!
You can see paper rolls, cardboard rolls, even a brass music roll.

But the best part is you can HEAR the beautiful music these piano rolls make! 

Make a reservation today!

Today's Treasure: Porcelain Dolls

Hundreds of porcelain dolls keep us company in the room that houses our nickelodeon collection. These finely crafted american treasures would delight collectors of all ages. 

Word Roll

What is a WORD ROLL??? ... sounds like a scrabble game.

In fact,  some piano rolls were made with words written on the side so that you could sing along with the music. These are called word rolls. 
At the American Treasure Tour, we have over 300,000 pieces of original music.

Come hear our piano rolls play .... Make your reservation today! (610) 551-1629

Calliope

A Calliope is an automatic music machine mostly made and used in America before the advent of electricity used to play recorded music. These steam powered machines originally played music through train whistles. 

A true American Treasure and we have one at our tour.
Calliopes could be extremely loud and made mainly for outdoor use.  Our tour is SO HUGE, we have
one INSIDE.  Come hear it play!

Ready For Christmas!

The American Treasure Tour will get you into the holiday spirit!

 Our huge collection of vintage holiday storefront displays and Christmas themed automatons is great fun for all!

 Book a tour to enjoy this winter wonderland with the whole family! 

Barrels of Fun!

At the American Treasure Tour ... you will have barrels of fun!

BUT our barrels are a little different.  Ours are musical.

A barrel is a pinned cylinder usually made of wood on which a musical composition is programmed for used in a nickelodeon, player piano or organ.

For a barrel of fun, book a tour today! phone: (610) 551-1629

Band Organ

The delightful sounds of a Wurlitzer Band Organ you can hear many times over at the American Treasure Tour....

Get Cranked

Are you cranked?

Our music boxes at the American Treasure Tour are hand-cranked ~ music before electricity!

Don't be cranky, come visit the American Treasure Tour!  You'll go away with a smile on your face for sure!

Today's Treasure: Lions and Tigers and ...Elephants!

The American Treasure Tour includes some fantastic life size animal animatronics and likenesses. 

Many like the lion above were used in advertisement for various circuses. 

Treasure Find: The Album Collection

We get a real kick out of the fact that every square foot of the American Treasure Tour is covered with great American treasure! Her in the nickelodeon room, you might not even notice the huge collection of LPs on display....in the ceiling!  

When you come visit us, don't forget to look up! 
One of our favorite album covers is Donovan's "Mellow Yellow." What's your favorite album cover?

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Hats Off to Stage Performers, and Who is Going to Win America's Got Talent 2012?

Real American Treasure:

This week, We'd like to salute those folks brave enough to be live performers. Their creative spirits bring so much valued entertainment with real human connection, a different thing altogether from watching actors on screen.

And it is terrifying to perform live whether in front of a packed theater, or a sparsely populated coffee house! So hats off to you performers out there. Even here at the American Treasure Tour  it is like a live performance to be a tour guide. Fortunately for us, we have more props than a Hollywood movie lot to back us up!
 

Quotation of the Day ~ "The piano keys....

Thursday's Quote:

                                      

"The piano keys are black and white

but they sound like a million colors in your mind."

- From "Spiders web” 
― Maria Cristina Mena

Above photo of an arranger's piano, used to make piano rolls for Nickelodeons, Player Pianos and other Mechanical Music ... hear more about this special piece and who owned it at the American Treasure Tour.

National Fallen Firefighters Association

Every Monday the American Treasure blog posts about people and organizations who are American Treasures.

This week we are highlighting the 

"National Fallen Firefighters Association". 

 This association is to remember fallen firefighters

 as well as help their families.

http://www.firehero.org/

Above is the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Exquisite Porcelain Dolls ~ Beautiful Music

Beautiful porcelain dolls adorn our Nickelodeon Room. 

Must see the dozens of highly collectible dolls ~ they are gorgeous!

Quote for the Day:

"Music is the shorthand of emotion."

Leo Tolstoy

Read more athttp://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_music3.html#6hV24LRbMSLfQ7s8.99

We have great music at the American Treasure Tour ~ see below one of our many band organs ~

Here's Your Sign!

Here is the new sign at the doors of the American Treasure Tour ~ just installed today.

Credit Bryan Kirkwood for design and J. J. Frey & John Bowman for putting up with incredible heat today to hang the sign.  Good work gentlemen.

In other news...progress continues on our gift shoppe and new rest room facilities.

Things are moving and shaking here at the American Treasure Tour.