Original Minne Ha Ha calliope video on Youtube

MATT;;;;; Do you know who was playing it,,,...???
I've got a good idea ,,.. BUT,,..?
Its sounds nice ,,and Thanks for posting it ,.:)
😀

Matt,

WOW!!! There is one from the vaults. That is GREAT! Now I have heard all 3 of the Frisbees! Wish I could have played that one...as I have the other two many times! Not a bad player, either!

Sounds like one of the silver solder joints on one of the mid-range whistle bells has failed, and the whistle is shreaking or chiffing (wild-catting, cater-wauling, etc). This is caused by the resonant tube being shortened by the opening. I know on the PA DENNY, there are a couple of them which have radiator hose clamps holding them together. The Frisbees were plagued with this problem if not pulled indoors in the winter. Did they ever have this problem on the NATCHEZ? Cause I know the PA DENNY sure did! As a matter of fact, seems to me the whistle Mike Giglio had on his little boat the MARK TWINE did the same thing...it was Frisbee built, too.

I really think if anyone can, Dave is your man for a replacement for the cobbled up Kim Graham thing on the MINNE now.

~Travis~

The player's name was Marilyn. She actually came on the boat a few years ago on the 4th of July and tried to do a concert, but the calliope has been automatic since before the old calliope was stolen, so the keyboard doesn't react as well, and it didn't sound pretty. The good thing about that flaw is when I play, I can blame it on the keyboard and not my novice skills lol. I'm not sure if the Natchez' has every had that problem, but I'm right there with you by wishing I could of played that. What an incredible instrument, but it was also way too loud for Lake George. Imagine the Natchez' calliope volume in this valley. Oy vey! My dad told me people could hear it from 2 miles away, and you know the complaints rolled in! Anyways, I know Dave would be the man for a replacement, and if Dad would give the okay on it, I would get rid of it in a heartbeat. For now, I have made it my project to work on it this spring by painting the manifold, polishing the whistles, and tuning it since it sounds sick most of the time. Something to make it look decent again. If you have any tips with stuff like that (cough Dave cough), please feel free to share. Just refer to the pictures I posted in 'Lake George's very own steam pianna' and you'll see what I mean about it looking shabby. I'm glad y'all liked the video!

Matthew: When I was a kid in about 1939, we lived in South Hills (hills south of Covington Kentucky). I would speculate that it was and is every bit of two miles from the Cincinnati Public Landing. We could hear the ISLAND QUEEN calliope like it was in our back yard and I'm sure much farther away too if you were line of sight from there. Homer Denney was no doubt the perfessor.

TOM;; That must have sounded wonderful,, what I would'nt give to have heard the ISLAND QUEEN like that ,,.. I have heard some of the "FEW" recordings of it ,, and Homer Denney was a Great player ,,,..

Matt;; I'll email you some info ,, and THANKS again for posting the video,,:)

Dave: I don't know how much is due to my aging think-box and how much to what really happened but is seem to remember that the sound was "sweeter". That could be due to the distance filtering out any raspy or screechy portions of the sound. I cannot remember any of the tunes that he played but I seem to distinctly remember that I heard them. Don't know if you can have one without the other, but there it is! I just had occasion to measure the distance on a map and if they did not change the scale when they copied that 1883 map, it is a bit over two miles.

As Tom started his post, when I was a kid in the 1940's we lived on a farm just east of Cincinnati and about three miles up a "holler" that extended down to the Ohio River near Coney Island. We could hear the Island Queens calliope clear as a bell. Also on a summer night, no AC in those days so all windows were open, you could here the Queen blow her last trip warning whistle, usually at least three times. Also easily heard were all the steam whistle signals for old Lock#36 at Coney. I was a lucky kid, but really did not realize it at the time.

Tom;; I've heard a wondful recording of Homer Denney ,,and he's playing "I Wonder Whos Kissing Her Now",,. "DOC" told me, that Homer always played "Peggy O'neal" and "Peg Of My Heart" ,, Because his wife's name was Peggy,,.
DAVE,,,...

Great stuff, and who noticed Fate Marable's Society Syncopators playing Frankie and Johnny, right next door? Amazing sounds, and all of the photographs are taken aboard a steamboat, too, with an exterior pic of the CAPITOL looking like she's in the big Keokuk Lock.

YouTube - Fate Marable's Society Syncopators - Frankie & Johnny (1924)