Topic starter
24/05/2008 6:15 pm
Jon Tschiggfrie posted this yesterday under an old thread about Kites and I was afraid it would get passed over, so here it is under the heading of Calliopes
The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has an EXCELLENT wiki set up on steamboats, towboats, and the like, but of particular interest to (half of) this thread is an entire album of calliope photos: http://wiki.cincinnatilibrary.org/index.php/Calliopes . Of particular interest is a photo here about 10 photos from the top, with the caption: "Forward of the Texas, 1905; Mrs. Jesse P. Hughes at the calliope; This is a Kratz instrument, 37 whistles of peculiar style [good catch, David!]; Played soft music."
24/05/2008 10:55 pm
Judy,
Kratz built a "pipe organ" styled whistle with a half moon mouth and partial languid. They were tuned very much like the Tangley Calliaphone, as they had a moveable baffle plate in the upper end of the whistle bell. The whistles were of very thin construction and this is probably why there is only one inexistance today. They plain didn't hold up! The Mariners Museum has one on display and it is in pretty bad shape. It is the only Kratz instrument I know to be out there.
This site link is home to a plethora of other pictures of the DELTA QUEEN I had heretofore not seen! Wow, what a treasure trove...I ahve been looking for over an hour and can't tear myself away!
Thanks for the link!
~Travis~
27/05/2008 12:48 pm
Great photos! Several of them are of the calliope on the towboat ATTABOY which pushed the SHOWBOAT MAJESTIC, as well as one view of the boiler which was located on the stern of the showboat. The one of the man with the broad hat and cigar (under the canopy of gingerbread) is none other than the famous Homer Denney, playing aboard the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE in 1966, just after the new steam calliope, built by Ernest Wilde, was installed in time for the steamboat race, which was held in June that year. Also a good view of Capt. Gabe at the DQ calliope, with E.J. Quinby standing by, in the late 1960's.
The view of Aunt Telia Hughes at the calliope of the CRICKET reminds me that Capt. Jesse Hughes once told me that he played that instrument when the little boat was traversing river country where the Hatfields and McCoys feuded and he worried that somebody might take a shot at him!
Topic starter
27/05/2008 1:31 pm
hmm... kind of like Doc playing the NATCHEZ calliope at midnight on New Years Eve while the townfolk were shooting their guns into the air in celebration.... I unfortunately can't access much of the library collection. My computer keeps freezing up when I enter, so I've only seen the calliope pix. But again, its thanks to Jonathan Tschiggfrie for giving us this site info, I just posted it in a more prominent place. Just think, after Jonathan's summer of calliope research, we'll probably have an even greater source of info - book form, Jonathan?????
27/05/2008 10:36 pm
Boy would I like to publish... but the amount that I actually get done this summer remains to be seen. Officially my grant runs out on September 2, so no more funding for any research after that. Talk about a cramped summer coming up!
29/05/2008 5:22 am
Perhaps a little off topic, but I must share.
A couple of days after my birthday, I got a message on my voicemail from my pal, Phil Westbrook. He was at the AQ calliope and played Happy Birthday for me. The reception was awful and it sounded pretty rough, but I really appreciated the thought.
We do joke sometimes about the AQ calliope. In my monologue introducing Calliope Capers, I always got a laugh by reporting that the MQ calliope is the biggest, the DQ calliope has the most beautiful sound, and the AQ instrument is the most annoying.
I gotta tell ya, though. She sounded beautiful to me that day.
Birthday card? $2.50
Birthday cake? $15.00
Having your pal play Happy Birthday on the AQ calliope? Priceless.
Paul