Coinola - This superior machine from 1916 has never required any major restoration and has proven itself one of the most reliable machines in the collection.  It comes to us from the now-defunct Deans Museum of Deansboro, New York, the curator for which attached a medallion to it that suggested he had had it “restored.”  In fact, very little has been done to it in the over one hundred years since it was assembled.

This machine is also a great way to see just why the original name of nickelodeons was “orchestrions.”  Many of the different instruments included in this machine are visible through its glass cabinet, a veritable orchestra in a box.

The Coinola line of orchestrions was manufactured by the Operator’s Piano Company out of Chicago between 1904 and the mid-1930s.  They produced a wide variety of coin-operated pianos and orchestrions, from compact cabinet styles to large machines.