LANDFILL – The Final Resting Place of Many a Pump Organ  

Sadly, every year pump organs of every kind are turned into municipal landfill.  I’m not talking about old, worn out, broken down organs with missing parts that are far beyond repair.  I’m talking about some beautiful, well maintained, and well cared for organs. 

A number of these pump organs have been in families for generations, some for more than 100 years.  Over the years these families have taken great pride in giving their family’s “pride and joy” a home, but unfortunately many new generations have their own ideas of what they want, and family heirlooms, like antique  pump organs, are usually the first to go.  

Probably the saddest  phone calls I get are from grandchildren who have recently inherited their family’s prized heirloom and can’t wait to find out how much that family heirloom is worth, and why? . . .  because they usually can’t wait to sell it. 

Most of these grandchildren usually have sugar plums dancing in their heads and are anxious to learn how much money their organ might be worth. They’re usually confident the organ is worth thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands. 

I inform them that there’s just no market for antique pump organs and that most sell for only a few hundred dollars, if that.  I can generally tell by the sound of their voice over the phone they’re not too happy.