Wurlitzer Style 125 Band Organ
(from "The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments," by Arthur A. Reblitz, ©2001. By permission)
A CATALOG OF MUSIC ROLLS
FOR WURLITZER MILITARY BAND ORGANS
PLAYING THE STYLE 125 ROLL
Compiled by
Michael L. Grant
3755 S. 150 East, Columbia City, IN 46725
260-248-8288
Revised most recently February 16, 2011
If you are searching for a particular bit of Wurlitzer history or musical information and do not find it on this website, please email me with your question. It would be a pleasure to try to answer it.
CONTENTS
PRELIMINARY NOTES: On Wurlitzer's roll-issuing practices for the style 125 series. List of known roll numbers, showing those still in existence.
PART 1: Rolls 1004-1414, for the early (short-roll) tracker frame. This style roll was discontinued at the end of 1925.
PART 2: Rolls 3001-3271 for the long-roll tracker frame. Begun probably in the fall of 1913 and issued to the end of T.R.T's roll business in 1964. The last style 125 roll issued by Wurlitzer was roll 3240 (early 1945).
PART 3: Rolls variously numbered and issued by others after the demise of Wurlitzer and the T.R.T. Manufacturing Company.
PART 4: Tune index to all rolls listed.
PART 5: Composer index to all rolls listed.
Early Wurlitzer organs were built with a roll frame capable of handling only a roll about four or five tunes in length. Toward the end of 1913 the company began furnishing
roll frames capable of handling the 10-tune roll that was to become the standard roll. However it wasn't until August 1925 that Wurlitzer ceased making the shorter type of roll. From 1913 to 1925, tunes were generally supplied on both types of roll in order to satisfy organ owners, no matter which type of roll frame their organ used.
The Great Depression of 1929 unquestionably affected the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, and two practices arose in the early 1930's which can probably be attributed to the company's efforts to cut costs.
The most noticeable change was that its band organ rolls no longer contained ten tunes, but only 6 very long ones, with enough repeats to make the 6-tune roll about the same playing length
as a ten-tune roll. The arranging costs for a six-tune roll had to be far less than the costs for arranging ten tunes.
The second practice is less noticeable. Throughout Wurlitzer roll production there has always been some similarity in contents between its style 125 rolls and its style 150 rolls (but virtually no simliarity with its style 165 rolls). However, in 1930 what was merely an occasional similarity became a lock-step correspondence. Beginning with roll 3165 and continuing down to roll 3204, the contents of 125 rolls, tune-for-tune, was identical to the contents of style 150 rolls, those numbered 13188 to 13228.
That is, from mid-1930 to early 1933, the same tunes in the same order were issued on both a 125 roll and a 150 roll. During those almost three years, there was no roll issued in one format that was not also issued in the other format.
From mid-1933 to late 1934, there was no correspondence between style 125 and style 150 rolls. Only one style 125 roll (3205) was issued during that period, while five style 150 rolls appeared (13229 to 13233). In late 1934, the lock-step correspondence between the rolls in the two series resumed (at roll 3206 and roll 13234 respectively) and continued without a single anomaly down to the end
of Wurlitzer production in 1945 with roll 3240 13268 and its 150 twin, roll 13268.
One wonders what changes to the arrangements were required in producing the masters for each format and how much money was saved by the practice.
LIST OF KNOWN ROLL NUMBERS
NOTE: Italicized numbers indicate lost rolls. Single asterisks indicate incomplete roll descriptions. Double asterisks indicate incomplete existing rolls.
04
09
34
35
89
91*
315
325
330
339
340
343
344
345
349
351
363*
419*
438*
439
440
445
446
448
449*
450
451
452*
453
462
463
464
488
489
509
528
569
571
1004*
1013
1021
1045(P)
1050
1051
1057(P)
1074**
1076
1077*
1078
1088
1100
1103
1108
1111
1114*
1141
1151
1179*
1185
1187
1189
1192
1198
1206*
1207**
1209
1215
1216* **
1217**
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1226
1227
1228
1229
1231* **
1237**
1240* **
1241*
1242* **
1246*
1249* **
1251
1252
1261**
1262
1280*
1281*
1307**
1312
1318
1319
1320*
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325**
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333**
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350*
1351
1355
1356*
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365*
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1388**
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
1409**
1412
1413
1414
3001
3002
3005
3006
3007
3008
3011*
3011(P)
3014*
3018**
3023
3026
3027
3032
3033
3035
3037
3038
3039
3040
3041
3042
3043
3044
3044(P)
3045**
3046**
3047
3048
3049
3050
3051
3052**
3053
3054*
3055
3056
3057
3058**
3059
3060
3061**
3062
3063
3064
3065*
3066
3067
3068
3069
3070
3071
3072
3073
3074
3075
3076*
3077
3078
3079
3080
3081
3082*
3083
3084
3085
3086
3087
3088
3089*
3090
3091*
3093
3094
3095
3096
3097
3098
3099
3100
3101*
3102
3103
3104*
3105
3106
3107
3108
3109*
3110
3111
3112
3113
3114
3115
3116
3117
3118* **
3119
3120
3121
3122**
3123**
3124
3125*
3126**
3127
3128
3129
3130*
3131
3132
3133
3134
3135
3142*
3143
3144*
3145
3146*
3147
3148*
3148(P)
3149
3150
3151
3152
3153
3154*
3155
3156
3157*
3159
3160*
3165
3167
3168
3169
3170
3171
3172
3173
3174*
3175
3176
3177
3178**
3179**
3180
3181*
3182*
3183*
3184
3185
3186
3187*
3189
3192
3194
3195
3196
3197*
3198
3199
3200
3201
3202**
3203**
3204
3205
3206
3207
3208
3209
3210
3211
3212
3213
3214
3215
3216
3217
3218* **
3219
3220
3221
3222*
3223**
3224
3225
3226
3227
3228
3229
3230
3231
3232
3233
3234
3235
3236
3237
3238
3239
3240
3241
3242*
3243*
3244
3245*
3246
3247
3248*
3249
3250
3251
3252
3253
3254
3255
3256
3257
3258
3259
3260
3261
3262*
3263
3264**
3265
3266
3267
3268
3269*
3270
3271
3272
3273
3274
3275
3276
3277
3278
3279
3280*
3281*
3282*
3300
3301
3302
3303
3304
3305
3306
3400
3401
3402
3403
3500
3501
3502
3504*
3505
3506*
3507
3600*
3601*
3602
3603*
3604*
3605
3607
3608
3609*
3610*
3800
3801
3802
3803