Dairyland Theater Organ Society

The Dairyland Theatre Organ Society (DTOS) is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and promotion of the theatre pipe organ. DTOS is one of ~80 chapters worldwide of the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS). DTOS has been presenting public concerts on the theatre organs throughout the State of Wisconsin for over 40 years. We will be hosting the 2025 ATOS Convention in Milwaukee - July 21 - 27, 2025.  More info: dtoswi.org

The Wurlitzer Style H, Opus 1224 story begins in 1925, when it was shipped from the Wurlitzer factory in North Tonawanda, NY, to the Carlton Theatre in Brooklyn. There, it accompanied the silent motion pictures of the day, entertaining tens of thousands over no less than a ten year period. We believe the organ played until around 1936. It was then sold and sat in storage for over 40 years, when the DTOS bought it in the fall of 2015.

Chest in Chamber, this is where the majority of the pipes will sit that the people will hear when the organ is played.  It was disassembled down to the very last screw.  All the parts were refinished.  All the parts you can't see were releathered, cleaned, polished, and put back together.  That process took 8 months.

Shows where the chest will be in the chamber.

This is the toy counter.  It represents all the percussive sounds in the organ from cymbals to drums to whistles.  It also shows all the tuned percussion which are controlled by the organists.  In this shot you have a xylophone, orchestra bells, chimes and sleigh bells.  The shelf took 5 months to construct after we obtained all the lumber.  We had to special order the materials as this kind of construction does not utilize every day common lumber.

This shows one of the remote (offset) chests that operate the pipes that are too large to be put on the main chest.  This set is the Tuba Profunda at a 16' pitch.  These are the low end of the Tuba rank a reed. Each pipe is tuned by the wire sticking up out of the booth (bottom) where the resonator (pipe) sits.  This is a deep vibrating sound.