We recently enjoyed some fabulous ice cream sundaes at the opulent and historic Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor and Museum in Columbus, Indiana. In addition to the antique soda fountains and cabinets filled with vintage flavor jars, there are several beautiful Welte Orchestrion automatic music machines displayed.
Welte Orchestrion, left. This was during our April 2021 visit.
Welte machines have a long and detailed history. Note that the term Orchestrion was coined by Welte in the 1850’s. Some refer to these types of automatic music machines as orchestrations.
Fully functional, coin operated
Play list
Large and fancy, see the clock on top?
We have been to Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor and Museum twice now. Here are the links to our posts about each visit. The April 2021 post has photos of lots of the vintage things in the shop. Our visit a couple of days ago will make you want to visit and have a hot fudge sundae.
Roadtirement 
Those are fascinating machines. They were expensive to play, also. If that 25¢ was in 1914, for example, it would be equivalent to $6.62 today.
LikeLike
Don’t know what the original was. This price was put on in 2004 when this machine was refurbished. It does work, in fact it played twice while we were there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What fun. Did you pay a quarter? Great deal these days.
LikeLike
LOL…It was playing when we got there, and somebody else fed the coin slot so we got 1 1/2 shows for free.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Never heard of such a machine! Thanks for writing about it.
LikeLike
They are truly magnificent. Thanks for commenting!
LikeLike
I’ve been there.I think I included it in one of my blogs. We’re thinking about taking the grandkids there.
LikeLike
It is a perfect place for taking the grandkids!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The design and woodwork is beautiful! A hot fudge sundae sounds sooo delicious! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are amazing to see close up. I could study them for a long time…
LikeLiked by 1 person
There used to be a band-organ Pizza parlor near us. They went out of business in the late 1990s. It was always fun to eat there and hear the music play – it looked a lot like the Orchestrion!
LikeLike
They have such a unique sound!
LikeLike
The machines are magnificent! So good that they have kept and maintained them and put them on display for their visitors to see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And the neat thing is they all are functional. The one is actually fitted with a quarter slot that you can use. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person