I’m at the Venango Museum of Art, Science and Industry and I’m admiring a 1928 Wurlitzer organ. The organ was brought to Oil City in 1929. That was the year the Latonia Theater opened. The organ was used to accompany the silent movies shown at the theater. Brandon Boocks, the executive director at the museum, explains how things worked back in those days.
“The organ would have live accompaniment,” he says. “There would be an organist who would accompany the films live. They would play all the sound effects and all the scores for the movies.”
The Silent Movie Era soon ended. The organ was not needed anymore. The Latonia closed in 1969. The beautiful instrument was acquired by local resident George Shaw. However, he stored it in his barn. It fell into disrepair. Mr. Shaw then donated it to the museum in 1988. The museum is now in the midst of a $60,000 organ restoration project which is three-quarters complete…