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Farny oversaw all the manufacturing at the North Tonawanda plant. Howard Wurlitzer succeeded his father as president of the company, remaining in Cincinnati. Farny (the youngest son) graduated from the Technical Institute of Cincinnati in 1891 and had spent time in Europe, acquiring technical expertise by working for enterprises in Switzerland (Paillard Company), Germany (Phillips), and France (Pellisson). Rudolph saw to it that all of them learned to speak German. He took frequent business trips to his old homeland and also strove to maintain that connection for his sons (Howard, Rudolph Jr., Farny), all of whom were born in America. had actively led the company, serving as Chairman of the Board until his death. Rudolph Wurlitzer Sr., the patriarch of the family, died on January 14, Robert Hope-Jones committed suicide on September 13, and the Seattle Liberty Theatre opened on October 27. Wurlitzer describes the year 1914-by all accounts a turning point in the history of the Wurlitzer company. He recounts the success of the Liberty Theatre in Seattle, memories of Sid Grauman and Adolph Zukor, and why he never attended the opening of a new Wurlitzer in a theatre. His speech to the convention attendees contained many vibrant memories from the Unit Orchestra era of manufacturing. In 1964 he was, at 82-years-old, the only surviving son of Rudolph Wurlitzer and still Chairman of the Board. He had been a friend of the ATOE since its inception and was named an Honorary Member at the 1960 Annual Meeting. Under Farny’s leadership, Capehart became Wurlitzer’s general manager while gifted designer Paul Fuller created the iconic styles that made Wurlitzer the best-selling jukebox manufacturer in the world.įarny served as president of the company from 1932 until 1941, and continued on the Board of Directors until his death in 1972. At great risk, Farny gambled and bought the Simplex Manufacturing Company from Homer Capehart, the developer of a record changing system called the Multi-Selector. In 1933 the price was $10 a share and the company was almost $5 million in debt. In 1928 Wurlitzer's shares sold at $119 a share. The North Tonawanda factory shipped over 2100 theatre organs.īy 1933, the advent of talking pictures coupled with the Great Depression had almost put the Wurlitzer Company out of business. He then oversaw the hiring of Robert Hope-Jones in 1910 to direct the organ department, in addition to purchasing the assets of the bankrupt Hope-Jones Organ Company. Farny, the youngest of Rudolph Wurlitzer’s three sons, was sent in 1909 to take over operations at the plant. In 1908 Wurlitzer bought the DeKleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company (and factory) in North Tonawanda, continuing their production of automatic musical instruments: player pianos, band organs, and pianorchestras. Repeatedly, the business would pick up the pieces of some defunct company, make some modifications on the idea, and then market it with a great deal of panache.