Original owners and first location of machines.

[Uncle Vanya]

That was a posh mansion indeed!

It is! Pretty much everything you see there is in its original state, or very close. After the last family member passed it was locked up for 40 years until it was opened to the public. It's worth a visit- and the area is spectacular- the "Switzerland of Pennsylvania"

Packer himself never saw "his" VV-XX; he died in 1879. While his mansion had luxurious features (indoor plumbing, for example, and conditioned air from nearby underground excavations, to name two), IMO it could scarcely be called "posh," compared with some of America's wealthiest (Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, et al.). His fortune was made by investing in railroads, chiefly the Lehigh Valley Railroad which he founded, and over which millions of tons of anthracite coal from its mines in the region moved to markets all over the east for domestic heating. The mansion in Mauch Chunk ("sleeping bear," after a mountain formation close by) ultimately passed to his daughter; upon her death (IIRC, 1912), ownership passed to the Borough of Mauch Chunk, and it was closed to the public for many years. It opened as a house museum in 1956, virtually untouched since 1912. See http://tinyurl.com/865ghyr. In addition to the Victrola, there is a very rare and valuable Swiss-made Orchestrion in the upstairs hall; the only one like it that I have seen is in the Smithsonian.

Mauch Chunk is present-day Jim Thorpe, PA. The whole business of how that came about is way off topic here, but "you could look it up."

For a "posh" interior, look up "The Breakers".

[estott]

I'd call the ground floor rooms of "The Breakers" cold and overscaled stone tombs planned to impress any visitor with the gawdawful grandeur of the Vanderbilts. Thankfully the bedrooms upstairs are places a human being could feel comfortable.

[Henry]

I've toured the Packer Mansion several times, and it's true that it seems more inviting, and livable, when compared to the grand houses I've visited in the Hudson Valley and elsewhere. It's a matter of scale and proportion, as well as taste. One can imagine actually living in the Packer, and in comfort, whereas the really sumptuous places seem merely ostentatious---which of course was the intention of the builders!

[JohnM]

I'm curious about the orchestrion. I'm not aware of any Swiss orchestrion builders (the Swiss were known for musical boxes), but any number of orchestrions were built in Germany, Belgium, and Holland. What did the Packers have . . . a German Welte 'cottage organ'?

[estott]

I'm curious about the orchestrion. I'm not aware of any Swiss orchestrion builders (the Swiss were known for musical boxes), but any number of orchestrions were built in Germany, Belgium, and Holland. What did the Packers have . . . a German Welte 'cottage organ'?

That's what they had- a 1905 Welte Model D Cottage Orchestrion. It's been called a "Peters" orchestrion in the past because the importer's plate is Huge. The tour guides have claimed that Mary Packer had it crated and took it along on trips with her. I think that has about as much validity as the story of the Packer's midget cook. (The stove in the kitchen seems unusually low- it was a period safety feature to avoid having to lift large heavy cooking pots)

[rlb955]

A couple of years ago I bought a 9-25 with the original purchase agreement.I searched the web for the owner at that time with no luck after seeing this post I decided to try again.Well this time success I found a photo of his headstone with a photo of him plus a photo of his home.The home was very modest and appears to have been built on years later it just shows you didn't have to live in a mansion to have a very nice machine.

[Henry]

My mistake on the "Swiss" Orchestrion. According to the Packer Mansion website, it is indeed a Welte. Clearly, I know nothing about Orchestrions! But I have seen a similar one at the Smithsonian.

[JohnM]

Thanks for the additional insight on the organ. I'll have a look at the website!

[Henry]

Well, now I really am confused. According to http://pianorebuilt.com/Page_10.html (first image, top of page), the Packer Orchestrion *was* made in Switzerland. The Mansion website states otherwise, at http://www.asapackermansion.com/tours.html (first paragraph, last sentence). So which is it, please?

[JohnM]

George Baker was a Swiss musical box contractor and importer. The organ is made by M.Welte Sohn of Freiburg, Germany. Baker must have exported it to the US, so it bears his dealer plate.