Name/Title
MelodeonContext
In the southeast corner of the NCHM Front Parlor is a musical instrument called a melodeon. A melodeon is a type of reed organ that generates sound by moving air over internal reeds using a foot-operated bellows.
Unlike a piano where the foot pedals modulate the sound, on a melodeon the pedals must be operated to create any sound at all. In this way, the melodeon has more in common with an accordion than a piano. Although the melodeon does not have the subtlety of a piano, it had a great selling point for Victorian households outside of major urban centers: it never needed to be tuned.
American, c. 1860. Victorian Rocco Revival melodeon with rosewood case cast iron knees, and walnut legs. Melodeons were reed organs with pedals and bellows and as a result required little maintenance or tuning. Melodeons were very popular during antebellum and reconstruction eras, particularly outside of large metropolitan cities.
Gift of Mrs. Gordon WestAcquisition
Accession
1959.09Source or Donor
Mrs. Gordon West (Josephine Morrow)Acquisition Method
Gift