Collection documents Victor Zuck's work on developing and selling electronic organs, first with the Everett Piano Company of South Haven, Michigan, and then with the Wurlitzer Organ Company of North Tonawanda, New York.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into one series.
Biographical:
Victor I. Zuck was born in Hagerstown, Maryland on January 24, 1908 to Jacob and Ora Turner Zuck. David Zuck, an uncle was an employee with M.P. Moller Company, builders of pipe organs and in the 1920s, introduced Victor to an apprenticeship with organs at Moeller. At Moller, Victor worked under Ted Clark, Raleigh Williams, and Richard Whitelegg. Zuck spent two years, 1930-1931 at the United States Military Academy where he collaborated with Frederick C. Mayers, the organist and choirmaster of the Harmonic Division. Zuck returned to the Moller Company and assumed leadership of the Automatic Player Department, supervising the rebuilding of pipe organs and hand cutting for automatic rolls.
At Moller, Zuck worked with Frederick A. Hoschke, the musical director. Hoeschke developed the Orgatron, an electrostratic reed organ in 1934. It was manufactured by Everett Piano Company from 1935 to 1941. The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company secured the patents from Everett in 1945. Wurlitzer produced these instruments and retained the Everett names on some models from 1945 to 1947. Orgatrons continued to be produced into the early 1960s. After the ORgatron was purchased by Wurlitzer, Zuck joined the Wulritzer Company and became superintendent of the organ division and a consultant in research. Zuck held 14 organ-related patents, all assigned to the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York. In 1952, Zuck resigned from Wurlitzer and returned to the Moller Company as a sales representative. In 1975, Zuck was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.
Zuck married Nathalie Peterson, grandniece of Frederick A. Hoeschke in 1937. Zuck died on January 6, 2004.
Source
Automatic Musical Instruments Collectors Association, Honor Rool (https://www.amica.org/files/VICTOR_I_ZUCK.pdf (last accessed on November 15, 2021)
Separated Materials:
Materials in the Division of Culture and the Arts
An Everett/Wurlitzer Orgatron Model 4600, Serial #18421 made in 1952. See accession 1994.0035.01.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Victor I. Zuck and Nathalie A. Zuck, January 1994.
Includes cardboard pattern pieces for the Moody water wheel. The pattern pieces were used to recreate a model of a water wheel invented by Lewis Moody in connection with a patent infringement case (US Patent 1,613,816) of Lewis F. Moody vs. George A. Biggs.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
James Leffel and Company Records, 1867-1957, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.