American Treasure Tour facts for kids
Visitors take a tram ride through the American Treasure Tour, located in Oaks, PA
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| Location | Oaks, Pennsylvania |
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The American Treasure Tour Museum is a super cool place in Oaks, Pennsylvania, that opened in 2010. It's like a giant treasure chest filled with amazing collections! When you visit, you get to explore a huge private collection of all sorts of interesting things. Imagine seeing one of the world's biggest collections of self-playing music machines! These include nickelodeons, band organs, calliopes, photoplayers, and music boxes. You'll also find classic cars, circus art, dolls, dollhouses, and tons of other fun stuff from pop culture. The museum is located in the 422 Business Center, not far from Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Contents
A Peek Inside the Museum
The American Treasure Tour Museum is located in Oaks, Pennsylvania. It's inside a really big building that used to be a B.F. Goodrich tire factory. This factory opened way back in 1937 and made tires until 1986. Now, the building has been completely changed! The first floor has businesses like Arnold's Family Fun Center. But most of the second floor is home to the amazing American Treasure Tour Museum. The museum itself is huge, about 100,000 square feet, which is like the size of a giant store!
What's in the Collection?
The museum shows off the private collection of one person who wants to remain a secret. This collection is packed with all kinds of cool items. You can see carousel band organs, calliopes, and nickelodeons (also called orchestrions). There are also old movie posters, photos of celebrities, and vinyl records from different eras. You'll find Edison cylinder players, old and new animated store displays, and circus art. Plus, there are pedal cars, model airplanes, and awesome classic cars.
A special part of the collection is the music boxes. These are on loan from the Music Box Society International (MBSI). This group loves automatic music, and the museum has over a hundred of their pieces! Many of these music boxes are on display and played for visitors to enjoy.
Exploring the Museum
Your visit to the American Treasure Tour Museum has two main parts. First, you can walk through the Music Room on your own. This room has most of the self-playing music machines. Second, you get to ride a tram through The Toy Box, which is full of even more treasures!
The Music Room
In the Music Room, the walls are covered with record albums, movie posters, and celebrity pictures. This is where you'll find most of the nickelodeons, dolls, dollhouses, and photoplayers. The Music Box Society International's collection of music boxes is here too. Guides play some of the machines and share interesting stories about when these machines were popular. There are over 150 automatic music machines in this room!
Some cool highlights include:
- Two Wurlitzer Harps, which are special musical instruments.
- Two Wurlitzer IX Electric Pianos, one of which has unique red keys!
- The Wurlitzer LX, which has a cool 'wonder light' on top.
- The Mills Violano-Virtuoso DeLuxe, a machine with two violins and a piano inside.
- A Wurlitzer Mandolin PianOrchestra Style 12, featuring a peacock-shaped 'wonder light'.
- The Sextrola Style B, one of the last machines made by a company before it changed hands.
- Seeburg Style C and Style H, with the Style H featuring wooden statues called "Beauty" and "Strength."
- A Seeburg Style R Pipe-Organ Orchestra Photo Player, which used to play music for silent movies!
- The D.C. Ramey Piano Company Banjo Orchestra, a newer machine that sounds like older ones.
- The music box collection includes beautiful examples from companies like Baker, Mira, Stella, and Regina. These were made in the United States and Europe around the early 1900s.
- You can also see a Link Trainer. This was an early flight simulator created by Edwin Link Jr., using technology similar to nickelodeons!
The Toy Box
The Toy Box is the biggest part of the American Treasure Tour Museum. Visitors ride in an electric tram through long lanes. On both sides, and even hanging from the ceiling, are amazing collections of Americana. An audio guide tells you about all the items as you ride. You'll see automatons (moving figures), model airplanes, classic cars, and more automatic musical instruments. There's original artwork, movie items, Disney collectibles, stuffed animals, and animated store displays. You'll also spot motorcycles, holiday displays, and bright neon signs.
Some amazing things you'll see:
- Three of only a few Wurlitzer #165 band organs left in the world.
- The only known Wurlitzer #175 band organ still existing!
- "The Mammoth" Wurlitzer Military Band Organ, also known as a Wurlitzer Style #160.
- "The Emperor" Th. Mortier Dance Hall Organ, a truly grand musical machine.
- "Sadie Mae" Gavioli & Cie. band organ, another fantastic musical piece.
- A giant shoe that was once used for a promotion in New York City!
- One of Eric Staller's unique Conference Bikes, where people pedal together in a circle.
- The 2009 Guinness Book of World Records-winning Popsicle Stick Structure – a castle made by one person!
- Many classic cars, like a 1905 Franklin, two Sears Motor buggies, and two Vespa 400 cars. You'll also see two 1956 Ford Thunderbirds, a 1954 Pennant Blue Corvette, and even more modern Corvettes. There's a 1922 Stanley Steamer, a 1924 Cadillac, and over sixty other cool cars!
- The Lit Bros. Enchanted Colonial Christmas Village, a festive display.
The person who owns most of the collection (except for the MBSI music boxes) is always finding new treasures. These new items are added to the tours whenever there's space!
See Also
- List of music museums
