Elm Park United Methodist, Scranton, PA, USA

 

Ground was broken for the present edifice for Elm Park Methodist Church in 1893. At that time a large Farrand and Votey organ was installed in the chancel area of the sanctuary. It included four manual divisions plus pedals, and had 68 stops and more than 2200 pipes. It served the congregation in that configuration for about 60 years when renovation work was done.  In 1995 the Reuter firm of Lawrence, Kansas removed the old instrument, conserved some pipework and constructed a new instrument, their opus 2179. The new instrument uses electronics to provide the lowest notes of two 32' stops in the pedals. The Reuter site does not give specifics, but we can learn the instrument has 3 manuals and 53 ranks.

My card is color showing a large swath of the sanctuary, including space that could have been closed off by a moving wall at the back of the room. The image clearly shows the organ and window at the front of the room. It seems that the new Reuter instrument kept the facade look of the Farrand and Votey instrument, minus the stenciling on the facade pipes. My card is used with the stamp removed, but the postmark indicating the year it was sent was 1910.

St Severin, Paris, France

St Severin as it appears now dates to the 15th through 17th centuries, while the building exists where  a church stood as early as the 11th century. The organ dates from 1748, when an instrument by Claude Ferrand was installed. Significant changes and work occurred in 1889 and 1964. Most recently in 2011 more work has been completed by Quentin Blumenroeder. View the specification here. This site gives some more details about what is referred to as the Kern organ.

My card is an unused black and white example. I have been somewhat confused by the perspective for some time. I think the viewer is positioned in the apse looking down the south aisle of the building, with the organ on a gallery at the west end of the edifice.The low wall which seems to be separating the apse from the chancel is confusing to me simply because I have not seen this sort of arrangement before.

Westminster Abbey, London, UK

The organ at Westminster Abbey is surely on of the most "heard" instruments in the world, thanks to the number of events televised from that locale. The instrument was installed in 1937 by Harrison and Harrison, including some pipework from the William Hill organ in the Abbey since 1848. The earliest reference to an organ in the abbey mentions the year 1304. Significant changes took place in 1982, while the console was reworked in 2006.  Harrison's has provided a detailed specification.

My card is a straight-ahead shot of the choir area looking across the screen toward the west end. The organ cases are visible on both ends of the screen area. My card is black/white and is unused.

Congregational Church, Osage, Iowa, USA

This card shows the pipe organ in the Congregational Church of Osage, Iowa. As best I can tell the church is now known as the Osage United Church of Christ. That congregation is in its fourth building in that town. The third building burned in 1951 having been completed in 1902. The fourth building was completed in 1954. I assume that this picture shows the 3rd building and its organ. The Organ Historical Society has information about the organ/church in its database, but as the instrument was destroyed by the fire, they have no specification, and only the most meager information. My used card is black and white, very much like that shown at the OHS database site. It was posted from Osage to Portland, OR with a one-cent Franklin stamp. The postmark indicates the year was 1910.