The Methodist Church elected in 1869 to establish a permanent camp meeting in Ocean Grove, NJ. The Great Auditorium was built on the site in 1894 and is now a venue for both religious and secular events. It can seat about 7000 persons. The organ was built by Robert Hope-Jones and dedicated in 1908, having been funded in part by none other than Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), who was a friend of Hope-Jones. On-going work since 1974 under the leadership of Gordon Turk, organist and artist in residence has brought the instrument to more than 200 ranks and 12000 pipes with a five manual and pedal console. The facade as it appears on my card and that currently shown on the Auditorium website are the same.
The most recent update on the instrument at the OHS database has it at 184 ranks in 2008 after work by John Shaw. The auditorium site says an antiphonal division of 15-ranks was installed 2007-2008. That may make the difference in counts.
My color card has been used. It is dated 5 July 1958 and bears a common Jefferson two-cent stamp from that era. The card was sent to California. It was produced by Tichnor Brothers of Boston and printed by Star Stationary in Newark, NJ. Text on the card calls the instrument the "largest in the world." It certainly ranks among the several that claim that title.
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