A line from an ancient commercial floated through my mind: Whee, whee, whee, whee, whee! It’s Emenee! Holy cow, what made me remember that? Emenee toy organs, vintage 1960s.
Suddenly everybody had one. We had one in our house, my aunts had one in theirs, and Uncle Bernie in his. Emenee made all kinds of musical instruments for kids, but was best known for the organs. The one in the video, the guy bought from Goodwill for a mere $12. Old as the hills, and still works.
When Patty and I were first married, we used to go to Walden Books in the Menlo Park Mall in search of scary novels. Right outside the bookstore was a display of organs suitable for the home. Whenever you went, you could count on somebody sitting at the biggest organ, playing “Blue Spanish Eyes.”
Were more people making more music, back then? I think they were. And nothing was digital yet, the personal computer was decades away. But you could have your own organ.
I remember seeing those everywhere. I think I may be the only kid of the ‘60s that didn’t have one. 🙂
I’m certain that more than a few good keyboard players got their first exposure on one of these. It certainly would be more mentally stimulating than some stupid video game.
We sure loved ours.
Modern electronic keyboards are amazing. I have a $500 Yamaha 88 key electronic piano that feels like a piano (weighted keys) and sounds amazingly good. Adjusted for inflation, that’s not much more than that organ cost, back in the sixties.
1960’s-? I was barely alive back then!
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
OUR FAMILY DID HAVE AN ORGAN THAT LOOKED SIMILAR…MOM USED IT TO PRACTICE TO HELP DAD CONDUCT WORSHIP SERVICES FOR THE PATIENTS.(IN A STATE HOSPITAL)
Yeppers.
Neighbors has them and I loved to pound on the keys to make them obey me, which they never did. My parents were not into playing musical instruments – my lost.