"THE RESCUES OF MADAM LAURA"  segment from Southern Routes from WKNO, the local PBS affiliate in Memphis, TN, from Jan. 2008.  Approx. 9 minutes in length (Video is in the MPEG format) It's best to download the video and watch it that way. It will work better for you if if you do it that way.

     We are proud to announce the return of "Madam Laura". Years ago, Paul Eakins bought this organ at Gulf Shores, Alabama along with the organs known as "Sadie Mae" and "Big Bertha".  Madam Laura, which was named after Paul's wife, Laura, is a beautiful French Gavioli.

Madam Laura  was originally a 94 Key organ. She was originally was built in France in the late 1800's.  The organ was converted to 87 Key cardboard music books in July of 1914 by the firm of C.Eifler in Darby, Pa.  .In the early part of this century she played on a huge Carousel in an amusement park in Grand Rapids, Michigan until the early 1950's. Then she was sat in a shed for over a decade until she was bought in 1963 by Paul Eakins. The organ has 8 Bass notes, 10 Accompaniment notes, 17 Clarinet notes, 17 Piccolo notes,  and 20 Saxophone notes. She currently has 206 pipes. The size of the organ is 8 foot 11 3/4 inches high, 10 foot 6 inches wide and 46 inches deep.

     Madam Laura has been featured on numerous recordings, appeared at the Gay 90's Village in Sikeston, Missouri and the Gay 90's Melody Museum in St. Louis, Missouri.  She also appeared at many state fairs and expositions.

In the early 70's, the organ was sold to the Bellm's Music and Cars of Yesterday museum in Sarasota, Florida.  She was imprisoned at the museum where she was abused and  neglected for many years. This neglect led to her being  infested with wood boring worms that almost destroyed her.  In 1999, she was sold to a private collector.

Photos of Madam Laura 

This one is circa 1968. Madam Laura is fully restored and working perfectly.

Listen to a song sample introduced by Laura Eakins: 

  "When the Saints Go Marching In"

Here is a picture of Madam Laura from a Muzzio sales catalog.  Thanks to Fred Dahlinger for supplying this scan.

Here is closer view 

Here is a wonderufl view from 1943.

Photo of underside of the puff board with a handwritten date on when the organ was converted to play cardboard books of music. 

Here is Madam Laura in storage in 1963 when Paul Eakins purchased her.

 Here are some photos of the organ being restored by Paul in his workshop in the mid 1960's.

This was the original top with the carvings removed.

This is the current top.

Here is Madam Laura at the Gay 90's Melody Museum in St. Louis.

These linens were sold at the Gay 90's Melody Museum. Madam Laura is shown on the bottom left.

Madam Laura was always a big hit at the states fairs and expositions.

                                  These pictures are how the organ looked at she sat in storage in Statesville, North Carolina in July of 2004.

                                                                               Here is a photo of the organ as she arrived in October 2004.

These photos are the organ being taken apart.

Here are the pieces of wood that had to be replaced due to insect damage. Other bad spots were able to be patched.  As of May 2005, all the wood worm damage has been repaired.

Before/After

Here is the case primed in preparation to be painted. Sanding is now completed and just touching up the upper top of the case.

UPDATE: September 04, 2005

I have started to paint. These pictures show me painting the top of the case and some had to get areas with brushes.  I should start painting with he spray gun in the next two weeks or so.  Once I start praying, it should look really nice.

UPDATE: October 05, 2005.

Here is the 2nd coat of paint on the case.

UPDATE: 06 DEC 05, 2005

UPDATE: 04 APR 06

Here are some pictures of the puff board before and after I stripped the old leather off.  You can see how bad a shape the leather was in. 

Here is a picture of how the organ looks right now.  The pipes haven't been cleaned or repaired yet.  I have started to install the tubing. Hopefully in a few days I will try to get her to play a book of music. :)

JULY 2006

I have starting working on the drum sections. Notice the heavy clear coat which has cracked and shrank over the years. This one piece was the worst. It appeared to have been coated several times over the years at Bellm's. I couldn't sand it off so I used a heat gun and the it came off very nicely . The  underneath shows a beautiful veneered wood. 

Notice the wood worm damage on top. It has been repaired.

You can see the wood worm damage here also. It has also been repaired.

UPDATE MARCH 21st, 2007

Here are some long overdue updates:

I finally got far enough to attach the drum cases to each side of the main case! WOO HOO!