DeBence Antique Music World

This museum, opened in 1995, is full of over 200 mechanized instruments from the mid-1800s to the 1950s. These range from music boxes to calliopes to a self-playing violin. Once privately owned by the DeBence family, a local group called the Oil Region Music Preservation Museum formed to care for and house the collection, most of which still operate. Volunteers offer guided tours that take an average of 30 minutes to complete. Visitors are encouraged to step into the past and listen to all the musical magic that DeBence’s has to offer. The museum is lit by 40 Tiffany-style lamps also collected by the DeBences throughout their time attending auctions.

Although it is now the country’s largest antique mechanical instrument museum, DeBence’s had a humble beginning. Jake and Elizabeth DeBence were dairy farmers in Grove City. One day in 1940, they went to an auction where they bought two Tiffany-style lamps. They enjoyed both the experience and their purchase, and from then on attended more auctions. While continuing to purchase lamps, the couple found themselves fascinated by mechanized instruments. Jake displayed their finds in their barn until his death in 1992, when his Elizabeth put the collection up for sale. She wanted the collection to stay in the area so badly that she turned down a $3 million offer from a Japanese collector.

In all, their collection consisted of over two hundred mechanized musical instruments, the most immediately recognizable being player pianos and music boxes. The collection also contained a German Organ, a self-playing violin, and one-of-a-kind calliopes. ^[1] The calliope is similar to a player piano - but instead of following a set of motions set out by the "music sheet" it contains, a calliope operates off steam power. They were commonly used to attract townfolk to traveling circuses, as their steam-powered music could become quite loud and traveled well. In addition to containing rare instruments, the DeBence's collection displayed a sort of history in the evolution of self-playing instruments from the mid-1800s to the 1950s. It was because of this that Elizabeth was adamant that the collection should not be broken up, and that it should stay in the area where the pieces had been collected. The locals felt the same. Banding together to create the Oil Region Music Preservation Museum, they managed to raise over $1 million in a matter of months. They put the money to good use, buying the complete collection and a building to house it in (a 1907 five-and-dime shop).

The museum, opened in 1995, is staffed by volunteers and is located in Franklin, Pennsylvania. It contains every piece of the original collection, which has since been expanded by subsequent purchases. These unique mechanical instruments range from early radios to a device with wooden "fingers" that, when started and placed atop piano keys, will play songs. The sizes of the attractions vary as well, from a small music box swarming with tiny bees to a calliope that, when played, can be heard on the street outside. The collection also includes a few one-of-a-kind instruments (either by the virtue that they were the only one of their kind made, or that they're the only original one of their kind one left), and is still growing. Guided tours generally take around thirty minutes to complete, as volunteers do not showcase every instrument. Questions are encouraged, however, and visitors are free to stay in the museum for as long as they want. Nearly every instrument on display still functions, and volunteers can operate any of those overlooked on the guided tour by request.

While both of the DeBences have since passed, their unique passion has survived them in the museum in Franklin.

^[1]The calliope is similar to a player piano - but instead of following a set of motions set out by the "music sheet" it contains, a calliope operates off steam power.

“History.” DeBence Antique Music World, 2020, www.debencemusicworld.com/about/history/.

Witmer, Ann. “DeBence Museum Cranks out Mechanical Music: Not Far by Car.” Pennlive, Patriot News , 10 July 2013, www.pennlive.com/entertainment/2013/07/debence_museum_cranks_out_mech.html.

Cheney, Jim. “Visiting the Amazing Collection at DeBence Antique Music World in Franklin, PA.” UncoveringPA, Uncovering Media, LLC, 20 Oct. 2019, www.uncoveringpa.com/visiting-debence-antique-music-world-franklin-pa.