Compiled by
Matthew O. Caulfield

Wurlitzer Style 180 Band Organ, front
The short list that follows describes all known Wurlitzer style 180 rolls. No company literature survives that lists any 180 rolls; therefore roll contents are known only from auditioning the rolls that still exist. All the rolls described here accompany the one Wurlitzer style 180 band organ still playing the 180 roll. Extra copies of each roll are also held by Jim Wells of Fairfax, Va., who owned the organ for a number of years, until it was sold to Jasper Sanfilippo, in Barrington Hills, Ill. Additionally I have recorded each of the rolls listed here except roll 15050.

The style 180 band organ was introduced by Wurlitzer in 1922. It was not a commercial success, and very few were produced. Ron Bopp's The American Carousel Organ says that only five were made between 1922 and 1930. Thus there was a only a small market for 180 rolls, making them expensive for both Wurlitzer and its customers. It appears that only 8 tunes were included on each roll, yet the 180 roll sold in 1933 for $50 compared to $35 for a 165 roll, $17.50 for a 150 roll, and $15 for a 125 roll.

Some of the surviving rolls are imperfect, having lost their first tune or tunes, together with tune titles and roll numbering. In cases where the roll number is not known, an approximate number is given based on the dates of the tunes on the roll and the assumption that Wurlitzer began the roll series in 1922 with roll 15001. From factory records it is known that numbering did reach 15082 before 180 roll production ceased.

Wurlitzer Style 180 Band Organ, rear