PSTOS - White Residence, Seattle Washington

White Residence - 2/6 Kimball
Seattle, Washington
Organ installation timeframe: 1952-1962

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Console in the White residence, c.1954

The White residence instrument started out in the St. Helens Theater, Chehalis Washington. Glenn White purchased the organ for $1,000 in about 1952, and installed it in his parents' house on Seattle's Queen Anne hill.

According to Glenn, "The console had had water damage from the leaking roof in the abandoned theater, and was sitting in about 8 inches of water in the pit when I bought the organ. I restored and refinished the console and put the organ in playing condition. It was a fine example of a small Kimball, with an excellent fiery trumpet. I asked Sandy Balcom about the organ, since he sold and installed it originally, and he told me he had called Kimball and insisted that they put some "fire" in this organ, since the theater was quite large. They did it in spades."

After getting married in 1960, Glenn had no space for the organ, and he sold it in 1962 to Victoria B.C. organist Reginald Stone. Mr. Stone arranged for Glenn to install the instrument in Victoria's Fox Theatre. A Morton 16-foot Tuba was added at that time. Mr. Stone wanted a Wurlitzer Vox Humana, so Glenn found one, and kept the Kimball Vox pipes. According to Glenn, "This was an excellent Vox Humana, and all who heard it raved about it. I had it for many years, [until 1998, when] I donated it to Mark Silver in Everett for use in the Cosmopolitan Theater."

Interestingly, Glenn White was also the installer of two other theatre organs in the Seattle area: 1) the Seattle Center Food Circus Wurlitzer, and 2) the Ice Arena Rink Aeolian (formerly from Rhodes Department Store).

Photos, courtesy Glenn White

Seattle Times article featuring Glenn White and the Kimball, c.1954-55

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