Organ grinder Jim Coffee, who frequents Kobey’s Swap Meet in Midway, performs for the art and thrill of pleasing others.
Coffee can be seen, on alternating weekends at Kobey’s at 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., performing his homemade organ grinder wearing white gloves. He meticulously cranks his machine producing carnival-like whistling sounds. Coffee is also a fixture at regional farmers markets, like the one in Little Italy.
How does he choose where to perform? “It’s the feedback I get,” he answered. “I love performing here (Kobey’s). People here are just wonderful.”
Asked why organ grinding remains a popular attraction, Coffee cited two reasons. “There are people who have created them (organs) like me,” he said. “And then you have the public needing what humans need. And part of what people need is pleasure and joy.”
Coffee’s organ-grinding mechanism is named Misty after his golden retriever. He said Misty lives on and “is the only organ in the world like this.”
Coffee said he and Misty own another distinction. “In Southern California, there may be no other active organ grinders,” he said.
The retired 79-year-old organ grinder manufactures all his equipment at home. That includes not only the street organ itself, which is made out of wood, metal, and leather but also the “add-ons” – mini merry-go-round, mechanical monkey, Ferris wheel – attached to it as side attractions. “The most important thing it’s (street organ) made out of is attitude,” he noted.
Coffee demonstrated how his street organ and mechanical monkey “band leader” work in concert with his other homemade little machines, called automata. The automata are attached to the organ grinder by magnets. One of the automata is a lady with super-long fingers playing a piano. Another features a frog playing percussion instruments while a miniature carousel and Ferris wheel turn.
How Coffee became an organ grinder is an interesting yarn. “All of my life I have been able to tinker and do things of this nature,” he said adding, “I realized retirement was not enough. I wanted to do more. So I let my creativity out via the organ, which I built.”
The grinder pointed out something unique about his homemade street organ. “This is the first way, that I’m aware of, that humans stored data,” said Coffee, speaking while changing music rolls which operate his street organ much like a player piano. “Each roll of music plays seven minutes,” he pointed out.
Coffee didn’t have a monkey for his street organ originally. “All I heard was, ‘Where’s the monkey?’ he said adding, “It kind of surprised me. So, I went to the Safari Park and bought a stuffed animal (monkey) and mechanized it. That’s when I realized the magic of having moving animated figures.”
Of why he does what he does, and intends to continue doing it, Coffee concluded: “I’m an artist, and I need to create. And I have an audience of people who like joy. So I’m adding things I think they will enjoy.”
JamesCoffeeStudios.com
Organ Grinder History – A street organ played by an organ grinder is a French automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play in the street. The history of organ grinders dates back to the 1700s when small mechanical organs were used to teach canaries to sing. People soon realized however that these organs could be played for money on the streets. Early organs, powered by a crank that turned a barrel with pins or nails, were small and could only play a few notes. Later on, the organs played popular tunes like opera themes, waltzes, marches, and folk songs.
Organ grinders were a popular form of street entertainment in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They provided music to people who couldn’t afford to buy a phonograph or go to a music hall. Organ grinders often performed with monkeys to draw in customers. In many European towns, the barrel street organ was not just a solo performer but was used by a group of musicians as part of a story-telling street act, together with brightly colored posters and sing-along sessions. The popularity of organ grinders declined in the 1920s and 1930s, as the radio, gramophone, and cinema with sound offered more appealing ways to listen to music.
