Street operation of Barrel Organs

For the street operation of barrel organs, an organ grinder goes out to play music with a barrel organ in the public space. The organ grinder often takes on the role of entertainer in the street operation. He or she kindly greets the passers-by and listeners and asks for a financial contribution while rattling his or her 'mansbakje’. This is called ‘mansen’.  

For the organ grinder the day starts with brass polishing. All copper parts, such as the keyboard, his ‘mansbakje’ and the decorative strips on the organ case have to shine. The contemporary organ grinder can compose the music book on an SD card, taking into account special occasions and weather conditions.

During the exploitation in the residential areas, people go through the streets according to a fixed pattern and ring the doorbell door-to-door to invite the residents to make a financial contribution. In the shopping areas and sometimes in the vicinity of events, the organ grinder also occupies different locations. Moving around is an essential part of the process. Occasionally there is a short break.

The history of the street operation of barrel organs in the Netherlands is almost 150 years old. In 1875 the Belgian Leon Warnies settled in Amsterdam and started renting out small, mostly portable, barrel organs. His first barrel organ rental company in the Netherlands is the most visible starting point for the operation of street barrel organs in the Netherlands, which has flourished in the course of the 20th century. After some time Warnies’ initiative was followed and in Amsterdam as well as in Rotterdam and The Hague, several organ rental companies were founded.

Interested parties who had the necessary license could rent a barrel organ from these rental companies. The highlight of the operation was in the '20s and '30s, when in the city of Amsterdam alone there were 40 operators on the streets every day.

 Many things have changed over the years: the cardboard zigzag books on which the music used to be recorded have been replaced by the digital SD card. In most cases, the car is motorised and where in the past people in residential areas often rang the door-to-door bell to ask for a contribution, practitioners choose from the 1970s onwards to play the music in the city and shopping malls.

In order to safeguard the future operation of barrel organs, the following actions will be taken:

• A website is maintained with a lot of information about the operation of barrel organs.
• The extent to which alternatives for cash money can be developed will be researched, because this type of payment seems to be disappearing more and more among shoppers.
• The possibilities of setting up a Dutch Organ Grinder association with regular donors are also being examined.
• The Circle of Barrel Organ Friends actively mediates between municipalities and operators.